We all know it, but we never talk about it. We certainly wouldn’t talk about it with our boss or our colleagues. It’s just not done. I’d feel funny talking about this. I don’t think it’s appropriate. Oh my gosh, what would they say?

What is ‘it’ in this case? Well it might be any number of things that really we should be able to talk about as mature adults. Mostly of course it’s anything where we need to show vulnerability. Sometimes it’s something related to health, or maybe sexuality.

But mainly we’re very closed to discussing salaries or money matters. In the UK this is just a taboo subject. We probably can’t point to a specific instance where we were told it was rude to discuss it, but I’d bet money that we’d all recognise this thought.

There’s a sense of privacy, an awareness that other people may or may not be paid more than you, and none of us wants to cause trouble, make other people resentful - or feel resentful ourselves. The funny thing is that sometimes we are happy to share an awful lot that maybe raises an eyebrow…

Think carefully about sharing!

You may have read the news a few years ago when psychologists at the University of Luxembourg studied over 1,000 people to investigate how we can be manipulated into sharing our computer passwords with complete strangers in return for small gifts - chocolate bars! But it gets worse (or more juicy, if you prefer!)...

Think about the big taboos - the things you might not want to bring up at the next big family event around the dinner table, or with your gran, or your boss. Time and time again over the past few years studies have shown that money is a bigger taboo than sex, religion or politics!

University College London found that us Brits are more likely to reveal bedroom secrets than our salary - and this was proper research, talking to 15,000 people!

In facts, we’re seven times more likely to tell a stranger how many sexual partners we’ve had, if we’ve had an affair, of if we’ve ever caught something nasty than share anything about our income. 97 per cent of the people answered everything they were asked, including their most intimate secrets. But 20 per cent refused to say anything about their salary.

A YouGov research commissioned by Lloyds Bank last year showed that half of UK adults believe that talking about personal money matters is ‘taboo’, which was higher than sex (42%), religion (26%) or politics (14%).

The research also found that people don’t talk about money with their loved ones. 32 per cent said they find it stressful talking about their finances with friends and family, and 43 per cent said they had felt embarrassed talking about it.

Why so serious around money?

Goodness, so why are we so uptight when it comes to talking about money issues? A problem not addressed will never get solved, after all.

If people are having an issue with liquidity - if they turn to payday loans, or always live in their overdraft and the problem just compounds as fees and charges and interest rates make what was a small issue into a bigger one - then they need to find help, and have access to solutions.

Staying in the dark won’t help. In fact there’s a technique called the Johari window that coaches use to help people better understand their relationship with themselves and others that is relevant here.

Whatever your colleagues choose to share, and it’s their right to determine self-disclosure, free would deny that greater openness can bring much greater trust, accountability, and productivity in the workplace.

After all, it’s what we do with our friends and partners. In business few senior leaders could argue that strong bonds of disclosure and trust are formed between business partners and always involve a lot of sharing and honesty.

Should all money talk be so private?

When it comes to money we’re actually legally allowed to talk about it. In the UK it’s not legal for companies to ban employees from sharing salary details if they wish for collective bargaining.

Indeed, companies actively trying to extinguish gender or racial pay gaps sometimes share their workforce salary information online for the world to see. Examples include Whole Foods, SumAll, and Buffer.

Starbucks has shared pay equity data, and shares and pay ranges information with candidates if they ask. These businesses have taken this stance because they believe by refusing to talk openly about wages, gender pay gaps may widen, and some people may get underpaid for their role.

A willingness to talk more about money can help us think about it in new ways and manage it better. For example, earnings on demand is a relatively new employee benefit but not many employers or employees know enough about it - or understand it properly.

One business area where management can help employees in this regard is the provision of flexible pay or ‘earnings on demand’. This is where employees can draw down on their earned salary part way through the pay period in order to stay financially liquid.

It stops the need to ‘wait for pay day’ - or worse, to use credit that may cost fees and interest payments that can spiral.

Not all conversations about money need be awkward - just be sensitive. And if you are an employer - well, perhaps think about ways to help your workers out so they don’t even need to ask in the first place.

By James Herbert is founder & CEO is Hastee.