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Our research and studies have shown that a transparent corporate culture improves morale and increases the bottom line , and our own experience has confirmed those results: That said, there are situations in which a transparent corporate culture could have a negative effect on productivity. For example, keeping too many people informed of too many projects or updates is a leading cause of organizational drag.
Companies that need to develop innovative products quickly, like Apple and Google, may intentionally limit transparency between departments so that each team can focus on what they do best.
So, how do you know which type and how much transparency will create the most effective corporate culture for your company? Here are a few guidelines to consider: Information is a valuable asset within a company. If you see a disturbing trend of employees unable to make decisions or move forward on projects because of a lack of information, a more transparent corporate culture may help. Making free communication a company-wide priority can put pressure on information withholders to change how they communicate with their peers and subordinates.
Information silos and communication blocks make individual employees feel sabotaged, excluded, and uninformed. If you see a lack of trust developing among your team members, your management team needs to be more transparent about intent, expectations, perceptions, and information.
Loyal employees may someday leave, but while they work for you they do their best and often even put the company's interests ahead of their own. Rather than trying to get agreement, the point is to surface objections to improve the proposal. Who is more loyal: This is a topic that is familiar to many readers. Think of a psychopath and the image that springs to mind is probably something out of a horror movie--an axe-wielding killer or evil fraudster bilking little old ladies out of their life savings. Consensus is best the goals are clear and everyone agrees; otherwise it can lead to compromise, negotiations and substandard outcomes.
Open communication and transparency can help prevent a borderline company culture from becoming completely toxic. When it comes to external transparency, many companies focus on simply meeting minimum compliance standards. However, if your customers are values-focused, you can earn a lot of trust by being transparent about those values.
Whole Foods, on the other hand, is troubleshooting a class action lawsuit by working to become the first national grocery chain to offer full GMO transparency on all food products. If you see clear signs of a toxic culture chronic information silos, back-biting, and gossip , throwing transparency into the mix may not help.
For employees who are accustomed to negative behavior in the workplace, initial efforts to build a transparent corporate culture may simply add more fuel to the fire. Lots of employees see their bosses that way, too.
That means they don't see you as someone with dreams and hopes and insecurities and fears. Remarkably loyal employees flip the employer-employee relationship: They know you want to help them reach their professional and personal goals and that you want what's best for them--and they also want what's best for you, both at work and in your personal life. As a general rule, the more rungs on the ladder that separate you and an employee, the less likely that employee will be to disagree with you. For example, your direct reports may sometimes take a different position or even tell you that you're wrong.
Their direct reports are much less likely to state a position other than yours. And entry-level employees will sing directly from the company songbook, at least when you're the audience. Remarkably loyal employees know that you most need to hear what you least want to hear: They'll tell you because they know that though you may not care much for what you hear, you care tremendously about doing what is best for your company and your employees.
One of your employees is probably talking about you right now.
Partly they criticize you because it's a way of letting off steam, but mostly they do it because we all think, at least some of the time, that we can do a better job than the person we work for. Remarkably loyal employees get that. They don't gossip, they don't snipe, they don't talk behind your back--they give you the respect, even when you're not around, that they expect to receive.
Weighing the pros and cons of a decision, playing devil's advocate, sharing opinions--every leader wants to hear what his or her team thinks.
The Heart-Led Leader: How Living and Leading from the Heart Will Change Your In his first book, It's Not Just Who You Know (which rose to #2 on the New In his new book, The Heart-Led Leader, Spaulding turns his focus to .. What this book contains goes beyond business and can be applied to living your best life. "This is not a decision to take lightly," says Taylor. but when your prospective new job requires you to uproot your life, it's time to do some serious sleuthing. The more you know about the job, company, and the new city, the more educated As with any tough decision, it helps to make a pros and cons list.
It's not just enlightening; it's stimulating. Remarkably loyal employees trust that they can share their opinions as freely as you do.
In fact, they trust that you want them to--because you, and the company, benefit from an honest exchange of differing opinions and points of view. I guarantee you've been in at least one meeting where someone says, "Look, I don't think this is the right thing to do, but I've been told we're going to do it anyway. So let's at least give it our best shot.