According to the Bayt.com ‘Employee Engagement in the MENA’ poll, March 2014, 82% of professionals in the MENA feel very engaged in the workplace. These are the employees who are willing to go the extra mile for their company; they are driven by passion and have a profound connection with the company that drives them to desire success.
The report even goes on to say that “Four in 10 managers always do a good job of sharing information, with only 25% rarely hitting that particular benchmark”. This is a major indicator of a transparent work environment, where information flows in the organization through open communication channels. Transparency ensures that every employee in the company is working together to achieve a common goal, while having complete awareness of the mission, vision, and plan, as well as how their contribution assists the organization in achieving these. Why are engagement and transparency so related? Well, simple because with higher transparency, your employees are more likely to feel a personal commitment to the aims of the organization.
A transparent work environment not only ensures that your employees stay motivated and put in their best in what they do, but it also attracts the best talent to your organization. People want to work in an organization where they feel their opinion is valued, where their managers and peers are honest with them and where they find consistency and stability.
Our career experts at Bayt.com, the Middle East's leading career site, give you a few tips on how to build a transparent work environment at your workplace that engages your employees:
Open offices: An open office layout will do wonders for transparency. The lack of physical walls between workstations breaks other kinds of emotional walls too. After all, people can easily approach their colleagues for any work-related questions or discussions, and employees will be encouraged to work in teams rather than in isolation.
Consistent feedback: To be transparent with your employees, you have to give them honest and direct feedback. It could be about the way they did their job or their attitude and behavior towards work. While doing so, you should also let your employees be able to give you the same kind of feedback. 70% of employees in the MENA region say communication channels are open in their companies and they feel they can disagree with their manager without the fear of getting in trouble. This two way system of healthy feedback pushes back the negativity which may be breeding at the workplace.
Leaders should initiate: To make your organization transparent, you have to take the first step. As a manager, when you practice transparency, your team automatically follows suit. Even while working with other teams and departments in the organization you should maintain transparency in terms of communication and expectations. This style of work will tend to propagate and spread on its own as the benefits are for all to see.
Socialize with co-workers: Spend quality time with your co-workers as this can lead to honest and genuine conversations with them. Get to know a little about each other’s values and personal lives as this helps build trust amongst each other. Doing team lunches or going for an outdoor activity together helps bond with employees and in turn adds to transparency while working together.
Be honest: As a manager, you should be honest with your team about the company’s current stats, its financial position, how your team can add direct or indirect value to the organization, what is expected of your team members and what role each team member performs. You should be clear about these things and communicate about it on a regular basis. This will allow everyone to focus on more rewarding and productive responsibilities. It will also empower employees and make them feel more involved in the running of the organization.
Equal opportunity, equal recognition: You should openly communicate about current and upcoming opportunities with everyone at the workplace. This gives people a chance to volunteer and get involved in things they may be able to contribute to. Also, you should give people recognition, be it verbal or in the form of a reward, for something they have achieved or been exemplary at, as this gives them a sense of pride and belonging to the organization.
According to the Bayt.com ‘Values, Ethics and Integrity in the MENA Workplace’ poll, June 2014, 68% of MENA professionals feel their company is ‘very transparent’ about its values. Focusing on transparency and frequent communication at the workplace will cut down concerns and fears that employees and managers tend to have while at the organization. Transparency allows everyone to be able to focus on their work by reducing complacency, inspiring people to think creatively and motivating them to execute their work efficiently.
This article originally appeared in bayt.com.
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