A good fifteen, twenty years back no one really cared that much about transparency. We didn’t know what fast-food joints or restaurants packed into our food. We didn’t know or care where a company was making its products or how. We certainly didn’t know about the core values of an organization or its CEO.
That story has changed now. Transparency is now a business imperative, a trait that has to be woven into the organizational DNA and demonstrate honesty, openness, accountability, and a straightforward attitude towards all business interactions – both with internal customers (the employees) and the external ones. Transparent organizations don’t try to hide things when things go wrong. They are instead, upfront about it.
Transparency is a core value at Benison. Over the years, we discovered that it is this core value that has helped us attract and retain customers, foster meaningful customer relationships, and enjoy a great measure of business success.
The transparency in communication and conduct that we have always maintained with our customers have made sure that trust bridges are strong and we enjoy their support in good times and in difficult times as now. We have always maintained that proactive communication when things don’t look hunky-dory and being upfront about delays have only contributed to developing stronger customer relationships. Our customers know that they can trust us. For we will be transparent and upfront with them all along the journey. And this sets the right tone for our employees as well.
However, the true benefit of transparency is in its role to enhance and augment employee engagement strategies across the organization. Here is how we manifest transparency in our organization.
Openness is endemic for transparency
Whether it is the quality of our conversations with regards to employee outcomes or be it about organizational outcomes, openness is endemic to our organization. Complete clarity and transparency are something that we try to drive across the board, irrespective of hierarchy. From our annual reports to strategic plans and priorities, we share everything with our employees clearly, and without ambiguity.
Just like we are open about everyday successes, we are open about our missteps and mistakes as well. By adopting this approach, we have managed to build a culture of trust where our employees confidently bring forward issues without fear of judgment or worry. Neither do they shift blame to appear perfect.
Sharing is a part of the company culture
Sharing is a part of the company culture. And while we do share our lunchboxes in the cafeteria, we share the burdens, troubles, challenges of our employees in equal measure.
The past year has been one where this aspect has been tested more than once. Whether it was the uncertainty of the economy, clients not paying on time owing to the global crisis and its subsequent impact, last year tested our organizational resilience multiple times. There was a time when we laid out the math in front of them to explain how the impact on inflow was impacting the organization. We showed them how the leadership team was taking a pay cut would make sure that their finances would remain unimpacted. While there was a certain amount of trepidation initially, since we were transparent with our employees about every aspect of the business, what was working and what wasn’t, we were rewarded by their loyalty.
We answer tough questions
Transparency is not easy to achieve. However, nothing that is worthwhile ever is. But to remain resolute on that journey is essential to reap sweet rewards.
As an organization, we often have difficult waters to tread and tough questions to answer. Increased levels of transparency and clear communication during difficult times are essential to developing trust within the organization. There might issues or concerns plaguing employees. Irrespective of the size, whether major or minor, we make sure that all our employees’ concerns, whether individual or concerning company policies, workplace processes, managers, c-suite or organizational decisions are addressed promptly and candidly at all times.
We have a “no holds barred” approach to our team questions and provide enough avenues and ways to enable our employees to ask questions and clarify their concerns at the earliest. Our employees are our internal customers, and we make sure that this customer is satisfied at all times.
We demonstrate trustworthy behavior
Transparency is an action, a verb. Thus, some actions breed transparency in an organization. In ours, we have found transparency built through demonstrating trustworthy behavior and by having a uniform set of rules that apply unanimously across the board.
With clearly defined rules of engagement steeped in respect, irrespective of hierarchy or position, we make sure that everyone within the organization leads by example. Actions speak louder than words at all times and we ensure that everyone, especially the leadership, always demonstrates trustworthy behavior that is worth emulating.
Open Door Policy – even in a remote setup
We believe in being proactive to drive transparency across the organization. Whether it is performance discussions or feedback, communication is always unbiased, clear, and real-time. We don’t believe that annual end-of-year performance reviews are of any use unless it is driven by real-time feedback.
Delivering enablement at work, when work happens is the goal of the organization and a part of our organizational culture. Our team leaders and managers proactively reach out to their team members to provide in-the-moment feedback and communication. Employees also know that they can reach out to anyone across the organization to seek help and leverage tribal knowledge. This is something that we have started following even more stringently as we moved into remote work to ensure that even in a remote setting our ‘Open Door” policy remains intact irrespective of location.
With these actions, we have been able to build transparency across the organization and have enjoyed a multitude of benefits, be it highly engaged employees, great productivity levels, and incredible team spirit and camaraderie. Oh! And great business outcomes have been a mere consequence of these efforts and attitudes. Connect with us to join our high-energy, driven, and positive work environment and get the opportunity to work on some cutting-edge technology projects.
