There are also risks associated with workplace transparency…
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2025 10:41 am
Far less discussed are the negative effects associated with workplace transparency. Perhaps it’s because employers believe the benefits outweigh the risks, but it’s better to go at any strategy understanding the ins and outs and possible scenarios.
The psychology case for transparency: Researchers from the University of Nottingham, VU University Amsterdam and Erasmus University Rotterdam conducted an experiment to test how transparency impacts decision making.
In a “Deal or No Deal” simulation, one group of contestants played the game on a lab computer and the other group in a game-show simulation complete with a host, audience and cameras. What they found was a more transparent atmosphere actually increased contestants’ fear of losing, causing them to play it safe when it came to a risky gamble. “In essence, what this means is that our subjects found the limelight constraining and anonymity liberating.”
What this tells us is without the right balance of workplace transparency, employers are azerbaijan phone number resource risking an overly cautious workforce, which in professional service industries such as finance and marketing can be detrimental to future business.
Transparency as a distraction: Excessive transparency acts a distraction in a number of ways. Employers who share too much information about the business run the risk of creating unwanted stress for employees who may constantly be thinking about how their job impacts the bigger picture. While this mindset is the cornerstone of a valuable employee, it can be disrupted by transparency. Moreover, sharing sensitive information, like the financial struggles of the business, has instability written all over it and could chase good employees out the door for fear of their livelihood.
Transparency caters to specific personality types: As mentioned, imbalanced transparency is an ingredient for turnover. It begs the question, Is transparency for everyone? And the answer is no. In fact, according to Ryan Mead, CEO of Vitru, a personality and work values assessment platform used by HR professionals, employees who rank high for Stability and Structure thrive on predictability, consistency and security and are quick to be lose motivation if transparency disrupts that.
The psychology case for transparency: Researchers from the University of Nottingham, VU University Amsterdam and Erasmus University Rotterdam conducted an experiment to test how transparency impacts decision making.
In a “Deal or No Deal” simulation, one group of contestants played the game on a lab computer and the other group in a game-show simulation complete with a host, audience and cameras. What they found was a more transparent atmosphere actually increased contestants’ fear of losing, causing them to play it safe when it came to a risky gamble. “In essence, what this means is that our subjects found the limelight constraining and anonymity liberating.”
What this tells us is without the right balance of workplace transparency, employers are azerbaijan phone number resource risking an overly cautious workforce, which in professional service industries such as finance and marketing can be detrimental to future business.
Transparency as a distraction: Excessive transparency acts a distraction in a number of ways. Employers who share too much information about the business run the risk of creating unwanted stress for employees who may constantly be thinking about how their job impacts the bigger picture. While this mindset is the cornerstone of a valuable employee, it can be disrupted by transparency. Moreover, sharing sensitive information, like the financial struggles of the business, has instability written all over it and could chase good employees out the door for fear of their livelihood.
Transparency caters to specific personality types: As mentioned, imbalanced transparency is an ingredient for turnover. It begs the question, Is transparency for everyone? And the answer is no. In fact, according to Ryan Mead, CEO of Vitru, a personality and work values assessment platform used by HR professionals, employees who rank high for Stability and Structure thrive on predictability, consistency and security and are quick to be lose motivation if transparency disrupts that.