Creating Transparency Within Your Team

by Kate Neri | Mar 5, 2024

As business leaders, we constantly explore ways to improve employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention. We all know the benefits of creating this type of positive environment but oftentimes we are trying to find and try all the different ways to get there. These different methods may fall flat, feel inauthentic or start strong and taper off.

One powerful way to reach your employees and cultivate a strong, positive culture is through transparency.

Research by Slack reveals a strong desire among employees for greater transparency in their workplaces. Over 80% of employees express a need for a clearer understanding of decision-making processes, while a staggering 87% of job seekers actively seek transparency in prospective employers.

Why the clamor for transparency? Simply put, employees crave insight into what’s happening around them and how they can contribute to solutions. And these more recent years have shown the impact transparency can have on employees and businesses. 

Transparency is the foundation of authentic trust.

When leaders operate with honesty and openness, they lay the groundwork for trust to flourish within their teams. This trust, per research in the Harvard Business Review, correlates with heightened employee engagement and satisfaction—by as much as 76% and 29%, respectively.

Transparency also paves the way for open communication and accountability. When you set the standard for transparency, promoting open and honest dialogue, your team naturally falls in line. When goals, expectations, and progress are shared openly, team members step up, taking ownership of their work and holding themselves—and each other—accountable for results.

More importantly, the benefits of transparency extend beyond day-to-day operations. We have found that transparency in even the most challenging times can be a beacon of stability and resilience. In the face of adversity, teams built on transparency often rally together, exhibiting heightened energy, initiative, and commitment to working through whatever challenges lie ahead—a testament to the enduring strength of trust and transparency.

Transparency isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a transformative force that fuels collaboration, accountability, and resilience within organizations.