Keeping an organizational secret can affect employees in two key ways. On the one hand, it can negatively impact well-being. Employees often feel cut off from others and feel unable to share important aspects of their work life, leading to increased stress and diminished daily satisfaction. On the other, secret-keeping can elevate well-being by instilling a sense of status and purpose. To mitigate the negative impacts of organizational secrecy and harness its potential benefits, managers and organizations can adopt several key strategies: leaning into the shared experience of secret-keeping to create bonds between employees; reframe secrecy to emphasize its positive meaning; justify the need for secrecy via clear and transparent communication; and support employee well-being, particularly around stress and loneliness.
