I looked over the list of this year’s honorees named as the 100 Best Companies to Work For http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2012/full_list/ and thought that maybe it’s not just the nap pods, http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2012/benefits/unusual.html, sushi bars, company parades and climbing walls that put employers like Google, Zappos, Mercedes-Benz and The Container Store on the list year after year.
Nice as those things are, of course, maybe the companies’ selection has more to do with the fact that employees are strongly connected to the organizations’ core mission — Google, a comprehensive search experience; Zappos, high-quality and affordable shoes and accessories; Mercedes, high-quality but not-so-affordable cars, and so forth. These are things that are relatively transparent, easy to wrap your brain around and likely are easy to communicate repeatedly to employees. Does such transparency of mission make a company more transparent overall, and thus a better company?
I considered this today as I read survey results from AMA Enterprise, a division of the American Management Association that finds as many as two-in-five employees feel they hardly ever know what’s going on at their organization.
After asking nearly 300 senior managers, executives and employees, “Do employees feel they know ‘what’s really going on’ at your company?” respondents said:
Yes, some of the time (55%).
No, hardly ever (36%).
Yes, most of the time (9%).
No opinion (1%).
Now, even a company with the most transparent mission can have opaque practices, just as a company whose mission is somewhat fuzzy — what does Enbridge Energy Partners http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/05/most-trustworthy-companies-leadership-governance-100.html do anyway? — can be lauded for transparency.
But I just wonder if having an overtly transparent mission makes it simpler for companies — or even forces them — to have similarly open practices.
Sandi Edwards, SVP at AMA Enterprise says that regardless of mission, transparency is paramount. “For employees to be engaged in their work and be productive it’s essential they have a sense of inclusion and a grasp of what’s going on,” she says, adding that any lack of transparency needs to be a core concern for senior management. “Too often, employees do not feel trusted or involved in decision making, or may not even know what the business strategy is. Everyone has a need to be included, to be part of the process, to feel secure, and to have a sense of their role in making their company successful. Organizations that fall short in terms of transparency will pay a price.”
What do you think? Is it easier for some companies to achieve transparency? Or, is it equally difficult regardless of company mission? Share your thoughts in the comments.
I looked over the list of this year’s honorees named as the 100 Best Companies to Work For and thought that maybe it’s not just the nap pods, sushi bars, company parades and climbing walls that put employers like Google, Zappos, Mercedes-Benz and The Container Store on the list year after year.
Nice as those things are, of course, maybe the companies’ selection has more to do with the fact that employees easily understand and therefore are strongly connected to the organizations’ core mission — Google, a comprehensive search experience; Zappos, high-quality, affordable shoes and accessories; Mercedes, high-quality, but not-so-affordable cars, and so forth. These are things that are relatively transparent, easy to wrap your brain around and likely are easy to communicate repeatedly to employees. Does such transparency of mission make a company more transparent overall, and thus a better company?
I considered this today as I read survey results from AMA Enterprise, a division of the American Management Association that finds as many as two-in-five employees feel they hardly ever know what’s going on at their organization.
After asking nearly 300 senior managers, executives and employees, “Do employees feel they know ‘what’s really going on’ at your company?” respondents said:
Yes, some of the time (55%).
No, hardly ever (36%).
Yes, most of the time (9%).
No opinion (1%).
Now, even a company with the most transparent mission can have opaque practices, just as a company whose mission is somewhat fuzzy — what does Enbridge Energy Partners do anyway? — can be lauded for transparency.
But I just wonder if having an overtly transparent mission makes it simpler for companies — or even forces them — to have similarly open practices.
Sandi Edwards, SVP at AMA Enterprise says that regardless of mission, transparency is paramount. “For employees to be engaged in their work and be productive it’s essential they have a sense of inclusion and a grasp of what’s going on,” she says, adding that any lack of transparency needs to be a core concern for senior management. “Too often, employees do not feel trusted or involved in decision making, or may not even know what the business strategy is. Everyone has a need to be included, to be part of the process, to feel secure, and to have a sense of their role in making their company successful. Organizations that fall short in terms of transparency will pay a price.”
What do you think? Is it easier for some companies to achieve transparency? Or, is it equally difficult regardless of company mission? Share your thoughts in the comments.
