By Nilesh Bhagat, CHRP

Though the new connected world we live in has many benefits, it is not without its challenges.  Despite the fact that there are more and richer ways to communicate; more opportunities to learn about each other and evolve larger in-groups (a definite plus for organizations benefiting from a more diverse network of stakeholders capable of increasing efficiencies); and develop deeper levels of empathy…there are also problems which stem from such connectivity.

Case in point, in a connected world, information travels fast; it is also more fluid. Any information that may affect one or more of the stakeholders of an organization can (and normally will) make its way through the network of individuals. Handled the wrong way, information making its way through a social web can quickly spell trouble for any organization. To avoid such disaster, there must be a shift in the ways leaders and members handle information.

Communicating without a hidden agenda, as well as creating systems, policies and procedures which are genuinely in the best interests of as many organizational stakeholders as possible is something that should be a common practice in today’s connected age.

Don Tapscott describes scrutiny as one of eight social norms of the Net Generation, the newest and biggest demographic to flood the workplace. As a result of this tendency, Net Geners ‘will demand trusting and transparent relationships with their organization’– evidence that this value now exists and will only become more deeply engrained in society moving forward.

What emerges is an accountability of communication in which the dispersal of any and all information is aligned with the expectation of what has emerged as a thriving and driving social value in the connected era: transparency.

At the forefront of such practice is HR. There are a myriad of scenarios any HR practitioner can imagine with respect to (sensitive) information and its communication parameters.

One such HR-specific example can be illustrated using the effects of wage compression on salary ranges for a given category of jobs. Wage compression represents an inequity in compensation to those affected, and applying the value of transparency through communication in these instances can go a long way to alleviate any difficulties that compression may create. Being up front about the reasons for wage changes, as well as addressing the plans and timelines for addressing the issue can help to attenuate any negative effects this type of information may have as it makes its way through the connected web of an organization.

While the earliest exponents of information theory, including the likes of the ‘enigmatic’ Alan Turing and Claude Shannon, were more interested in the underlying mathematical logic and processes of information dispersal, information has become something altogether richer and reaching.  In this era of personal communication devices the likes of which neither might have imagined, information is anything BUT neutral; nor is there any one singular source of noise to be superseded in order to achieve clarity of communication.

Instead, there is a newfound accountability grounded in the acceptance that information will escape the confines of whatever narrow network of receivers for which it was originally intended. The ways in which information now tends to manifest itself – as negative or positive – is now largely out of the control of any one group of individuals, (thanks to connecting streams like social media and near-ubiquitous mobile communications devices).

As a result, the systematic way in which it is handled has become paramount to upholding a strong and healthy network for organizations.

With the world’s information at your fingertips, how will you choose to communicate?

Nilesh Bhagat, CHRP, is a rewards coordinator with Best Buy Canada. Nilesh graduated from Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, First Class Honours. He majored in Human Resources Management and tacked on an extended minor in Psychology. He’s a self-confessed nerd (the first step is admitting), likes to read, loves hockey and is struggling with the complexities of learning the game of golf.