Transparent Communication
Why is transparency good, yet so often avoided?
In a communication context, transparency is the act of being open and honest in a way that is easy to understand.
Being transparent isn’t just telling people what is happening, but also telling them why. In this way, I think transparency is tied to how we communicate, what we communicate, and whether or not we are believed. In many business settings, leaders are not believed. Employee surveys often show that rank and file workers see a lack of transparency as one of the bigger issues they have with executive leaders.
First off, is this really a problem? Well, the answer is: it depends. It would be disingenuous to lump all employee interactions into a single bucket that portrays all management to employee communications as half-truths and misdirection. But some companies are more transparent than others. And as humans, we each have different styles and approaches to how we convey information. Some of us are direct and open while others hold back or speak in generalities.
The Dalai Lama said, “A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity.” I find this to be true and think it follows then that transparency is a vehicle for establishing strong relationships, which are made up in part of trust and security. Do the people you work with trust your company’s leaders? Do they feel they have job security? If they do, I bet they are highly engaged, motivated, and productive workers.
Yet, they aren’t. In fact, the most recent findings from Gallup show that only 13% of the global workforce is engaged at work. These findings don’t point specifically to a lack of transparency as the key issue influencing employee engagement; however, the fact remains that more workers are “not engaged” or “actively disengaged” than are “engaged.” Increasing transparency is unlikely to hurt engagement.
Another factor leading to a need for increased transparency can be found in the mindset of today’s workforce, which is increasingly younger, more social, and less inclined to be loyal to a single company for their entire career. Millennials are not entering the workforce, they are here and they will soon dominate it. In case you haven’t heard, by 2020 Millennials are expected to make up roughly 50% of the workforce and 75% by 2030. By now, you should also realize that the 80 million Millennials are not the same as Baby Boomers in regard to their desires, expectations, or mentality. Millennials grew up sharing. They are open with many aspects of their lives and often see no difference in how that behavior should play out at work.
What drives them in job satisfaction, according to PwC, is not the same set of factors as drove previous generations, and we will continue to see shifts in the workplace as a result. Transparency will become an increasingly important factor in how the Millennial workforce views interactions with their direct and senior leaders within an organization as they bring new styles and expectations to the workplace. Furthermore, transparent conversations will become the norm when Millennials become the leaders within the workplace.
The last commentary I will make on whether or not a lack of transparency is actually a problem in the workplace is from personal experience. Any time throughout my career when there have been situations where leaders were holding back information, the result among the staff level employees was strife, demoralization, and sometimes self-ejection — finding a new place of employment. Employees know when their leaders are holding back information, not telling the whole truth, or outright lying. And they talk about it. The resulting speculation is often worse than the truth, but rumors will be heard and repeated when there is nothing else shared. When the rumor mill is churning out high amounts of speculation, employee morale is typically suffering, and high performing employees will often be the first to find work elsewhere.
So being transparent builds trust, which can lead to a stronger employer/worker bond, it increasingly meets the expectations of the growing Millennial workforce, and it fosters a better atmosphere for company culture. Great, but is there more?
Sure, there are a lot of other reasons why being transparent can be good. But the one that resonates the most with me, and that I go to time and time again, is that being open and honest is efficient. Being transparent gets to the point. It’s a straightforward approach to communicating that removes doubt and speculation. When people are transparent, you will know where they stand. And that is exactly why we avoid it.
It isn’t always easy being completely honest with someone. Being open at the wrong time can have negative consequences on a desired outcome. Sometimes we are afraid to let others know what we really feel and believe. Being honest is hard. It makes you vulnerable. You have to relinquish control.
To become more transparent we have to work at it just like all of the other skills we learn and use. We have to be vulnerable and put ourselves out there. That starts with first being honest with ourselves. We have to know what we want, think, and stand for. And then, realize that the people we work with are also adults, holding their own desires, thoughts, and beliefs. Treat them as equals. The people that we work with can handle more information than we typically give them credit for being able to bear.
In any situation, look at it from a different perspective and ask yourself what else you would want to know if you were on the outside looking in. That extra piece is where transparency can be found. Share it.
