Imagine if you would like to have a conversation, or air out your complaint to your manager but you have no idea on how to go about it. You’re actually not sure when the right time is to have a discussion or if you should approach them in the first place. 

Some employees, whose managers are not easily accessed, find it hard to approach them, a thing that creates distance between workers and their bosses. 

An open door policy is one that heartens employees to come to their managers with questions, matters and dialogues about issues.

An open door policy  heartens employees to come to their managers with questions and issues. Net photo.

This policy doesn’t only benefit employees, but employers and managers as well as it crafts free communication that could result in improving productivity and operations of the company. 

When employees open up to their managers about their complaints or issues, this allows them to come up with the right solutions for the issues presented to them.

With an open door policy, managers are able to get first-hand information on what’s happening in the company, thus offering unique knowledge and apprehension into how to improve operations.

Willy Nsabiyumva, a business consultant, states that the open door policy fosters relationships between managers and workers. It makes them relatable and easily accessible. 

He carries on that this policy allows managers to collect feedback from workers much easier. When managers are reachable, workers can reach out to them and easily express what is on their mind. 

"Open door policy encourages transparency in the workplace and leads to trust. Employees develop subconscious trust toward their managers because they cannot only access them fast and easily, but can also see what they are up to,” he states. 

Nsabiyumva highlights that an open door policy fosters quick and timely communication. Because of the easy accessibility, employees can reach their managers and bosses much easier without going through the whole process of requesting an appointment.  

He also carries on that the policy holds leaders and managers accountable in a corporation. You will not do anything you want because you know someone is watching you and as a leader, you are expected to be a role model.

According to Emmanuel Rwozi, a marketing expert in Kigali, an open door policy means every manager’s door is open to every employee. This is implemented to develop employee trust and to make sure important information and feedback reach managers who can use it to make changes and improvements.

For this policy to work, employees have to be trained well about it because if you don’t, employees might think that their direct supervisors have no authority over them or are not even able to take any decision in the workplace.

He also stresses that when managers are receiving any comments, complaints or any information from a junior employee about something that their direct supervisor can handle, they should ask them if they first took it to their supervisor; it’s always fair to consult that employee’s supervisor. 

He further notes that this policy works as an ‘eye’ on every employee and the whole work setting, "you are very aware that information can travel from the lowest employee to management, everyone acts responsible and when this policy isn’t there, the opposite happens.”

Experts say that the open door policy assists managers understand their teams and allows employees to feel a part of the company. It also improves workplace relationships, which enables employees to feel valued, thus lowering employee turnover.

Unfortunately, it is believed that the open door policy can be broken if employees rely too much on their managers, as they don’t learn to solve problems on their own, leading to a loss of productivity. If taken out of hand, the policy can result in oversharing and too much socialising between managers and employees, a thing that can be interpreted as favouritism.