How to Promote & Encourage Honesty and Transparency in Employees
By Elizabeth Hines, Guest Blogger –
Honesty and transparency in the workplace are ideal but is sometimes one of the hardest things to find in the workplace. A trustworthy employee is a dependable employee. Especially in recent times while working remotely; the ability to trust the word of your employees while not actively monitoring their everyday work, has become incredibly important. In this piece, we are going to look over seven ways to promote, ensure (and in some cases, monitor) the honesty and transparency of your employees.
1: Line out Company Morals & Values
Think about what your company stands for. What are the morals and values that are used in your everyday? Line out exactly what the expectations are for your employees and what the business as a whole wants to portray to everyone who experiences interaction with it. Simply writing down, ‘Don’t Bully’ is not as potent as actively showing your employees what happens when you do, and how to act in a way that makes people feel valued.
2: Trust, Don’t Micromanage your Team
It is important that you trust your teams. You have them working for you for a reason, so it is important that you do not micromanage their work. Trust goes two ways in a business. If you do not trust your team, they will not only not trust you; they may become untrustworthy. Give them the freedom they need to effectively do their job. An organisation that operates around trust and mutual respect will be effective and will thrive.
3: Value Anonymity when Needed
Anonymity is not honesty’s enemy, so try not to think of it like that. When you want brutal feedback or 100% honesty, it is sometimes better to gather this information without personal connections or names. People are more likely to give their totally honest opinion if they are sure of not being judged for it. Anonymity is important for sensitive topics and issues as well as for garnering feedback.
4: Ensure Regular & Transparent Communication
Over the past year, remote working has made communication more difficult, but no less necessary. Ensure (even and especially when remote working) that communication takes a prominent position in necessity. Ensure that your communication is easy to understand and that you are always updating your employees with regular comms.
5: Ensure Communication is Open & Equal
Active discussions and open conversations within a business are super important. Open ‘brainstorming’ can allow everyone to have their own say within a business and ensures everyone gets a voice. When these conversations happen, make sure that:
- Everyone gets equal opportunities to talk
- You listen, actively
- The conversations have clear goals
- Communication is clear, concise, and everyone is polite
- Conversations have mutual respect
6: Mistakes are Resolved in a Productive Manner
Mistakes will always be a part of life, humans will always slip up. This is just a part of life! When mistakes happen, it is important that a constructive environment is in place to allow for this to be handled in a productive manner. Make sure that issues are always resolved behind closed doors and politely; never allow dissent to creep out into public forums.
7: Using Lie Detectors in the Workplace – When is it Okay?
In general, workplace laws prevent businesses from being able to administer lie detector tests just willy-nilly. However, there are a few circumstances where it is allowed. Certain job fields where security is the top priority take exception to this rule as well as government employers.
Lie detectors and polygraphs are also allowed for private employers in the case of an investigation into criminal wrongdoing such as theft or other severe potentially illegal action suspected by an employer. However, even though these are all exceptions; there are still strict rules on how these situations can be conducted. If you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of needing to conduct a polygraph test, it is important to consult legal help to ensure that you do not cross a line.
Ideally, lie detector tests would not be necessary for an environment where honesty and transparency have been promoted.
About the Author:
Elizabeth Hines is a digital marketer and content writer at Boom essays review and State of writing. In her articles, she writes about the latest tech and marketing trends, innovations, and strategies. She also writes for online magazines and blogs, such as Lia Help.
Photo by /Christina @ wocintechchat.com
