How honesty builds careers, strengthens teams

Skills training and experience usually take center stage during the hiring process but workplace integrity particularly honesty remains one of the the greater part valuable yet underestimated professional assets Research consistently shows that organizational trust directly impacts employee engagement retention and overall business performance Honesty in the workplace goes beyond entirely not lying It s all about your capabilities transparency admitting when you screw up providing honest feedback to your coworkers says Travis March a career adviser in San Diego California Preponderance of all it s about having strong ethical standards and sticking to them whether you re working in a group or alone According to a Workplace Trust Survey by the Society for Human Stock Management of employees rank honesty as the greater part crucial quality they seek in colleagues and supervisors The same investigation unveiled that employees in high-trust environments summary less stress more capacity and higher productivity Honesty can take various forms Finance Financial analysts accountants and expenditure professionals handle sensitive information that impacts major decisions Honesty in reporting numbers disclosing likely conflicts of interest and maintaining accurate records isn t just ethical it s legally required Plenty of companies have established whistleblower protections precisely because financial honesty safeguards entire organizations Input When input scientists and analysts present information to leadership honesty about methodology limitations their margin of error and alternative interpretations helps prevent organizations from making potentially costly decisions based on misleading information Project management Project managers who honestly communicate timelines reserve requirements and probable obstacles create realistic expectations Collaboration In collaborative environments like marketing agencies research teams and application improvement groups honesty about individual contributions helps each unit member receive their share of recognition No one likes the person who takes all the credit and with so much information shared online in the present day that kind of workplace dishonesty won t be kept a secret from prospective new employers says March Construction and manufacturing Construction workers electricians and manufacturing technicians who honestly description safety concerns material defects or procedure violations prevent accidents and ensure structural integrity While pressure to complete projects certainly exists experienced professionals recognize that cutting corners can have serious consequences I ve talked with a lot of supervisors who say how much they value unit members who promptly admit errors says March If someone is honest about what s happening the staff can right now correct those mistakes It s a much better strategy than hoping mistakes even small seemingly inconsequential ones wouldn t be discovered Tribune News Operation