A new survey, just released by Fierce Inc., finds that workers’ top priorities are company transparency and professional development. Organizations create practices, both written and unspoken. Their goal is to support their employees. However, many times these so-called "best practices" do not really lead to success. In reality, many employees believe their organizations’ workplace practices are ineffective.
Supporting this belief, 44 percent of the respondents claimed their company’s best practices actually hinder employee productivity and morale. Moreover, another 47 percent reported that their organizations’ current practices consistently get in the way of desired results.
When asked which practices hold their organizations back, nearly 50 percent of respondents identified “a lack of company-wide transparency and too little involvement in company decisions” as critical areas of concern. In addition, nearly half of survey respondents identified the most beneficial practices as those that encouraged individual accountability, professional development and employee empowerment within the organization.
While the survey supports the idea that today’s employees seek transparency within their organization, their desire for full disclosure doesn’t stop there. They also want their employers to solicit diverse opinions from all workers in the organization. Among respondents who reported limited benefit from their organization’s current practices, fewer than one third believed their companies were willing to change those practices based on employee input or feedback.
Many of these widely accepted practices not only don’t work, but they cost companies billions of dollars. In fact, they drive away valuable employees and customers, limit performance and stall careers as well. Fierce Inc., the company releasing the report, is a communication, training and leadership development company, located in Seattle, Wash.
It’s obvious that to implement practices that are beneficial to the individual — as well as the organization — companies must foster an environment where the individual’s worth is encouraged and where communication is both welcome and valued. Wise companies will encourage their managers to actively engage their staffs in creating policies geared more toward transparency and employee empowerment. The most successful healthcare organizations have long embraced the value of transparency; expect enlightened companies in other industries to follow suit.
