Boost Your Team’s Happiness By Using Transparency

As businesses and organizations, we commit to providing our customers with clear communication, straightforward services, and honest commitment to their care. So when it comes to our employees, shouldn’t we do the same? Engaging and informing employees about business decisions, potential changes, and upcoming events, creates greater trust, commitment, and dedication. Even when the news is bad, employees still appreciate and respect open and honest transparency. Today we’ll outline just a few of the ways organizations can improve internal communication and boost employee happiness by using transparency.

Establish Honest Communication

Open communication is a sign of trust and one of the most influential factors in determining employee happiness and motivation. Employers expect and even require their teams to provide honest and reliable information. When employers hesitate to do the same, it can create feelings of distrust, resentment, and hesitation. A good way to provide quick and honest company communication is through an effective internal communication system. Many business communication and collaboration programs mirror the successful elements of popular social media networks, incorporating them into the corporate setting. These networks make spreading reliable information fast and easy, decreasing rumors, reducing miscommunication, and increasing company wide trust and transparency.

Evaluate Organizational Hierarchy

Flat organizational hierarchies tend to facilitate communication much more effectively than traditional top-down decision making. While organizations will always need structure and leadership, flat organizational hierarchies focus on engaging with employees at every level, giving them the chance to add input, ideas, and contributions to the organization. This structure empowers employees and helps them know that they are an important part of the overall organization. Flat hierarchies also improve transparency by helping employees throughout the company stay up to date on changes, news, and important details from other departments.

Provide The Right Tools

Whether you’re an office worker or a firefighter, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to perform your job well without the right equipment. Providing employees with the tools they need to perform their job well shows that you value their work and are committed to their success. But that doesn’t mean employees need the newest version of every tool. Part of transparency is being honest with employees about company resources, abilities, and limitations. When employees feel you have their best interest at heart, they are much more understanding of company finances and budget limitations.

Encourage Authentic Recognition

Happiness with transparency naturally leads to authentic and genuine recognition. Real recognition helps employees feel valued and encourages them to improve their efforts. For recognition to be honest and transparent, it needs to be specific, thoughtful, unbiased, and inclusive. Employees should know why a person is being recognized, support and encourage their recognized peer, and know that they have an equal opportunity for receiving their own recognition. If employees receive some kind of reward, prize, or incentive for their work, it should be tailored to match the interests of the individual or team as much as possible. When employees know that you know and understand them on a real and personal level, transparency and trust increase all around.

Foster Understanding and Respect

Did you know that Facebook shares important company information with their staff every Friday afternoon via a Q&A session hosted by their CEO? From interns to Vice Presidents, every one of their 15,000 plus global workforce has access to the sessions. These meetings help everyone within the organization feel trusted, respected, and understood. While a broad-reaching Q&A might not be the right fit for your organization, happiness with transparency depends on organizations providing employees at every level with the chance to voice their concerns, ask their questions, and know that their input is valued.

Transparency with employees is more than just a nice idea. It is essential for long-lasting business growth, development, and success. When employees feel trusted and respected by their supervisors and organization as a whole, work becomes much more than just a job. It becomes an opportunity to contribute and make a difference. At MangoApps, we know that organizations are the most successful when every voice is heard. To learn more about MangoApps or how to improve employee happiness by using transparency, contact us today.