Jackie Stinnett, vice president of people and great work at employee recognition software company O.C. Tanner, has noticed a workplace trend, beginning in 2020.
“During the pandemic, transparent communication from senior leaders was essential, as employees relied on frequent, sometimes daily updates from the C-Suite to understand major decisions around remote work or the state of the company,” she says. “That level of visibility set a new standard we are seeing continue today. The expectation for clear, honest communication did not go away when the pandemic subsided, instead who is responsible for it has shifted over time.”
Namely, that responsibility has shifted to middle managers, putting them in a complicated position of upholding transparency, both top-down from leadership, and with direct reports.
In conversation with StrategicCHRO360, Stinnett shares how HR leaders can better support middle managers, better help employees navigate uncertainty and create a trustworthy workplace.
Why are middle managers the new face of trust at work and what must HR do differently to support them?
Middle managers are becoming the face of trust because employee expectations around transparency have fundamentally changed. During the pandemic, transparent communication from senior leaders was essential, as employees relied on frequent, sometimes daily updates from the C-Suite to understand major decisions around remote work or the state of the company.
That level of visibility set a new standard we are seeing continue today. The expectation for clear, honest communication did not go away when the pandemic subsided, instead who is responsible for it has shifted over time.
Today, transparency about work and performance is seven times more powerful when it comes from immediate managers than from senior leaders or HR. Employees want to understand how they’re performing, how decisions affect their day-to-day responsibilities and how their contributions connect to broader company goals. That kind of clarity happens in places like one-to-ones and everyday conversations.
Our research shows that when organizations practice transparency across the four areas that matter most to employees—personal work, community, decision-making and accountability—the odds of being considered a great place to work increase threefold, and the odds of probable anxiety decrease by 40 percent.
Unfortunately, only about half of employees say their leaders are transparent, and many believe information is filtered or withheld. That disconnect places enormous pressure on middle managers, who must translate strategy into daily clarity while managing uncertainty of their own. Many are carrying more than ever before, and without the right tools and resources, the way they communicate can determine whether employees feel grounded and confident or unsettled and adrift.
That is where HR plays a critical role, and the responsibility doesn’t fall solely on middle managers. They must be supported as culture builders and HR can do this by evaluating their workloads, right-sizing the number of direct reports, reducing administrative tasks and ensuring managers have time and mental energy for consistent, meaningful touchpoints with their teams.
Transparency needs to be a top-down initiative, so executive leadership and HR teams must be practicing what they preach. HR needs to help middle managers become comfortable with having difficult conversations by encouraging honesty and reinforcing that through recognition.
Above all, middle managers must be cared for as individuals. HR can do this through proactive check-ins on their wellbeing, access to peer forums or manager communities and visible support from senior leaders when navigating difficult decisions or change.
It’s equally important to recognize how middle managers’ roles have changed over the years, and the additional responsibilities they have taken on as a result, especially as they often carry the weight of strategy execution and team care without the appropriate acknowledgment.
In a workplace defined by ongoing change, middle managers have become the daily translators of strategy and the primary architects of trust. But they can’t do it alone, and need the support from above, both HR and executive leadership, to understand where and how they can practice transparency.
How can rethinking internships strengthen long-term culture for an organization?
Internships are often treated as short-term recruiting strategies or ways to fill productivity gaps. They are one of the clearest expressions of who an organization truly is, and if it is approached only through the lens of output, you miss the larger opportunity to develop future talent and create long-term cultural ambassadors.
Too often, internship programs are based on busy work, and don’t give interns the opportunity to take on more meaningful and skill-building projects. They’re also siloed, and don’t offer exposure outside of the designated department.
At O.C. Tanner, we shifted from a decentralized, department-led model to a more intentional, cohort-based program designed around development, inclusion and exposure. Our recruiting team partners with leaders to design assignments in advance so interns are not doing busy work, but gaining practical skills they cannot learn in a classroom.
We also make it a point to ensure our interns feel like a part of our culture before they walk through the door. That means treating them like full-time employees with thoughtful onboarding, pre-communication, recognition and structured opportunities to connect across disciplines.
Approximately half of our interns return in full-time roles, and many others become boomerang employees later in their careers. Even those who choose different paths often leave as organizational promoters, and tell their peers about their experience.
When interns are given real work, real recognition and real visibility into the culture, they strengthen the company’s talent pipeline in the short term and its reputation in the long term. Organizations that want durable cultural strength must design early-career experiences that reflect their values in action, not simply in words.
What do HR leaders get wrong and right about culture building in times of uncertainty?
When uncertainty rises, many HR leaders respond by introducing new programs or expanding benefits in an effort to support employees. While the intention is thoughtful, adding more initiatives does not necessarily create stability and in some cases, can increase noise and dilute focus. What’s worse is they may stay silent.
When communication stops or feels filtered, it erodes trust. Only about half of employees believe their leaders are truly transparent, and that perception has measurable consequences. When employees are kept informed about the decisions that affect them, especially how those decisions connect to their daily work, organizations are three times more likely to be seen as great places to work, and employees are significantly less likely to experience anxiety.
During periods of financial strain or organizational change, employees are not asking for perfectly packaged messaging or additional programs. They want clarity about expectations, visibility into how decisions are being made and evidence that leaders are taking accountability. Even acknowledging uncertainty builds more credibility than withholding information.
HR leaders are most effective when they reinforce the fundamentals rather than expanding the agenda. That may look like equipping managers with context before changes are announced so they can answer questions confidently, aligning recognition to reinforce shared priorities during disruption, and creating structured forums where employees can ask hard questions without fear.
It also includes intentional follow-up after employee surveys, not just sharing results, but hosting team-level discussions where employees can interpret what the feedback means for their group, identify areas of opportunity and understand what actions will follow.
When employees see that their input leads to visible action, it reinforces the sense of care and belonging that enables them to move from surviving to thriving. Resilient cultures are not built by layering on more activity or by staying silent. They are built by making trust tangible through consistent, transparent communication and follow-through.
