The Transparency Challenge: How Open Can a Company Really Be?

In a world where companies are scrutinized online yet still hold their own truths, true transparency remains a challenge. Nadine Trautwein, CEO of HUNTER, shares her insights on navigating transparency in a family-run company – where values, innovation, and communication must align.

In a traditional, family-run company like HUNTER, it is often difficult to combine the tried and tested with new ideas. Our deeply rooted values have been our compass for decades. But in today’s rapidly changing world, we are faced with a complex question: how do we approach the topic of transparency and openness, especially in terms of internal communication? Particularly as a family business, it is especially important that all topics are brought up at the family table and discussed openly.

Change is not always easy per se, and especially with regard to leadership styles and principles and cultural change processes, you can’t turn things around overnight. I have experienced this myself.

That is why I am firmly convinced that an external evaluation by consulting firms or coaches is a useful first step to objectively evaluate communication. As an entrepreneur, I learned early on that if you keep to yourself, you can’t see the bigger picture.

What I would do again and again: involve external coaches. To achieve this, we have to open our doors wide to show where and how we communicate. Only in open collaboration with coaches at eye level can professional insight work and our real communication culture and structure be objectively evaluated. From the outside, the only way for a change to work is to sit in the middle of our meetings.

Transparency must be firmly anchored in the corporate culture.

What has this taught us? What have we learned? One image has stayed with me to this day and it illustrates communication at HUNTER quite well. It is best compared to the layers of an onion: the innermost core contains the most sensitive and confidential information, which is shared only within a small circle. There is absolute frankness here and the knowledge that each member of this core shares and bears the same responsibility.

This protected space allows for transparency in its purest form. This includes equal parts of positive and negative criticism. Real transparency can only work like this; it has to hurt sometimes – always under the premise of wanting to improve the situation, the company or the people – always with a benevolent, supportive attitude. It is never about hurting the other person. This is precisely what we want to avoid in the smallest group by creating a protective space that says very clearly: everything on the table, no matter how bad it is, is the only way we can make the right decisions for the company.

Values must be lived and not merely demanded

Our conclusion: If we as managers, and in particular I as managing partner, do not practise open communication on a daily basis, then I cannot expect the corporate culture to be fully lived. As leaders, we have to dare to talk transparently about strategies, figures and challenges, but always weigh up which information is relevant and appropriate. It is not an easy process and requires constant re-evaluation to ensure that the right information is shared, but that it can also be communicated in an understandable way and received in a comprehensible manner.

Striking examples are often figures that open up room for speculation. Quarter 1 went one way or the other compared to the previous year. Without context, open communication does not work. It only works if the context and the message are clear, otherwise it can also backfire.

This requires a deep understanding and trust in our employees and an awareness that openness is not seen as a risk, but as a valuable asset.

This transformative journey has not only changed HUNTER, but has also strengthened us. We have gained a new perspective on what it means to be transparent and understand that it is not about blindly disclosing everything, but about sharing in a clever and thoughtful way, building and maintaining trust.

In closing, I would like to encourage all other companies to embark on their own “journey of transparency”. It is a challenging but rewarding journey that has the potential to enrich not only communication but the entire corporate culture. Everyone has the right to open communication.

And in this area, too, lifelong learning applies! Although I communicate every day, I learn how to communicate anew every day.

Please also read the following posts:

• When the Workforce Asks the Question of Conscience
• “We’ve Had Many Discussions to Ensure Everyone Knows What’s Going On”
• Self-Learning Organization: Empowering IT Talent Through Personal Growth

Nadine Trautwein

In 2000, Nadine Trautwein joined HUNTER, the Bielefeld (Germany)-based specialist for high-quality pet accessories. Since 2007, she has been managing the globally successful company with a team of around 160 dedicated employees who share her enthusiasm for the brand and are passionate about animals.

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