FM Broadcast – Summer 2018

• Transparent: readily understood; characterized by visibility or accessibility of information especially concerning business practices
• Trust: assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something

A word that has been top of mind lately is Trust. As we see strong management teams work together to build great organizations, we realize that trusting one another is the key enabler of that success. Trust is one of those things that is essential in any healthy relationship, whether within a military unit, a soccer team, parents with their children, or employees with their boss. Working in an environment where people trust their peers, senior leadership, and team members allows better relationships, better alignment, and overall, better results.

One of the critical factors that leads to trust, is transparency – being thoughtfully open to others about the real you. Building trust through transparency often succeeds or fails from the beginning of a relationship, and this is true in recruiting as well. The earlier candidates and hiring managers can be honest with one another, the more likely they are to build a trusting relationship that will lead to success.

In many instances, our BOD and CEO clients are more turned off by a candidate’s attempts to show their perfect fit for the role than they are by a candidate’s willingness to discuss their real weaknesses, whether it is inexperience with a particular situation, a personal tendency that sometimes gets in the way, or even a past mistake. We all know that no one is perfect, so why do we insist that our only flaw is “I work too hard” or “I pay too much attention to detail”?

Similarly, the recruiting process is also the right time for a company to begin to open up with strong candidates. No company is perfect either, so have your candidate sign a non-disclosure agreement, show her the books, and begin to reveal the major issues within the company. That helps set the stage for a trusted relationship moving forward.

There is some danger in being transparent. You open yourself up and become vulnerable, but it is a crucial step in developing belief in one another. If you lose out on a strong candidate (or lose a job offer) because you were transparent, there is a good chance the trust would never have been built anyway, and the relationship would have failed. Better to wait for the right person worthy of your trust.

What’s your experience with transparency & trust in recruiting and business? We’d welcome your feedback!

Fleming                                                    Marty
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