Calling a Spade a Spade... Mistrust in Organisations

We all know the phrase 'honesty is the best policy' and I'm sure most of us have quoted said phrase when preaching to our loved ones or when raving about the latest promises from political parties. So why is it that when it comes to how we treat our people in business the phrase is all but forgotten and often blatantly ignored?

I've come across this many times in my work over the last few years and each time the topic of whether employees should be told the truth or spun a web of believable nonsense is treated as non important. "We'll just say it's a development centre but really we're looking to performance manage people out." Aside from the ethical and moral issues that come up around these sorts of actions, what impact does this have on the business and its bottom line?

By spinning a web of deceit for your people, you can create the following:

• Mistrust amongst your people; both those that are performance managed out and those that keep their jobs. 

• A feeling of worthlessness amongst employees; if people get the message that you feel it's ok to lie to them this will result in them feeling a sense being unworthy of the truth. 

These factors could result in employees having a lack of confidence to speak out at other mistruths they witness, and could encourage them to lie on other matters. Before you know it, you have created a culture based on lies and wrongdoings.

Being honest about the purpose of testing your people - if it's not there and we can't teach it, we need to find someone who can do what we need - will ensure they know where they stand. They will believe that telling the truth on other matters is what is expected of them and be working towards creating an open and honest feedback culture at the benefit of your organisational growth. 

Initially, this may seem completely unachievable, but it is possible. If you have a culture whereby people are working together towards the good of the organisation, generally people will understand if their skills do not contribute towards the end goal. Of course, this may not always be the case and people may respond badly to such honesty at first, but if you create a culture of trust and open feedback, people will always know where they are and what to expect.