Blogging to share information - united we stand

I came across an interesting use of a blog recently. In a manufacturing company whose culture resembles that of the CIA, one employee decided to set up a blog so that staff could communicate freely and anonymously - the blog rules allowed for anonymous commenting.

He - or she - put up a few posts, mentioning worrying experiences and concerns and invited comments / questions / post topics. The blog was publicised by simple A4 notices on the staff bulletin boards.

Some of the posts made for very interesting reading - people began sharing what their terms and conditions of employment were, how they had fared in performance appraisals, pay rises, hours worked, targets, pressures exerted upon them ...

A lot of the information that management had effectively Siloed began circulating freely and readers became aware that in many instances, they were not being told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Two immediate outcomes: First, there was a rapid exodus of middle managers, the majority of whom cited the poisonous culture and lack of integrity at senior management level as their reasons for leaving. Second, senior management had a very tough time when the annual appraisals rolled around.

People have complained of mushroom-farming and divide-and-conquer management strategies since the Ark. With this simple tool, one employee cut through the entire culture of secrecy and politicising.

What do you think? Good thing? Bad thing?