Transparency

Elements of Enterneering^®/Culture/Transparency

podcast

What is meant by a transparent corporate culture? When is a company considered transparent and when is it considered not transparent? There is no definitive academic answer to these questions, as transparency is not a concrete method or formula. It is a matter of attitude and is based on subjective perceptions. Some individuals perceive companies as lacking transparency if they do not disclose the salaries of all their employees, while others are happy enough about transparency in their company when just the strategy is explained to them in more detail. It is the company or its top management that wants to cultivate a specific culture to achieve their goals and be successful. If their conviction is that maximum non-transparency and secrecy will lead to the desired success, this is legitimate, and not bad.

There are entrepreneurs who neglect to address this issue and do not engage in self-reflection. They have no way of knowing whether they are transparent or not and whether the current situation is helping or limiting the company's success in the long term.

Transparency in the industrial age: The historical development of companies in the industrial age was not predominantly characterised by high transparency. For a long time, operating results, financial figures and remuneration structures were closely guarded secrets in many companies. The prevailing business situation and challenges were actively withheld from the public and customers, and internal operations, successes or setbacks were treated like highly classified information. Also, information about the company was often limited to what was necessary for sales purposes, as otherwise, there was no legitimate interest in such information. Staying under the radar was considered the means of choice by many companies.

The power of knowledge: A lack of transparency is inevitably associated with a lack of knowledge, and thus leads to a power constellation, which is important in authoritarian corporate cultures. It enables those in positions of power to maintain and expand their positions of power by leveraging the information advantage they possess.

Uncontrolled transparency: Excessive inappropriate or uncontrolled transparency, on the other hand, leads to information overload, causing distractions or irritations. This can result in loss of concentration, an increased risk of unintentional data leaks and contradictory or confusing information.

WHY?

In the digital age, knowledge, speed and transformation capability are crucial for business success. And these are no longer limited to the top management. Due to the rapid changes with ever shorter reaction times, these capabilities are necessary at the grassroots level, i.e. where products are developed and projects are executed. This is not possible without sufficient transparency.

Companies strive to employ top talent and maintain a high level of engagement among their workforce. However, today's top talents no longer want to work in non-transparent and authority-driven corporate cultures. High-level employee engagement can no longer be maintained in the long term solely through regular and punctual salary payments. Highly qualified individuals with modern mindsets want to experience company participation. They want to know the meaning and purpose of their work and understand inner connections more precisely. If these individuals feel excluded due to a lack of transparency, they will, sooner or later, look for other places to work in.

Agile companies rely on self-organisation and empowerment, both of which require a high degree of trust and communication. And trust and communication rely on a high level of transparency. Transparency is therefore a fundamental building block for successful agility.

Honesty is the best policy! This old folk wisdom still holds true. Individuals, organisations and societies that maintain a transparent and honest approach establish long-term and sustainable trust. They thus reduce the need for future explanations or argumentative target areas. Concealing weaknesses and pretending to be perfect has never led to a lasting positive image. On the contrary, individuals and companies that admit their weaknesses, continuously improve and learn from mistakes, develop a natural and authentic charisma.

Smart data transparency refers to the intentional disclosure of business figures. Some companies are legally obliged to do so; many others created appropriate transparency about business development long ago. Transparent reporting of their business figures and other details can help companies make their significance and development visible. In self-organised companies, data transparency helps communicate important figures to the workforce so that they can better assess their individual contribution and track progress. This helps the organisation focus and identify emerging challenges.

HOW?

ORGANISED TRANSPARENCY: Companies can derive and implement targeted measures to positively develop transparency to the desired level. A simple and pragmatic approach involves addressing the following questions:

Are there any areas or instances where the workforce, customers or partners have expressed a need for greater transparency? What content is of particularly high relevance or in high demand?
In which areas would the company or the workforce like to improve transparency?
In which other areas will it make sense to increase transparency?
How does the company compare directly with other market participants in terms of transparency? In which areas are other companies more transparent, and what advantages or disadvantages can be derived from this?
What are the defined limits of transparency, which areas should be protected, and what information must be limited to a small circle of knowledge bearers?
Which of the above aspects can be swiftly implemented with minimal effort, and which ones require implementation planning and budget?
What does a roadmap look like after an effort-benefit assessment, and how is it implemented?
What are the responsibilities and roles, and how should managers act in relation to the roadmap or the measures to improve transparency?
What accompanying communication or training measures are necessary and useful?

The organisation of transparency also includes defining the limits and scope of transparency within the company's organisation and, in particular, explaining it so that the workforce can see why, and at what points, the transparency that might be expected is limited.

TRANSPARENCY THROUGH ENTERNEERING^®: Companies that follow the Enterneering^® approach and implement it in an appropriate form and shape the individual elements that are yet to follow in this app automatically create a high level of transparency. They also ensure continuous integration and further development through the different Enterneering^® elements. The following elements are directly related to a specific form of transparency:

Philosophy ❭ ❭ ❭
Strategy ❭ ❭ ❭
Governance ❭ ❭ ❭
Knowledge ❭ ❭ ❭
Communication ❭ ❭ ❭
Purpose ❭ ❭ ❭
Involvement ❭ ❭ ❭

Cross-references: At this point in the app, it becomes clear that the individual elements in Enterneering® complement each other and develop their full effect in combination. They will probably become fully apparent to you only after you study this app in its entirety.

In addition to these elements, there is also a specific focus on addressing the question of necessary and meaningful data transparency, which is to be considered as a content-related point in relation to each element.

In principle, it all sounds or reads very simple and banal. In fact, it is not particularly challenging to answer the above questions, make decisions, and implement improvement measures. Nevertheless, practice shows that in many companies even such obvious low-hanging fruit is not harvested...

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