While not a new concept, the importance of transparency in the workplace took on more urgency during the pandemic as our daily lives, including our work environment, were upended. Worldwide, both within the workplace and outside of it, uncertainty became the norm rather than the exception across many influential sectors: geopolitical, natural and business. And there are no signs of things calming down anytime soon.

In a volatile climate, organizational transparency becomes more essential to your business success. As your employees cope — or attempt to cope — with constant upheaval and uncertainty, helping to foster stability toward mental health is of prime importance. Any reassurances you can offer your teams will go a long way in stabilizing their anxiety levels, at least regarding the workplace since external factors are most likely beyond your control.

Ask yourself: If your management team is not leading with transparency, what is your response to the uncertainty? Are you then leading with opaqueness? What does that mean for our employees?

Related: Six Strategies To Navigate Through Uncertainty

Transparency vs. opaqueness

Transparency facilitates a more open, less hierarchical approach to management and a culture that tilts toward learning and innovation. It assumes that data and information will be of value to people. A culture of transparency helps to decentralize information, and with the right information, we’ve witnessed individuals become leaders.

The more employees connect to your company’s overall business objectives, the more room is given for inspiration to arrive. Transparency allows for ownership and alignment, enabling the business to unlock growth. In addition, it encourages individuals to take ownership of problems and mistakes, solutions and their departments. It discourages finger-pointing. It is evidence of mutual respect between the organization and its employees.

In this environment, employees stay connected to what is happening within the organization and don’t have to spend valuable time questioning the company’s direction or plans. If a problem develops, the focus stays on solving the problem versus spiraling into a perceived cover-up and becoming part of the subsequent rumor mill churn.

Organizations led by transparency foster a culture that acknowledges we don’t have all the answers and are learning together as the business grows.

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Related: Five Actions Leaders Should Take In Times Of Uncertainty

On the flip side, opaqueness assumes hierarchy. The lack of transparency permeates the organization, causing silos and territorial fiefdoms. Opaqueness facilitates a culture that guards information and knowledge and instructs people what to do instead of providing opportunities to lead. There’s no ownership by employees. There’s the leadership team and everyone else.

Here are some tactics your organization can leverage to foster a culture of transparency.

• Document your vision, strategy and goals. Openly state these north stars, even sharing them externally, instead of having people guess or make them up for you. This level of visibility will ensure the alignment of your go-to-market strategy with your vision, mission and goals.
• Share internally how the business is meeting its goals. Measure how the business is performing monthly or quarterly against a transparent plan that you’ve put in place. Share OKR (objectives and key results) reporting of how the company is performing. Use this information to foster a culture of learning. At PandaDoc, we understand that some of these OKRs will fail, but we let everyone know it’s okay as long as we learn from our mistakes.
• Regularly schedule all-hands meetings. Implement these meetings at the company and at departmental levels. Schedule “ask me anything” meets with leaders so employees can voice their questions or concerns. PandaDoc’s all-hands have a cadence to them. We publish a calendar of what we’re going to discuss; for example, a monthly or quarterly business review, an OKR review, show and tell and what’s happening in various departments. We also structure time to talk about things happening in the world that impact us.
• Schedule sprint reviews. Have departments share their accomplishments within a designated time — for example, over the past month. Record and post these on your company website so everyone in the company has the opportunity to view them. At PandaDoc, we invite our entire company to join our weekly product and engineering sprint reviews.
• Create a culture where your employees feel safe. Not every employee feels confident enough to ask leadership-related questions during an all-hands meeting. Provide structured ways to encourage the questions. Let your employees know that they can have one of their co-workers ask the question on their behalf. It’s a simple way of letting your employees know that you have their back, and it provides a way for all employees to have their concerns addressed.
• Take note of what other companies are doing. Software developer GitHub, for example, is implementing some innovative ways to promote transparency. Two that come to mind: They publicly expose their employee onboarding and offer a two-week CEO shadowing opportunity for employees.
• Understand that you don’t have to share everything in real-time. You might not want to share a new development in real time; some may require a well-thought-out plan. But you do want to get in front of the rumor mill before your employees start to have that nagging feeling that something is wrong. And definitely, before the information is available on the internet. Share as quickly as possible what’s happening, and what the plan is so your employees can decide their next steps. Sharing this information helps cultivate mutual respect.

As you think about leading with transparency, it’s critical to note that your business is already transparent, even if you don’t want it to be. There’s no point in hiding negative information. It’s going to come out. And you don’t want the information shared on Twitter before you’ve shared it with your employees. A better business practice is to embrace and lead with transparency to foster a more positive working environment for everyone.

John O’Donnell, a practice consultant at ICAEW Members’ Department, explains what he sees as the many benefits of specialising as an accountant. 

Finding a niche is an excellent way for accountants to unlock new, profitable opportunities. 

So it’s no surprise to hear that more and more practices are identifying and focusing on niche markets as a way of optimising budgets and boosting internal efficiency.

Here’s what we cover in this article:

What do we mean by a niche market?

Many firms will say “I specialise in SME clients” without realising that most other practices will say the same thing.

As such, their clients have little to differentiate them from their competitors.

Defining yourself as a niche firm, servicing a niche market, is a way to help you stand out from the crowd.

While brand image, good marketing and so on can help you celebrate your unique selling points, perhaps one of the most effective ways is to focus on one or more niche markets, a move that brings additional advantages too.

What are the advantages of serving niche markets?

There are two fundamental advantages to serving niche markets and specialising as an accountant:

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• Optimised marketing
• Internal efficiency.

From a marketing perspective, you can become one of the ‘go-to’ firms for clients in your sector and focus your marketing budget accordingly.

This will be more effective than a general ‘scatter-gun’ approach and should bring greater success.

Networking can be more targeted too. If the niche sector has conventions or meetings, you can attend these and expand your client base.

Marketing via publications (such as the magazines or articles your niche uses) can also be quite focused, to make the public aware of your firm and specialisation.

The second advantage is in the area of internal efficiency and will help improve profitability considerably.

If you’re processing accounts and tax returns for similar clients, you can use efficient processes.

This should be considered carefully in your staff recruitment, operational requirements and software choices, ideally prior to marketing yourself in this niche in the first place.

You should also consider informing clients in the sector of the way you want them to keep their records (to make both your and their job easier) and incorporate this into your engagement terms with them.

Are there other considerations?

If you focus on a transactional specialisation (such as corporate finance or strategic tax advice – as opposed to providing compliance advice), your income may not be recurring.

Therefore, you may need a good network of client providers who recognise your expertise so they provide clients referrals and ensure you have a continuing supply of new business.

Are there any disadvantages to tapping into a niche market as an accountant?

There may be, particularly with changes to tax and accounting requirements.

Concentrating all your efforts in one area may also leave you vulnerable to economic change – for example, if a particular sector is hit by a recession.

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One particular specialisation years ago (dealing with small subcontract builders) was affected quite significantly by a change in tax laws.

So your niche may lead you to need to swiftly rethink your firm strategy.

How do I turn my practice into a niche firm?

Consider areas where you are technically competent or have an interest.

We also recommend that you plan carefully in terms of resource and put together a strategic plan for expanding your practice.

We have advised accountancy practices in this area in the past (from sole practitioners upwards) in order to ensure they plan for their futures.

So consider the following: will you need to recruit additional staff? How senior do they need to be? Are they available or close to you?