Confidentiality
During World War II one of the slogans
urging confidentiality was, “loose lips sink ships.” This saying pertained to the shipyard
workers, as well as the soldiers and sailors who shipped out on the
vessels. Discussions about technical
aspects of the shipbuilding and destinations were strictly forbidden topics.
In the 21st century where a
technological edge can mean capturing an entire market, confidentiality remains
a critical issue. This area of trust is
especially important for the research and development team and anyone
privileged enough to have access to a new product development idea.
Even after product introduction, some
aspects of the capabilities may need to remain secret. This helps guard against technical theft and
promotes a longer product life cycle.
And ultimately, it protects the profitability of the company.
The confidential aspects of a product can
become a tug of war between the consumer and the sales team of the
manufacturer. The sales force must be
made aware of the risk and consequences of revealing too much about a product.
Because of competitor’s expertise in
similar industries, even casual comments regarding product capabilities,
business strategies, management styles and business conditions can reveal a
significant level of information to an experienced, perceptive competitor.
Just as product innovations must be
closely guarded, so should many aspects of dealing with employees. An area of
intense curiosity and one having extremely negative repercussions is employee
incomes. It is very difficult to have
an associate salary revealed and not have some emotional response. Whether it is satisfaction, gloating, anger,
or bitterness; eventually it leads to unhealthy comparisons between the
employees. You can be assured that some level of lost productivity will be
experienced.
Other aspects of employee relations must
also be kept confidential for the sake of the associate and the trust required
maintaining a viable working atmosphere.
Most aspects of employee reviews and all details involved in a reprimand
should remain confidential.
The list of potentially confidential
issues could be extended to many other aspects of running a business. All businesses and industries will not have
the same concerns as others. Profit
margins, operating costs, pending acquisitions, sales strategies and
restructuring efforts are just a few of the items that may be deemed
confidential by senior management.
In a business situation, there is no other
aspect that arouses more curiosity than an unexplained termination. Terminations made due to flagrant disregard
for company regulations or violations of governmental laws should remain
strictly confidential. Slandering an
individual in public reflects just as poorly on the informant as it does the
victim.
During the early 1990’s, my employer
terminated a young manager for taking advantage of a vendor-client relationship
he had power over. The reasons for the
termination were to remain strictly confidential. But unfortunately, the details were quickly
spread among numerous people in the company.
The Regional VP was both angered and embarrassed with the leak. And the consequences were reputation damaging
to both the terminated manager and the Vice President. Consequently, the young manager was forced to
leave the industry and start all over in another field of business. Obviously, the terminated manager brought the
consequences on himself, but the leak was unnecessary and painful to both
parties.
Communication is a critical aspect of
associate behavior. If an issue is to be
kept confidential, clearly communicate the need for confidentiality and the
negative consequences of a leak.
Application:
Are confidentiality issues being handled
properly in your organization? If not,
what structure can you provide to see that they are?
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