For Employers: Workplace Honesty Highlighting

Shelley Frost reports:

"Honesty in the workplace encourages a sense of trust among employees, the company and the community. The leadership style and environment in the workplace often affects the level of honesty employees exhibit on the job. Changes to the way the company is run can help highlight and encourage honesty from your staff...Write a vision statement that highlights the values you want your employees to embody. If honesty is your main goal, focus on it in the statement. When you hire employees, emphasize the value you place on honesty. While you can't always assess honesty and other values during the interview, do your best to get a sense of how each candidate values honesty. When checking references, ask about honesty and integrity related to the candidate...While some information needs to be confidential, make it a habit of keeping your staff informed on basic company operations. Most employees appreciate transparency from the company even if the information they receive is negative...By creating a company culture that values honesty over perfectionism, you highlight the importance of honesty...Create a safe environment that places trust in your employees to handle their duties. Provide feedback without...employees feel[ing] ostracized if they make a mistake...Before promoting anyone to a leadership position, discuss with the person the significance of honesty, both with...subordinates and [with] superiors. Check the leader's actions against what she says to ensure they are in alignment. Another way to encourage honesty is to highlight employees who display honesty. Point out examples for other staff members to recognize and use as a role model."