Tradition Meets Trust: Keeping Workplace Promises

“It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath” said Greek tragedian Aeschylus.? We've all been there, believed an iffy promise because a friend, boss, client had never let us down. Years ago, you could believe that person; a handshake and a verbal commitment were as good as a signed contract. Today, the business world isn't as keen on keeping its word. Starting in the 1960s, businesses realized that ethics were becoming less, well, ethical. As a result, many organizations put in place written ethics guidelines. These generally dealt with legal situations; they were designed to keep the Enrons and Toyotas from happening. On a large scale, unethical business practices damage the environment, risk human life, and risk our national security. For these, we have laws in place; the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board are in place to ensure large corporations are not putting profits above ethics. While all this affects individual workers, what hits home more is when a manager, supervisor, or senior leader fails to act ethically with employees. Generally speaking, this boils down to a leader keeping his/her word.

Why Should We Care About Keeping Our Word with Employees?

After all, it's a dog-eat-dog world out there. Trust someone at your own peril, they say. The effects of workplace dishonesty are intangible and hard to measure, but the negative impacts are very real. Company culture is certainly affected; a supervisor that lies to their employees effectively promotes lying in those employees. After all, if the boss does it, why shouldn't an employee? A little white lie here, covering up a mistake there becomes commonplace and erodes workplace trust. Company culture, in turn, affects employee productivity, commitment, and retention. An employee that distrusts their manager is unlikely to put in those extra hours at critical times, look for and commit to company improvement, or praise the company in either professional or personal discussions. Trust is a key component to successful teams; high-performing ones all have one characteristic in common: trust.

Just try to keep top talent in an organization where managers lie to employees; no amount of money keeps them in the end.

While most of the effects of leadership lying are intangible, it can impact the bottom line. This happened several years ago when a company faced a severe setback due to a breach of trust. In this instance, the company was on the verge of securing a lucrative $5 million deal to upgrade its network and wireless systems. They were competing with two other top contenders for the contract.

However, their chances were jeopardized when the Director responsible for vendor selection, who had previously worked at one of the vendor organizations under consideration, decided not to award the contract to her former employer. The reason for her decision stemmed from a personal experience during her tenure at the company; she had been assured that her position was secure, only to be terminated one week later during a round of company layoffs. This abrupt breach of trust led her to question the integrity of her former company's vice president, who had made the assurance. When asked to justify her decision to eliminate her former employer from consideration to the board of directors at her new company, she candidly shared her personal experience of the vice president's dishonesty and failure to keep his word. Consequently, her decision was upheld, and the vendor lost the $5 million deal due to a broken promise.

How to Maintain Honesty with Employees

So, how do we as managers and supervisors maintain honesty with our employees? After all, we can't be open books; there are situations in which the unblanketed truth is not appropriate. As managers, we must maintain personnel privacy, protect the bottom line, and stay within legal boundaries. Sometimes, that means not being 100% forthright with our employees. Quite simply, keep your word. Here's how:

1. Understand Your Commitment: Giving your word is a promise; it's a commitment from you to another person. Understand what you are committing to. What are the costs? What are the consequences? What is the impact on the team and others? Do you have the authority to make the commitment? In the end, it doesn't matter if you don't keep your word because the commitment was too expensive, you didn't have the authority, or you simply forgot. You broke your word and strained the manager-employee relationship. So, understand what you're promising.

2. Inconvenience is Not an Excuse: Sometimes, a promise is a pain in the ass to keep. You get busy and don't help your employee learn a new report; the team gets slammed, and you don't give promised time off; a customer emergency comes up. While we can't always control outside factors that cause us to break our promise, the fact that it's inconvenient to keep the promise is never an acceptable reason not to.

3. Simple is Best: Grand promises might make you the hero, but small, meaningful promises are the way to win trust and respect. Big promises garner a lot of attention and support. People get behind big promises, people remember big promises. In some respects, they are easier to keep because of this. However, most daily dealings don't involve big issues that big promises require. They are simple requests an employee needs to plan work, schedules. Keeping these simple commitments tells an employee that you are there for the daily grind, and not just the occasional big situation.

4. Fail Sincerely: When you can't keep your word, apologize sincerely, apologize quickly. Don't let a failed promise fester in the minds of your employees. Quickly and sincerely apologize for not keeping your word without drama or grandiosity.

Managers can implement several additional strategies to ensure the consistent fulfillment of commitments to employees while nurturing a culture grounded in trust and integrity. Open and transparent communication stands as a cornerstone; you should convey commitments clearly and straightforwardly, avoiding vague or ambiguous language. Document your agreements in writing through emails, memos, or formal agreements whenever possible; this prevents misunderstandings and provides a record if the commitment needs to be reviewed. Most importantly, leading by example showcases the honesty and integrity expected from your team. There is truth in the old saying “monkey see, monkey do.”

Upholding honesty with employees by honoring commitments is crucial for shaping a positive company culture, fostering trust, and securing enduring success within the workplace. Leadership integrity serves as the cornerstone of the organization's culture, exerting a profound influence on employee commitment, productivity, and retention. In an environment where trust holds immense value, the significance of honoring one's word cannot be overstated. How do you believe maintaining honesty in leadership impacts your workplace? Share your thoughts and experiences with us; we'd love to hear from you.

ProfessionLX is a Woman- and Veteran-owned small business specializing in empowered excellence in office administration, interpreting and localization, and professional services. At ProfessionLX, we promise to engage, empower, and excel for our employees and customers, uniting talents, ideas, and vision to exceed expectations and strengthen companies together. Visit us at www.professionlx.com.