What a More Transparent Company Culture Can Do

A More Transparent Company Culture
From police forces using body cameras to Whole Foods sharing salary information, more and more companies are looking into creating a more transparent company culture to build trust and create high levels of employee advocacy.

The Definition of Corporate Culture
A company’s culture sets the tone in so many ways.  Your workplace culture defines the boundaries for how things truly get done on a day-to-day basis.  Your culture shapes the way employees think, behave and work.

New employees must learn the cultural norms to be “accepted as a member” and effective leaders must hire, promote, and reward employees who behave in way that aligns with the desired corporate culture.

A More Transparent Company Culture
Think of a more transparent company culture as one where timely information flow is embraced, knowledge sharing is the norm, and data is available to all.  This means that every employee can access information about where the company is going, how the company is doing and where they stand.  In some companies, it includes sharing calendars (even that of the CEO’s).

What You Can Gain with a More Transparent Company Culture
For many who are more used to keeping plans, information, and finances close to the chest, such openness is at first uncomfortable.  Many things should be kept within the Executive Team or to a select group of individuals who can handle the truth, right?  But here is what an open and more transparent company culture can do for your organization.

Cultural transparency builds:

• Trust
  Trusting coworkers and company leaders to do what they say they will do is the foundation for effective teamwork. It is the basis for workers to feel interconnected in a way that they can move together to be most effective. Trust is an essential ingredient for building high performing teams where morale and results are high.
• Productivity
  When coworkers know clearly what each of their teammates is doing, they can be far more efficient and productive within their own realm of responsibility. There is no confusion about who owns what, no duplication of effort, and a natural feeling of respect for everyone’s contribution.
• Performance Coaching
  Another positive of an open company culture is that feedback is welcome. The sense of cooperation breaks down silos and territorial protectiveness.  There is mutual respect and an overall desire to improve so coaching toward better performance is targeted, specific, timely, and team goal-oriented.
• Sharing
  Communication within and between teams is a high priority in an open culture. Information is shared, questions are encouraged and answered, and new ideas are respectfully considered. Dashboards show company metrics and the company opportunities and challenges are open to discussion.  The result is that employees feel ownership and satisfaction in their ability to contribute to the company’s success.

The Bottom Line
How trusting is your company culture?  You will know you are moving in the right direction when your employees believe that:

• Communication is good throughout our organization.
• Company leadership has communicated a vision of the future that motivates them.
• They are well informed about issues going on within the company.
• They have enough information and resources to do their job well.
• The company listens to and takes employee ideas seriously.
• Feedback to management is well received and followed up on.
• There is cooperation between their department and other departments they work with.

To learn more about how to create a more transparent company culture, download 29 Ways to Build and Maintain Trust as a Leader