At tech startups and banks, in doctors' offices and law firms, workers are increasingly being asked to keep secrets. These aren't personal confidences but organizational secrets about clients, proprietary technologies, or business strategies
Organizational secret-keeping is different from holding on to a personal or family secret. It isn’t a choice — it’s a requirement imposed by a superior.
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A hush has fallen over the workplace. At tech startups and banks, in doctors’ offices and law firms, workers are increasingly being asked to keep secrets. These aren’t personal confidences but organizational secrets about clients, proprietary technologies, or business strategies. Sometimes employees are required to keep this information from the public. Other times, they’re asked to keep it from people within their organization and even members of their own team.
Nir Halevy, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business, notes that while organizational secret-keeping has become more common, we know very little about how it affects the secret-keepers. In a new paper, he sets out to find an answer.
Along with Michael Slepianopen in new window of Columbia University and Eric Anicichopen in new window of the University of Southern California, Halevy proposes that organizational secret-keeping can increase stress and isolation while boosting a sense of meaning and importance on the job. “It’s fascinating that the same phenomenon can have opposite effects,” he says. “Keeping organizational secrets simultaneously hurts and helps employee well-being — in different ways.” This study is the first large-scale look at how workers are affected by organizational secrets in real-world settings. The results could help employers find ways to help employees reduce the stress of holding on to confidential information.
Organizational secret-keeping is different from holding on to a personal or family secret. It isn’t a choice — it’s a requirement imposed by a superior. What’s more, spilling the beans could come with significant professional, financial, and even legal repercussions. An employee could lose their coworkers’ trust, lose their job, or be sued by their employer.
In many instances, employees may need to keep information from their coworkers, which may disrupt corporate social initiatives like affinity groups or mentoring programs. After all, sharing information is a common way for people to bond with one another.
This piece originally appeared in Stanford Business Insights from Stanford Graduate School of Business. To receive business ideas and insights from Stanford GSB click here: (To sign up: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/about/emails)