In my view, they have to be widely communicated, for two reasons.
1. In a company with middle management, i.e., managers working for managers, you have to reveal the metric / target to them. Or at least, some manager will spill the beans and then it's not a secret any more.
2. Companies imitate one another, directly, or through managers who share a common background. Therefore, it's not hard to guess the metrics of one business by reading about similar businesses.
Thanks to these two channels, it's actually possible that the rank and file workers understand the business better than their managers do, because the workers have a broad range of information at their disposal if they read the business pages or even HN, whereas managers are obligated to embrace the official line. When a new metric is installed, chances are that the workers already understand it, and how to manipulate it.
1. In a company with middle management, i.e., managers working for managers, you have to reveal the metric / target to them. Or at least, some manager will spill the beans and then it's not a secret any more.
2. Companies imitate one another, directly, or through managers who share a common background. Therefore, it's not hard to guess the metrics of one business by reading about similar businesses.
Thanks to these two channels, it's actually possible that the rank and file workers understand the business better than their managers do, because the workers have a broad range of information at their disposal if they read the business pages or even HN, whereas managers are obligated to embrace the official line. When a new metric is installed, chances are that the workers already understand it, and how to manipulate it.