Letting Your Employees In and The Impact on Leadership

Interesting article in the October 2015 edition of the AIM magazine on page 12, entitled "Time to Open the Books". In light of some recent client assignments it raised in my mind the question of what and how much do employees need to know, or should know, about the broader business, as distinct to the narrower view of what is going on within their own teams, departments, work groups etc. And of course in light of the frequent mantra regarding change management, where building the case for change and setting the scene is considered a pre-requisite for success, how does not 'letting them in' or giving them the broader context, fit that story?

There are other issues here of course, which revolve around keeping your employees engaged and, to a very great extent, excited about what is going on in the organisation, and, more importantly, engaging them in the organisation's future by chasing innovation, efficiency and effectiveness. Additionally, as the article eludes to, what about their emotional well being. A substantial part of an employee's life is focused around their work, so an environment that encourages enthusiasm surely can only be one where engagement is seen in the broader sense rather than the more narrower sense.

One of the key challenges in this approach to employee engagement and inclusion is, of course, the ability for organisational leaders to cope with a changing landscape where leadership is not seen as having all the answers and 'directing' staff, but rather seeking broad input into organisational challenges, recognising that a wide range of requisite skills exist right through the organisation, and diffusing the 'management' process. In many organisations such skills are not necessarily harnessed or even known, let alone sought and embraced. Potentially this begs the question as to the role of such areas as Human Resources - where I often suggest that operational and transactional approaches provide little value-add to the organisation, whilst strategic approaches should really be the focus.

Have organisations truly embraced this openness, as distinct to saying they do but practically they do not, or are some still operating within a historical paradigm of hierarchy and power, as distinct to a flatter, inclusive leadership and management culture?

How does your organisation function in this aspect?