The Yamas, Ethical Principles in Relation to Others: Satya

Satya (truthfulness)

Aphorism: Tell the truth, even when it’s complex. Clarity is kindness.

HR Application: Transparency in communication, especially during reorganizations, performance conversations, or compensation decisions, builds trust. Satya asks us to avoid vague corporate lingo. When we speak with clarity, we honor both people and process. Truthfulness, transparency, or any other synonym for Satya, is not meant to be safe, but it is a catalyst for growth and living authentically.

When I think of transparency, I think of sharing not just decisions, but also including how we got to the decision. When employees can understand the bigger picture, they feel more invested and receptive to company messaging. However, sometimes you have to paint the bigger picture for them. That is where things tend to fall apart. 

Don’t just share how things affect the company’s bottom line. Consider sharing how individual performance affects the accomplishment of team goals. Share how team goals affect the larger department. Keep it clear how everything works together for mutual success. I always take the approach of, let me see how my work fits in with the upstream and downstream parts of the process. If you’re familiar with the StrengthFinder Assessment, you’ll probably note that I am strong in the Input strength, which is accurate. It happens to be my #1 strength, which means I like to say I am professionally nosy. I need to accumulate information and context, to allow me to see the bigger picture. This is important when thinking of Satya.

A good example of this is a previous post where I talk about compensation. Transparency is key. Ensure that managers are equipped to talk to how compensation decisions are made. Not just that the company’s compensation philosophy is that “we pay to the 60^th percentile” but rather talk to what goes into that: annual pay equity analyses, job leveling and benchmarking to reliable market data, etc. 

Inviting Satya into the workplace is also an invitation to improve psychological safety. However we have to keep in mind that Satya is inherently connected with Ahimsa. You can’t go about using truth as a weapon. Satya is not radical candor for its own sake. It’s disciplined clarity in service of dignity, performance, and fairness. When truthfulness is practiced with compassion, more equitable decisions are made with less fear and more transparency. That’s how truthfulness becomes a practice. There needs to be a level of compassion with truthfulness, especially because what we perceive to be our truth is influenced by our life experience. We have to be okay with speaking our truth and also being okay with our truth changing as we take in new information. Truth has to be fluid. The lens through which we view the world is dynamic, changing as we take in new information.

Now take this into the HR world and consider how we can support people-leaders and the greater organization:

• Share what’s accurate, necessary, and kind: no spin, no weaponized honesty.
• Decision logs, not rumor mills. Publish a brief (1 page), “Why/What/Impact/Next” summary for major people decisions (hiring freezes, merit budgets, org changes).

The Satya Ladder (progressive levels of transparency)

The below can work with people analytics, compensation/total rewards, etc. It’s a way to reframe how we approach data and more importantly, how we share data with stakeholders and the greater organization.

1. Policy clarity: publish the rulebook(s) (handbooks, leveling guides, ranges by level).
2. Process clarity: show how decisions are made (governance, approver(s), timelines).
3. Rationale clarity: explain why decisions were made (trade-offs, constraints).
4. Data clarity: disclose the inputs (benchmarks used, equity budget, pay-equity audit scope).
5. Outcome clarity: show results and what will change next (gaps found, actions, target dates).