In our last article on leadership and culture, we addressed how commitment to core principles sets the stage for a thriving culture.
At an organizational level, no other corporate value can flourish without a strong foundation of trust and transparency. Trust often flows from transparency and is one of the surest ways to help motivate and empower team members. Transparency lets employees know how to support each other and larger organizational goals, but it isn’t a silver bullet. Transparency must be developed and deployed from top-to-bottom. Here’s what transparency can yield for organizations.
1) Drive Brand Loyalty
According to Label Insight’s Transparency ROI survey, 94% of consumers rank transparency as the most important factor in driving brand loyalty. Not only do consumers reward it, they also punish brands that don’t demonstrate it. A Sprout Social study found 90% of consumers report they will stop purchasing from opaque brands. In an era of data breaches and misinformation, transparency and truth-telling is non-negotiable if you want a relationship with consumers. That’s not to say companies can’t make mistakes. They can and do. But transparency ensures companies can recover when they do.
2) Reputation Enhancement
A company’s openness about their policies and procedures is a double win: it supports a work environment where employees feel part of something bigger and leads to an improved customer experience. Transparency creates a proactive – rather than reactive – workplace that becomes known for being progressive. Generationally, millennials gravitate to companies that show this type of openness. Gen Y is more likely to want to work for a company they can believe in. In fact according to PwC, nearly six in 10 millennials actively seek out an employer that shares their values.
3) Developing Employees
Since corporate-driven transparency fosters a sense of trust and inclusion, it can be a prime contributor to employee empowerment and workplace happiness. Transparent organizations are ones that focus on building trust, encouraging engagement, and gaining buy-in from their employees. Fulfilled, motivated team members like to share the good news. They tell their friends and families. It shines through in their customer interactions and workplace relationships. The company becomes known for its culture and is able to gain and retain the best employees. Thus, continuing the cycle of transparency.
4) Growing Organizations
When transparency shows up as consistent communication within an organization, it supports both employee and organizational growth. In these open organizations, leaders encourage team-enhancing collaboration efforts tracked to mutually agreed-upon goals and performance measures. Transparency removes any real or perceived obstacles for clear communication, drives meaningful conversations and reinforces employee confidence. In this collaborative environment, employee and employer expectations are clear, setting the stage for sustainable growth for the company.
For more information on developing culture within your organization or to speak with one of our experts, contact Adrenaline at [email protected].
