Cisco’s Position on “Radical Transparency” Sends Important Message to All Leaders

Fortune reporter Claire Zillman recently reported in The Broadsheet about Cisco’s new position of “radical transparency” in dealing with sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace. Zillman shared her conversation with Cisco’s chief people officer, Fran Katsoudas, who described steps that the company has been taking to create a workplace culture that is more “conscious” when it comes to employee complaints about wrongdoing that takes place within the company.

What’s innovative about Cisco’s approach is the much greater level of transparency the company is practicing with its employees when it comes to issues of negative behavior. While such issues are generally kept quiet by management at most companies, Cisco’s head of employment relations revealed in a recent company-wide meeting how important it is to Cisco to ensure a safe place to work for all employees, emphasizing that inappropriate behavior by anyone would not be tolerated.

Beyond that, Cisco’s leadership then shared with its workforce some details about a few specific cases (while keeping identities confidential), as well as revealing what actions the company took to address these situations.

This is indeed a radical approach to transparency, and one that suggests best practices for leaders in any industry to follow. Cisco’s goal to shed light on the complaint process—and as Katsoudas said, “make it OK” for others to feel comfortable bringing complaints to the table to address harassment and other forms of bad behavior—is already having a positive effect on employee trust. The actions provide additional assurance that the company cares about its employees by offering them a safe channel to report their complaints, with appropriate action to be taken as necessary.

“When you have trust, concerns come to the table,” Katsoudas told Zillman, adding that the alternative is that employees reach out to “external” avenues rather than through the company.

Amy Klobuchar has also tirelessly advocated for transparency—in her case, across our democracy. Both Cisco and Klobuchar have taken stands to confirm their policy of zero tolerance for any kind of abusive or proven inappropriate behavior.

In SHAMBAUGH’s work with our corporate clients, using employee assessments, we’ve uncovered an unfortunately high number of women and diverse talent who have experienced inappropriate behavior at their companies. Some speak up but there is no action taken by their company’s leadership; others stay silent for fear of retribution, or fear that the company will listen but not take any action.

Following Cisco’s lead, SHAMBAUGH recommends that other companies engage in radical transparency, ensuring that leadership behaviors adapt to address these important issues. Here are three best practices to help promote transparency in your workforce:

 

• Be forthcoming about what’s happening in your company. As Cisco’s leadership did, be more transparent about employee complaints as they relate to harassment and bullying. By showing employees that you take these complaints seriously, you’ll build trust with the individuals on your teams and in your company.

 

• Share examples of wrongdoing (without revealing identities). As Zillman reported from her conversation with Cisco’s Katsoudas, “walking through less-severe instances of ‘negative behavior’—a leader speaking inappropriately to a subordinate or a supervisor overlooking the personal issues of an employee—provides an opportunity for learning,”

 

• Build understanding of the complaint process to empower others to share their experiences. While some leaders may be concerned that this level of transparency will cause business disruption, remember the flip side: you are building trust internally. When people feel that they can come to leadership with their issues and complaints, it prevents these issues from being aired outside the company without leadership playing a role in the outcome.

 

How open is your company to the idea of radical transparency? I’d love to hear from you.

Contact me at info@shambaughleadership.com or visit our website at www.shambaughleadership.com to learn about SHAMBAUGH’s toolkit for mitigating bias, cultivating greater inclusion, and accelerating the advancement of women and wider range of talent.

Rebecca Shambaugh is President of SHAMBAUGH Leadership, Founder of Women In Leadership and Learning. She is an author and speaker on Creating High Performance and Engaged Work Environments Through Equitable and Inclusive Work Cultures. Rebecca is a contributing writer to Harvard Business Review, the HuffPost, and a TEDx speaker. Rebecca has been featured on CNBC, Forbes, Training Magazine, and US News and World Report.  

Find out more about us at: www.shambaughleadership.com

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