In any workplace, candor drives clarity, consistency, and growth. When people avoid having tough conversations, withholding or icing-coated feedback or talking about real issues, it slows down or starts to break. But honest and direct culture does not only happen – it must be designed to work in the way the organization works. High-level culture is not an atmosphere or value, but a system.
In Garner, we build a system that makes candid a natural everyday part of the way we work. This three-step cycle lists the framework we use to operate a high-level culture that can adapt to the cultural goals of any organization.
Step 1 – Expected: Clearly organize the candid and frankness, and what matters.
Countless companies list frank candidness in their value or operating principles – let’s call it step 0. The first step in operating a high-level culture is obviously to clarify the specific behaviors that are brought about. It sounds obvious, but it is worth noting: people cannot meet undefined expectations.
Define behavior. Employees need to understand what “candid” means to your organization. Usually, this is not about speaking out your thoughts without a filter. Feedback should be direct, but be delivered with caution and empathy? Should it be feasible? Are there any appropriate or inappropriate settings? How long will it take to bring it up and to whom will it pay attention? It is also important to set standards for receiving feedback – what does healthy response, self-reflection and integration look like? If no one knows how to deal with it, candidness will fall.
Tailor expectations based on character or level. How the definition criteria vary by type of job, level or career stage and are defined through a cultural competence framework. What is the candor of entry-level employees? Supervisor? Executive? Garner’s ability, for example, ranges from marking personal problems to surface topics and pushing to address them, to cross-level development feedback, to creating a frank and prosperous environment. Level-specific expectations help embed candid people in a relevant, achievable and impactful way.
Embed the decision-making system. Like any critical skills, these expectations must be integrated into the system that drives decision-making – hiring columns, performance evaluations, development plans and promotional standards. It’s key: It’s not until the people you hire, the people you grow up, and the people you reward, the value or abilities you’re really here.
Step 2 – Mechanism: Design feedback opportunities to enter the workflow.
Once expectations are clear, create a system that makes candid a part of natural work. Provide clear, structured opportunities, and even demands to practice candidity. Structure provides representatives of people who build muscles to provide feedback in unstructured daily moments. Formal feedback mechanisms help normalize informal candidness, so over time people do it naturally.
Create opportunities. This may take the form of feedback tips during comments, 360 feedbacks, non-anonymous company or team surveys, and project reviews. Identify the natural rhythm or new mechanism for creating opportunities for candidity.
Design tips. Making honest questions makes solving tough topics easier. For example, in our peers and upward feedback tips, we ask, “What can this person improve?” and make it a necessary question. This shows that everyone has a field of development and everyone has a responsibility to help peers and senior leaders grow.
Assessment and adaptation. It is not enough to just provide feedback – it must be aligned with your cultural competence and add real value. Check feedback quality and delivery regularly: Honest? Operable? thoughtful? What is found to work and what is not. Refine tips to coach when needed and continuously improve your system and people.
Step 3 – Enable: Equip and empower people to do well.
Most people are naturally good at giving or receiving feedback – this is an act of learning. We have heard employees say they have been punished for critical feedback from senior leaders in their past roles. They need not only trust the candor in your organization, but they also need to do this effectively and will be welcomed.
Investment training. Teach why candid is important and how to practice it well in terms of donation and acceptance. Let people observe, dissect and practice examples of strong feedback vs. weak feedback. Give feedback.
Make it real. Use real, non-recorded case studies to train in the context of your company. For example, at the recent offsite company in Garner, we led cultural training for more than 200 participants using real conference recordings. Throughout the video, we presented polls at critical moments and guided targeted discussions on how each stakeholder approaches the issue. The meeting shared their thoughts with actual conference participants ended up highlighting our values of transparency and self-reflection. This exercise, people say, not only teaches tangible behavior, but also shows that Ghana’s candor is a life practice in the way we operate.
Early revisiting is often introduced. Cultural onboarding is the moment to set the tone and build expectations. But it shouldn’t stop there – regularly assess how culture provides targeted review training at least annually.
Model and strengthen behavior. Leaders need to be at the forefront of being frank about being consistent with your cultural standards. Again, the key is strengthening it – recognizing and celebrating when others are doing well. The harder the feedback is to be given, the more important it is to admit it. You can say “thank you for your feedback” every time. It is publicly emphasized when someone gives thoughtful, constructive input. Shows that candidness is not only accepted, but it is valuable.
in conclusion
Advanced cultures are built through clear expectations, embedded mechanisms, and systems that are continuously supported. As you observe and strengthen your behavior, you will find something that works and what doesn’t work – create a continuous feedback loop that improves the expectations set at the beginning. That’s why operating frankness is a cycle, not a one-time initiative. Maintaining a culture of accelerated progress has intention and consistency.
Garner Health People Nadia Uberoi.
