Remote working has amplified existing issues about workplace trust — from bosses who use virtual meetings to track employees' productivity, to employers who insist on workers returning to the workplace during a pandemic. Recently, the former owners of bakery chain Twelve Cupcakes came under fire for underpaying employees — and expected employees to comply with their dishonest practices.
The prevalence of social media as a mode of communication and information gathering has also sparked a rise in demand from consumers on brand transparency and ethical business practices. A 2018 survey conducted by social media management platform Sprout Social, for example, found that 86 per cent of US respondents cite transparency from businesses as more important than ever before — and companies are taking notice. Now, it's time for such organisations to embrace such an ethos when it comes to internal operations.
“In the age of social media, information is fluid and more widespread, and consumers now demand more information in terms of the goods and services they consume,” notes Tan Hwee Hoon, SMU LKCSB Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour & Human Resources.
“If the organisation does not clearly articulate what they represent and how they go about delivering the goods and services, there may be misinformation from unreliable sources or worse, sources that are out to attack the brands. Hence, rather than be reactive to negative news, organisations should be more proactive in sharing what the brands represent.”
We speak more with Hwee Hoon, whose research interests include Interpersonal Trust in Organisations, on what workplace transparency means during the pandemic and the ways in which companies can cultivate a culture of candour and openness.
How to foster transparency in an age of remote working
For workers who are working from home, the issue of transparency matters most in two areas – decision outcomes, and how decisions are being made. For example, workers are interested in knowing how work is assigned and the criteria applied to the decision-making process. In the office, information flow is more fluid and easily shared, as compared to a remote working situation whereby organisations must be deliberate in the kind of information they want to share, the way information is to be shared, and the need to reiterate and reinforce what has been shared. In other words, workers would like to have a line of sight to the work they do, and the decisions made, and hence workplace transparency becomes more important and critical.
As Hwee Hoon explains, “It is not so much about sharing ethical practices, but that of creating a culture of transparency of how an organisation and decision-making is managed.”
For example, Netflix is an organisation that prides itself on transparency. The leaders of the streaming behemoth have fostered an environment whereby employees are made aware of exactly why and how decisions are made. Such depths of understanding will trickle out from the organisation towards its treatment of and communication with customers.
Rather than increasing transparency per se, organisations should therefore focus on sharing how decisions are made and the pillars it aims to uphold — beginning with a commitment to ethical practices.
“In other words, the organisation must want to do right by its employees and customers first,” says Hwee Hoon.
“After that, finding ways to ‘walk the talk’ will certainly enable workplace transparency.”
Creating a culture of candour: Expert dos and don’ts
While there are multiple benefits to creating a culture of candour and openness, companies need to be aware that basic frameworks must be in place for such an environment to thrive — such as boundaries stipulating how and when issues are raised by employees.
“Being open and having a culture of candour does not mean that one is allowed to state what he or she wants to at any time and in whatever forum,” warns Hwee Hoon.
She cites the example of Netflix's “4A framework” for sharing feedback: When giving feedback, the two As are “Aim to assist”, and “Actionable”, and when receiving feedback, “Appreciate” and “Accept or discard”. Establishing clear guidelines provide employees with clear boundaries in the workplace while arming them with the autonomy to navigate in ways that benefit the best interest of the organisation. In other words, such a culture is motivating and creates a sense of psychological safety for employees to thrive and be creative.
Another benefit would be that employees feel that can clearly articulate dissent, which will reduce the possibility of “groupthink” — a psychological phenomenon in which people strive for consensus within a group, or even set aside their personal beliefs to adopt the opinion of the rest of the group. In Netflix – No Rules Rules, authored by company’s CEO Reed Hastings with INSEAD professor Erin Meyer, he recounted a time when he made a bad decision nobody went against as they thought the boss knows best. A clear culture of candour and openness will certainly guard the organisation against such a situation.
Workplace trust – a challenge the world over
It’s no secret that employers and supervisors tend to switch to micromanagement mode when subordinates are working from home. And although this might seem the norm for smaller-sized companies or Asian businesses, Hwee Hoon observes that the desire to track remote workers is, in fact, an issue faced by companies at a global level. Specifically, US tech companies such as Google and Apple have mandated a return to the office in June 2021, before delaying the move due to the onset of the Delta variant.
“Clearly, there is a syndrome of ‘not in the line of sight’, that supervisors and organisations assume employees are likely to be less productive when they cannot be monitored,” explains Hwee Hoon.
“In addition, the impetus for returning to the workplace may not only be about trust, but the need for community. Asians are collectivistic in nature and the need for relationships and interactions are also key in the workplace. Being away from the physical office for extended periods of time means that folks are not interacting in ways that satisfy their relational needs.”
Ultimately, trust (or the lack of) is one of the key reasons for companies requiring employees to go back to the workplace or in monitoring them virtually. But instead of utilising resources to monitor employees, organisations can consider strategies to motivate them intrinsically, such that they will not just do exemplary work, but also achieve work-life balance.
“One key way to build trust, is to trust first,” advises Hwee Hoon.
“This will, in turn, create a ‘virtuous’ cycle of trust and also satisfy employees’ need for autonomy and competence — two key areas that will motivate them to be engaged and be more productive.”
