Transparency = Trust

Welcome to the September edition of?#TanaSpeaks?with Dr. Tana M. Session. This is a monthly newsletter designed to expand your perspective in the workplace. Don't miss an issue and be sure to?+subscribe.

Transparency in the workplace is absolutely vital. It's not just about openness, but about fostering a positive company culture and boosting employee loyalty and engagement. Embracing transparency brings a whole range of benefits. It creates a tighter company culture, empowers employees to voice their needs, and simplifies expectation management. It even strengthens customer relationships and can enhance employee performance.

But it doesn't stop there. Trust is the key foundational ingredient. An employee communications strategy is designed to help companies build their unique culture, when companies openly share information and encourage their staff to do the same, it builds trust. That trust forms the basis for stronger relationships and contributes to psychological safety, a cornerstone for fostering Inclusion & Belonging.

Some workplaces mix up transparency with candor. Feedback comes naturally when your team is comfortable. Therefore, trust is essential. Imagine a team operating without barriers or secrets, letting everyone have transparency. Candor, on the other hand, is being straight-up, open, and honest (SHRM 2016).

Trust at work is like a VIP pass in the workplace. So how does it show up?

• Transparency - Being transparent with your team and giving feedback establishes a work routine that employees can have comfort in which can help increase engagement. 96% of engaged employees trust management, while 46% of disengaged employees trust management.?
• Respect - Honoring each person’s contributions, ideas, time, and opinion can increase your team’s willingness to be open and feel a sense of Belonging. It also demonstrates to all team members that regardless of their background, each perspective is respected and valued. Respect is a leading behavior that encourages greater commitment and engagement.
• Understanding - Listen to your team more often to understand their perspective and thought process. If you can be an Ally for your team members and better understand their framework and the community they’re a part of, more trust is built and ultimately Belonging. Bottom-up feedback and understanding employees’ collective and shared voices is crucial and one of the best ways to build trust to show their opinion matters.
• Support - Show your team you value them by consistently advocating for them. Teams who know they have the support of their manager are 6 times as likely to be engaged in their jobs, 3 times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life, and 6 times as likely to strongly agree that they have the opportunity to do what they do best every day. 70% of the variance in team engagement is determined solely by the manager. Remember...employees quit their MANAGER...not their COMPANY.
• Togetherness - Make sure to check in with each team member and facilitate team building activities. The feeling of Inclusion and Belonging starts with creating meaningful connections in the workplace. High Belonging is linked to a 56% increase in job performance, a 50% drop in turnover risk, and a 75% reduction in sick days. For a 10,000-person company, this would result in annual savings of more than $52M.

I always ask my clients “How important do YOU think trust is?” And they’re blown away by how many components trust influences. Trust has a remarkable impact on workplaces and results in heightened output, improved morale, enhanced retention, increased innovation, productivity, and loyalty. Simultaneously, it effectively cuts down on costs, problems, attrition, suspicion, time to market, and stress levels. No wonder my clients are spending time, resources and people to grow trust within their organization. It just makes business sense!

SEPTEMBER OBSERVANCES:

• Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept 15-Oct 15): This month celebrates the histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. It corresponds with Mexican Independence Day, which is celebrated on September 16, and recognizes the revolution in 1810 that ended Spanish dictatorship.
• Labor Day - Sept 4: Labor Day in the U.S. honors the contribution that workers have made to the country and is observed on the first Monday of September.
• National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week - Sept 11-15: This week celebrates the vital role HBCUs play in molding Black leaders, encouraging youth to enroll in college, providing scholarships, and sustaining a pipeline for employment from undergrad to corporate America.
• Constitution and Citizenship Day - Sept 17: This day commemorates the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787, and “recognizes all who, by coming of age or by naturalization, have become citizens."
• International Equal Pay Day - Sept 18: Represents the long-standing efforts toward the achievement of equal pay for work of equal value.
• Native American Day - Sept 22: A federal holiday observed in the states of California and Nevada to celebrate Native American culture. This year’s theme is “Protecting Our People Through Sovereignty: Past, Present, and Future.”

Until next month... Be well and stay safe & healthy!

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