Steve Priest (steve@integrityII.com) is President of Integrity Insight International.
Does your organization have a speak-up culture?
The answer is likely NO.
I have conducted over a thousand focus groups in 40 or so countries over the past 25 years. I have reviewed survey data from hundreds of thousands of employees. Maybe millions. And not one of the dozens of organizations has had a great culture of candor. Your chances are not too good.
However, there are distinctive variations in candor — speaking up — between companies, countries, professions, and work groups. Some companies and work groups do much better than others. And we have seen demonstrable improvement in companies as a result of targeted efforts. Therefore, all of my columns for 2018 will explore how to increase the likelihood that employees will speak up when they have questions and concerns, as well as be honest in what they communicate.
