Honesty in the workplace — both being able to be honest with managers as well as honesty from managers — is critical to U.S. job seekers, Sept. 11 survey results from Express Employment Professionals and Harris Poll said.
Just over one-third of those surveyed said open communication with new managers is “absolutely essential,” and just over two-thirds said employees should feel comfortable talking about personal issues with their managers if it impacts their work.
A vast majority of job seekers surveyed also said they would be more loyal to their company if they could be candid with their manager.
Hiring managers largely agree, with more than half saying they believe employee morale, productivity and loyalty all increase when employees can speak honestly at work.
Training may be a key way to ensure managers know how to address personal issues when they come up, responses to the survey indicated; over 90% said it is at least “somewhat important” that companies provide training to managers on how to manage direct reports’ personal issues.
“The foundation of any good relationship is trust, which is no different in the workplace,” Bill Stoller, Express Employment International CEO, said in a statement. “Similar to other leadership training, managers can significantly benefit from structured programs that emphasize healthy communication and the ability to handle challenging conversations.”
Unfortunately for employers, companies may tend to overestimate how much their employees trust them, a PwC report from March said — in part because many companies do not have the right structures in place to identify trust gaps. Measurements of trust at work tend to be subjective, PwC said, and potentially even look at the wrong metrics.
For example, PwC noted that high trust at work manifests in productivity and efficiency, but many companies measure it via retention, which may be a limited view of the impact of trust — or distrust.
Building psychological safety and emotional honesty at work may be especially important during times of ongoing instability, experts previously told HR Dive — which the economy may be entering now.