Most of the everyday communication between employees and managers is anything but truthful and candid.This iconoclast and management professor describes how leaders can create an environment in which the spoken truth will be recognized and rewarded
Speaking truth to power
How often do we hear our corporate leaders hold that up as a principle they cherish? It’s what keeps us honest and informed, those at the top say. It reflects our willingness to listen and learn, a testament to our belief that our employees are our most valuable assets, the driving force for company growth. It is the natural extension of an open-door policy, where employees offer their opinions and bosses listen.
Not every manager, of course, uses the performance review to hide his or her own shortcomings and insecurities. And not every employee walks away from reviews demoralized and defeated. But the very existence of reviews within a company creates an environment of open-ended vulnerability that makes employees reluctant to hand a boss any weapon that could then be used against them. In such an environment, silent acquiescence is the communication path of least resistance.
But mostly, performance reviews allow companies to avoid the hard work of fixing the internal processes that inhibit employees from speaking the truths as they see it. Think of them as the avatars of corporate honesty, making management pretend that they are getting candor when in reality they’re just getting lies cloaked in a mask of straight talk.
Reprint from Ivey Business Journal
[© Reprinted and used by permission of the Ivey Business School]