No secrets: how a culture of transparency can harm a company

The desire for full transparency in the company for employees can look like surveillance and excessive control. Here's what you should pay attention to when monitoring employees,

Digitization, spurred on by the covid-19 pandemic , has expanded and changed management's ability to track what and how employees are doing. This increase in online transparency greatly increases the risk of interpersonal and work conflicts and challenges the cultural norms of individuals.

Many employees rightfully fear that increased monitoring of personnel expands the possibilities of management (including micromanagement) at the expense of personnel. When it comes to corporate control, surveillance implies a lack of trust and an invasion of privacy, which is especially true when people work from home. Such control is unacceptable: no one wants to be spied on. And this, paradoxically, forces leaders to make transparency more visible.

While a greater understanding of what is meant by transparency may ease employees' fears, it itself can also reveal and provoke conflicts among people's core values.