This week I wanted to discuss my thoughts about the need for transparency in the workplace. Transparency is one of our core values at Anderson Performance. A couple of years ago, my company had its first experience with transparency. We decided to make a big change in our technology department and using transparency made for a smooth transition.
You might ask yourself, what is transparency and why is it so important? According to Business Dictionary.com, the term transparency means the availability of full information required for collaboration, cooperation, and collective decision making. In a nutshell, honesty and openness.
The Anderson Performance team decided to change our technology with a new platform and infrastructure. This enabled our clients to have access to a full range of tools and information via filterable reports with the capability of downloading data. At the time, this data was only accessible by our internal IT department. Even a simple data pull was costly for the client.
This change would ultimately benefit our current and future clients by reducing costs and adding the ability to change their platform immediately. Whether it was launching a new incentive or posting a new quiz or survey, the tools were available at any time. But our team was not happy. They felt our customers did not want a “self-service” tool. They could see how it would benefit our smaller clients, but felt nothing would change with the larger clients.
Long story short, change started to take place quickly. Companies took the reins and administered 100% of their programs. We implemented quarterly strategy meetings to look at how they could innovate and improve even more. What happened inside our company was transparency. Showing our employees, from the beginning of the process, the new model and the projections associated with staffing changes was key. We had open conversation about what our employees really wanted to do and how they should continue to invest in their skills. We offered assistance to anyone with resume review or training that would expand their skill base.
Using transparency returned a measurable increase in productivity and some very innovative ideas. Change can be stressful, but properly channeled it can be the stimuli for improvements of all kinds.
What is your organization doing to promote transparency? Are you rewarding individuals who are exhibiting examples of transparency?
