Why We Started The Org: A Platform for Transparency

Our founders started The Org with a shared acknowledgement that something is broken. Historically, organizations have hidden their employees, their financials, and their ideas in order to beat the competition. However, secrecy is outdated, bad for business, and leads to more problems than it solves. Unnecessary secrecy also prohibits diversity.

Whether intentional or unintentional, most companies struggle with transparency, and this only gets worse as the companies grow.

Our fundamental idea to fix the broken system was to address what every company has: organizational charts. Org charts need to evolve, they are typically clunky diagrams hidden in outdated HR software. They are hard to find, unhelpful, and boring.

We discovered that by revealing the org chart, and elevating the role it plays at a company, we could solve many of the problems at growing organizations. We launched a platform — predicated on complete transparency — to empower anyone to build a better organization.

Problems we’re Passionate About

Celebrate the “Unsung Heroes”

There are so many people that make a company great, and yet you only hear about a few. [Elon Musk][1] is not the only important person at [Tesla][2], and so forth. We believe that the lack of transparency into the people who make a company great makes it difficult for companies to fully celebrate their amazing teams. In fact, the “main reason stellar team members get overlooked for opportunities is a lack of visibility” (Source: [Forbes][3]).

Sourcing talent is difficult

Great companies are built by great people who are hard to find and want to join teams of the highest caliber. With current software, great opportunities get lost in the noise and applicants find it impossible to research their future colleagues.

• Talent sourcing and discovery have risen to historic levels. 72.8% of employers are having a difficult time finding skilled candidates (source: [Manpower Group][4]).

Communication deteriorates

As companies scale, communication suffers. Serendipitous ideas are lost without counterparts to brainstorm. Company leaders miss out on novel ideas and promising talent hidden beneath middle managers. As communications get worse, relationships suffer, companies do less, innovate less, turnover more, and fail faster.

• According to IBM, 72% of employees don’t have a full understanding of their company’s strategy.
• 60% of companies don’t have a long-term strategy for their internal communications (source: [Workforce][5]).
• 74% of employees feel they are missing out on company information and news (source: [Trade Press Services][6]).
• 33% of employees said a lack of open, honest communication has the most negative impact on employee morale (source: [Recruiter][7]).

Collaboration and trust suffers with scale

When communication breaks down, collaboration does, too. Teams become siloed and team members are unsure what’s being worked on, who is on which team, and who reports to who. When members of any group don’t know each other personally and aren’t sure of each member’s contribution, they talk less and they trust less. In large groups or distributed teams it’s difficult to build the trust necessary to minimize oversight and empower people to do their best work together.

• 86% of employees and executives cite lack of collaboration or ineffective communication for workplace failures (source: [Salesforce][8])
• 39% of surveyed employees believe that people in their own organization don’t collaborate enough (source: [Queens University][9]).

Onboarding is broken and ramp time is long

At companies of every size, onboarding is expensive for the company and uncomfortable for new team members. The first day of work can be a lonely, confusing, and stressful experience for a new hire, and existing team members don’t have the bandwidth to properly get-to-know and welcome new people.

• 79% of business leaders say onboarding is an ‘urgent’ priority (source: [Deloitte][10]).
• As much as 20% of turnover occurs in the first 45 days on the job (source: [Deloitte][10]).

Our Solution: Transparent Organizations

The Org’s philosophy for the future of work is organizational transparency. We believe that every company’s org chart should be a public, transparent, and delightful tool that adds value to each business on the platform by showcasing employees, building trust, attracting talent, and attracting customers. Our product does just that, and you can check it out [here][11].

Org chart data is contributed by the employees themselves and augmented by a team at The Org to ensure that information is always up-to-date and accurate. With every company on The Org, we will all know how teams of all types are structured. This vast network will provide amazing benefits to consumers, the companies on the platform and to employees themselves.

Attract talent and showcase your team

Great people want to work with great people. By showcasing the incredible team you built to the world, you gain a valuable recruiting tool that shows potential hires exactly who they’ll be working with. By showing off talented, diverse teams, companies will attract competitive talent and lead by example.

Build a culture of recognition

A transparent org chart will add visibility into everyone who contributes at a company. No employee will go unseen or unheard, and employees will get the recognition they deserve. Organizations will celebrate wins as a team, and this culture of recognition and appreciation will make your team happier, boost morale, make employees more motivated, and give employees a bigger sense of ownership.

Create a great onboarding experience

When you create a great onboarding experience, you enable new hires to do their best work from day one. New hires will be able to open The Org and immediately understand where they sit in the company, who they work with, and read the professional and personal bios of their new colleagues. The rest of the company will receive announcements of new team members, see exactly where in the business they sit, and be able to read their new colleagues’ bios.

Build your brand

Through organizational transparency, you’ll be able to add a new dimension to your brand - your people. Consumers buy from companies that understand them and have shared values. When customers and competitors are able to see the talented and passionate people behind your business, you build trust by adding a human element to your brand.

Get more done

Transparency grows organizations and bottom-lines. Transparency leads to improved team communication, trust, and output. Relationships will improve, bureaucracy and oversight will be minimized, and innovation will flourish. Communication with people outside your company will be streamlined. A people-driven transparent brand will attract customers and grow revenue. Your business will grow faster and be more resilient.

Join us in the future we are building

When we’re able to realize our vision for The Org, the way our world works, hires, and celebrates talent will be fundamentally changed for the better. Organizations will function better and innovate more. Society will improve.

If you believe that the benefits of organizational transparency could help your business, we’d love for your team to join The Org. You’ll join a growing network of over 50,000 organizations and their team members from all around the world. Together, we will build the future of work.

Thank you so much for reading. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me at dylan@theorg.com.