In part 1 of this article we elaborated on why your organization should foster a more transparent company culture, and today’s post will elaborate on what you can do to actually implement this type of culture.
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Hire the Right Employees
Cultivating transparency in the workplace begins with employees’ desire for transparency in the first place. To determine whether employees will express this desire, have candidates complete personality assessments during the hiring process to see whether they would be willing and able to be transparent with colleagues and that they personally value transparency.
Use Cloud-Based Platforms
In the modern workplace, employees should have access to the same documents and data via cloud-based platforms. This simultaneous and real-time access will create more transparency and collaboration and ensure that all employees are privy to the same company information and that no one is left out of the loop. However, be aware of where you should draw the line with this transparency and file and data sharing; employees shouldn’t know everyone’s business all the time but should have the information they need to do their jobs effectively at their disposal.
Record Meetings on Video and Share Them
Record important organizational meetings and functions, especially weekly touchpoint meetings and larger-scale organizational announcements, on video, and share them with all employees to cultivate transparency and ensure no employee misses any relevant updates and announcements.
Share All Important Project Results
Have employees across all departments share their wins and their failures to spur collaboration, support, learning opportunities, and trust. Projects and initiatives sometimes fail, but it’s what your employees do after they fail and how they work together to move forward that matters, which isn’t possible unless they are transparent with one another.
Empower Employees to Be More Autonomous
Providing employees with access to more company information in real time will enable them to be more autonomous and innovative and foster greater transparency, empowering them to make more autonomous decisions.
Implement Social Learning and Collaboration Tools
To allow employees to be more transparent with each other, implement social learning and collaboration tools, as these will allow employees to share knowledge, best practices, and tips with one another, as well as communicate and collaborate when working on projects and tasks.
If you’re ready to cultivate a more transparent company culture, follow the tips and best practices outlined above.