Transparency occurs when leaders operate in such a way that others can visualize what actions are performed within the organization (Farrell, 2016). Leaders that use transparency within the organization have a trusting relationship with employees. Leaders trust employees because transparency allows employees to be involved in the decision- making process (Farrell, 2016). Leaders find that open communication is important in transparency, and leaders must be mindful of the type of information that is disclosed to the organization(Northouse,2016).
The most appropriate level of transparency for an organization is the transparency that is aimed at the employee comfort level(Farrell,2016) The organization may have some employees that are vulnerable and do not feel comfortable giving their opinions about decisions in the organization (Farrell, 2016). Leaders will have to decide a way to determine which processes are confidential to employees. I feel that leaders should have an open relationship with employees to reduce the chances of determining which processes or confidential to the employee.
For example, the organization that I work for uses transparency within the organization. The organization is very open about goals, performance, finances, customer renewals, and hiring and firing of employees. The organization focuses highly on rewarding employees for their performance. Employees receive awards, certifications, and monetary incentives for their performance, and some employees are not eligible for the incentives offered by the organization. The organization always announces the top producers such as who processed the most claims and performed high on the quality audits. Management had to take into consideration that some employees do not want everyone to know how many claims they processed for the month, and how accurately the claims were processed. Now the organization sends an email to the applicants that are eligible to receive the awards because they had to consider the employee’s confidentiality.
Transparency is not an effective strategy when the organization is in the process of terminating an employee from the organization. I feel that is confidential and should not be open to everyone in the organization. I feel that it should be public if it impacts every employee within the organization. Leaders must take into consideration what type of information is disclosed to employees.
Leaders can use transparency to exert influence over employees. Transparency can be used to relay bad news such as layoffs, budget reductions, and closures (Farrell,2016). Transparency can also be used to inform the employees that they are not meeting their goals, and need employees to improve performance, develop a relationship with customers, improve attendance, and days requested need to be limited (Farrell, 2016).
In conclusion, transparency is important to organizations that strive to engage their employees in the decision-making process. Leaders must acknowledge the level at which to employ transparency because it can cause problems for employees if the information disclosed is confidential.
References:
Farrell, M. (2016). Transparency.Journal of Library Administration,56(4), 444-452.
doi:10.1080/01930826.2016.1157426
Mills, B. J. (2015). Ten Practical Tips for Terminating Employees.Orange County Business
Journal,38(49), B-34.www.ocbj.com/
Northouse, P. G. (2016).Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
