Knock Knock!!
Who’s there?
Open Door Policy!
The door is open for you.
At AtliQ, we believe that we are formed from our values and ideologies. Our culture decides the way our employees behave internally and represent externally. We believe it is important for the employees to have a cordial relationship with their superior and the management. This ensures a smooth information flow and better understanding at work. Transparency is most important at any hierarchical level to avoid conflicts and confusion. This ensures that no one feels neglected when any issues arise. And thus, the implementation of the open-door policy feels right by all means.
What is the Open Door Policy?
In simple terms, this policy means that the doors of the superiors and management remain open for the employees. This gives the employees the liberty to walk up to the leaders and discuss issues with them. The major benefit of this policy is that it provides an open forum to discuss any issue or queries.
Benefits of Open Door Policy
The most spoken-about benefit of an open-door policy is open communication. However, many other benefits can bring a drastic change in the work culture by implementing this policy. Such benefits include:
- Brings attention to issues that management might not be aware of
- Removes barriers by letting employees speak without fear of retaliation
- Free talking might lead to the solution of unseen issues
- Build a trusting and respectful environment
- Allows employees to receive feedback
- Opportunity for employees to offer suggestions, input, or share any innovative idea
- Gives employees to discuss private setting to discuss a personal matter
- Low turnover and high retention rate
Also, this policy has its own advantage for the managers too. When a manager is guiding an employee toward a solution, they empower confidence and independent thinking. With these skills, the next time the same employee might not only bring in the problem but also possibly suggest a solution. This makes it easy for the manager to implement the change and also allows the employees to take up more responsibilities and ownership. This also encourages a highly productive workforce.
Even though setting an efficient open door policy in a workplace seems easy and doesn’t require much effort, keeping the below points in mind will make it easier.
Get support from employees: Every policy’s ultimate goal is employee welfare. Thus start this by explaining to them how the policy would prove beneficial to them and if they want such a policy.
Set boundaries: The goal is to add a boost to the well-being of employees without abuse of power. However, while implementing this, it is important to ensure the right use of the power. There should be clear restrictions on what topics can be discussed and what topics are prohibited.
Collect Feedback: A regular feedback session would make the employees understand the seriousness of the open policy. An effective feedback session is always a two-way street. The management should also be able to openly communicate with employees when an issue is reported and also share and brainstorm the solution.
Listen & Act: The motive of the open-door policy is not only to allow the employees to share their concerns but also to solve them. The manager should be able to drive the conversation towards a solution.
However, the major misconception of this policy lies in its name itself. Managers consider an open-door policy means literally keeping their door open irrespective of anything. But if not managed effectively, it is the managers who might have to face problems with their duty completion.
Open Door Policy @ AtliQ Technologies
At AtliQ, we believe that the role of the managing director, CEO, or department heads is not just to sit in a locked cabin and shout at the failure, But we rather know that they are supposed to be the strongest support for the employee.
For us, this is more than just another form of communication with our employees. It is more about genuinely hearing out their concerns, and welcoming their innovative ideas. Through this, we have been able to add a couple of service lines and cost-saving methods. Implementation of this policy has made it easier for us to strip away the barriers and made the employees feel more heard. Also, the management has been able to provide transparency and immediate implementation of solutions when problems/suggestions arose. As a result of this, the employees are more comfortable speaking up about their concerns and ideas.
Much to everyone’s amusement, none of our leaders distance themselves by sitting in a locked cabin. They sit with the team, and always encourage healthy interaction. It gives us a more positive ambiance and motivates the employees to perform better.