¶ … Clarity Chronicle -- Communication Transparency
Communication: Integrity and Transparency
Building Trust through Integrity and Transparency
Recently, TakeCareSM underwent a major cultural change; one of the most important parts of which is a shift toward emphasizing the importance of Integrity and Transparency in order to build trust throughout the organization. In principle, integrity means a consistency and uniformity of values and core beliefs: an organization with integrity expresses its core values and beliefs throughout every aspect of its operations and relationships. Transparency means openness to view and a commitment to full disclosure and the rejection of any form of secrecy. Generally, organizations that promote and live up to the principle of integrity and transparency are more responsive to their stakeholders and much less susceptible to some of the serious problems that plague organizations with less well defined core values and beliefs that lack a commitment to informational transparency and openness.
Recent Organizational Culture Changes at TakeCareSM
Several weeks ago, our entire management team participated in a business management seminar about the importance of open and honest communication and the use of mechanisms such as post-mortem reviews to solve problems and improve the organization as much as possible. We learned that the purpose of these reviews is not necessarily about what is "wrong" but about understanding what issues need to be anticipated and explored. Ultimately, the main purpose of this approach is to create and maintain an environment in which our staff can be completely comfortable sharing their ideas, points-of-view, and concerns in an open way without fear of negative consequences.
To implement the policy of integrity and transparency, we have implemented procedures to publish and provide quarterly financial earning statements. We have also scheduled open dialogues that take place twice every year, and we distributed an anonymous Employee Survey to determine what issues and concerns are most important to our employees. The results of that survey were detailed in the first issue of the Clarity Chronicle, which is another important development that is part of the cultural shift to which we have committed. That publication is intended to facilitate the sharing of information throughout our organization for the benefit of all stakeholders.
