The work that I do contributes to the production of quarterly and
annual financial reports for the SEC as the company is publicly traded.
I am finishing up my MSA in accounting here at SNHU at the end of
this year and plan to sit for the CPA shortly thereafter. I am to be
married this coming May with a baby on the way in the middle of
August--my life will be getting a lot busier in the coming months!
In my opinion, transparency is a vital aspect of any department.
Transparency in the workplace/department/etc. cultivates an
environment of trust and honesty between the employees and
supervisors. The upside for leaders to openly discuss information
regarding certain topics is that it creates an opportunity for other
lower-level employees that maybe only touch a part of the
process/decision making model to fully grasp the situation. Also, it
encourages a learning type of environment that will hopefully let
employees in a department grow and advance in their career. From
my own experience, asking the "why" in any given situation in the
workplace should not be curbed or frowned upon--leaders being
transparent and sharing information freely allows this sort of "why"
interaction which is so important for a company because the more
their employees learn and become more knowledgeable about the
company, the more they will be able to be innovative and improve
different aspects of said company. As you can see, I do support this
notion as I have had work experience with different sides of the
spectrum. Better transparency between leadership and lower-level
employees does wonders for productivity and goal achieving
motivation. I am originally from Chicago, Illinois and currently live in
Nashville, Tennessee. I am married and we have 3 young adult
children. I am an Army veteran and presently work as a human
resource professional with the federal judiciary. Fun Facts: My
husband and I operate a business that provides opportunities for rest
and respite to those who work in ministry and for non-profit
organizations by providing vacation accommodations, event tickets,
and dining gift cards. Our love of travel allows us to use our travel
agent expertise to encourage others to explore this big, beautiful
world. This is the final course in my MBA-HRM journey. I've learned
so much and I’ve had an incredible experience here at SNHU. Yipee!
Leaders may choose to communicate information to employees that
do not have a need to know to open clear lines of communication,
reduce ambiguity, mitigate concern and confusion, and build trust
across the organization. A true or perceived lack of transparency can
negatively impact morale and organizational performance (Reina &
Reina, 2015, pp. 45-47).
I support the idea of sharing information with employees in this way
because it provides context to the employees surrounding decision-
making, policies, practices and changes within the organization. It also
allows employees to gain a big picture perspective into the
organization’s operations, which builds trust and increases employee
buy-in. Open communication can also nurture collaboration and
innovation across teams.
My experiences have shown that when gaps in communication exist,
employees fill those gaps with their own ideas and perspectives.
These perspectives can spread widely across an organization. When
this information is false, it can be detrimental to the organization and
difficult for the leadership to correct.
Reference
Dennis Reina PhD, & Michelle Reina PhD. (2015).
Trust and Betrayal
in the Workplace: Building Effective Relationships in Your
a Organization: Vol. Third edition, revised and updated.
Berrett-
Koehler Publishers.
