INSIGHTS
RAD HR
BY KIAHNNA PATTON
USE TRANSPARENCY TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
I
’ve yet to have an employee say that I didn’t give them all the information I could in my 20-plus-year career. Even in the most extreme cases, including lawsuits, employees made it known that I took their concerns seriously and provided a level of transparency they weren’t accustomed to. Yes, even in human resources, you can be transparent. And when there is information you can’t divulge, be transparent about that. Know that you cannot control others’ thoughts despite your efforts. What you can do is be honest and as open as possible. I’m a big believer in transparency. Being in HR, it is not always feasible or advisable to tell everyone everything. In cases where it is ill-advised, I say, “I cannot tell you that.” Unfortunately, some opt for spinning the truth or outright lying instead, neither of which I support. Being open with others can be terrifying, especially when you have not built a connection, biases are at play, and there is no trust. What must be present for transparency to work and be safe? Let’s look at transparency in just a few situations you may face at work – interviewing, dayto-day working, and being a leader. TRANSPARENCY IN THE INTERVIEW PROCESS I once received advice from a recruiter to reframe why I left a company. I understood their position, considering the age-old adage that one should never say anything negative about a previous company during an interview. I also understood that reframing was not true to who I am, and more importantly, my journey is my story to tell. While working with this trusted advisor, I feverishly wrote down all of their advice about how I should spin
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the story of why I left my previous employer. Then, I had an interview with one of my dream companies. I could not, in good faith, be less than transparent about my reason for leaving. So, I did something scary yet freeing. I told the hiring manager that I wanted to try something with her. Keep in mind that I did this knowing a bit about the organization’s culture, which they claimed included transparency as a core tenet. I gave her the unedited and messy version of why I left. Something happened that others may think is unheard of. She empathized with what I went through and thanked me for being honest. It was a moment that led to openness from her and a great start to our employment relationship – one with transparency and honesty from the start. Some cases don’t go as well as mine. Many of us have read about and experienced an interviewer’s archaic thinking that no one should say anything less than glowing about their previous employer. And some of us interviewees poorly construct our stories during the interview. Those things matter. What also matters is telling the truth. TRANSPARENCY DAY-TO-DAY Have you ever worked with someone or known someone who never tells you the whole story? I have a friend with whom this is a running joke. He frequently leaves out what I consider essential information that would help me understand the five-minute story he’d just told. I’d be scratching my head and rearranging all of the information in my head to make sense of it. I felt confused and a bit deceived and that I’d wasted a lot of valuable time. Imagine if this happened to you frequently and intentionally at work. How might you feel about the person or people who display the behavior? How might it impact how you approach your work?
ADVANCING THE IMAGING PROFESSIONAL
