Trust and Transparency

Your team is talented, but something feels off. Despite hiring excellent people and investing in development, you're seeing concerning patterns: high-performing employees leaving for "better opportunities," persistent rumors about unfair treatment, and a general sense that people are holding back rather than fully engaging.

The problem might not be your people—it might be your transparency systems.

The Unknown is Terrifying

Jaws is one of the most successful horror films of all time. It single-handedly created a fear of sharks that persists decades later. But did you realize that we don't see the shark until 1 hour and 21 minutes into the movie? Yet we were all terrified from the opening scene, when Chrissie is pulled underwater by that vengeful predator. And let's not forget that iconic do do….do do….dododododo.

People are most afraid of what they can't see and don't know. That's one reason organizational change feels so difficult—the outcome isn't visible until the transformation is nearly complete. It's also a top reason for dissatisfied employees. One of the most powerful moves leaders can make to increase team engagement, retention, and trust is to be boldly transparent.

The Pattern I See Everywhere

When organizations come to me with team conflict and low employee engagement, transparency is the first organizational trait I examine. I've heard team members from all industries and organizations of every size express the same concerns: pay inequities, promotion biases, leadership commitment, and organizational stability.

This is a systems problem. We've designed organizational cultures that default to secrecy, then wonder why teams don't trust leadership or feel invested in collective success.

The Systematic Approach

Building trust starts with transparency. But this isn't about sharing everything—it's about being intentional about what you share and why. What if your organization was transparent about:

• Pay formulas and salary scales

• Promotion and advancement rubrics

• Hiring decision criteria and processes

• Real-time updates on company financials, strategic shifts, and organizational concerns

If that list makes you uncomfortable, I urge you to examine the source of that fear. Ask yourself: Who benefits from the lack of transparency on these items? Are we withholding information just because "that's how things are done"? What are the worst and best possible outcomes of being transparent in these areas?

Real-World Application

Let's examine pay transparency. Pay inequities are consistently among the top concerns I hear from employees. In one health services organization I worked with, a team member told me directly: "We need pay transparency—pay uncertainty is a major reason people leave."

There was an organization-wide assumption that certain people were paid unfairly compared to others. Many employees of color suspected that white employees received higher compensation. When I reported this finding to leadership, their immediate response was: "Well, that's not true. We can show you our salaries and our salary formula."

I declined their offer and explained that regardless of whether pay inequity existed in reality, the perception of inequity was damaging trust and needed to be addressed systematically. For the team, not knowing how salaries were determined, what others earned, or what steps they could take to increase their own compensation created anxiety. That fear directly undermined their trust in leadership.

The Framework: Strategic Transparency

I recommended they publish pay formulas on their employee intranet. But I didn't stop there—I advised hosting listening sessions about compensation where team members could ask questions and provide input on making pay formulas more equitable and transparent.

The result? Employees felt safer, more respected, and became more eager to contribute to organizational success. Trust increased measurably.

The Innovation Connection

Some organizations ease into transparency gradually. Glitch, for example, publishes salary ranges both internally and on job postings. CEO Anil Dash explained: "The goal is paying everyone fairly, and transparency forces us to do that."

Buffer takes this further, publishing all employee salaries, equity formulas, and even revenue data online. Their "default to transparency" approach extends to diversity metrics and real-time financial performance.

The pattern across successful transparent organizations? They experience increased job applications, reduced salary negotiation disparities, and higher employee engagement.

The Bottom Line

Transparency holds organizations and leadership accountable. It's the lowest-hanging fruit of organizational excellence and the first foundational principle of successful Organizational Culture Design.

When you design systems that prevent fear of the unknown, you create conditions where teams can focus their energy on innovation and performance rather than anxiety and speculation.

Your Reflection Question

What information does your organization currently withhold from team members that might be creating unnecessary fear or distrust? If you examined your transparency practices through your employees' experiences, what assumptions about "need to know" might be accidentally undermining team performance?