The levels of honesty and accuracy associated with an organization and its team impacts its very livelihood, as well as that of its employees, customers, business partners and other stakeholders. What can you do to help ensure the highest possible standards in both these key areas?

 
Trust: The Basis of Honesty

To set high standards of honesty, build relationships with your administrative team members based on trust and integrity. No matter how talented people are, they will not realize their full potential without trust being present.

• Lead by example. Hold yourself to high moral and ethical standards. This gives employees a solid example of what you expect from them.
• Include expectations around honesty in your mission statement and employee handbook. Stress its importance in all organizational communications.
• Communicate openly. Communication is a key factor in keeping a workplace free from rumors, negativity and dishonesty. Listen to employees and regularly encourage them to voice concerns, offer ideas and seek counsel without fear of recrimination. Demonstrate the importance of open communication by walking the talk. Share information promptly, consistently and transparently.
• Promptly address mistakes. Everyone makes honest mistakes from time to time. Ask your team members to make necessary parties aware of errors immediately. Be sure management is supportive and fair in dealing with the outcome. This will encourage employees to propagate the theme of honesty, learn from errors and go on, versus perpetuating dishonest behavior.
• Seek solutions to dishonesty. Weed out the bad apples: those who continually undermine your culture of honesty and integrity. Establish – and consistently enforce – a system of progressive penalties for employees who display dishonest behavior.

 
Checks and Balances Ensure Accuracy

Being detail oriented does not come naturally to everyone. Yet accuracy is critical because the alternative could be errors that your company cannot afford. Improving accuracy requires a careful and discerning system of checks and balances.

• Practice TQM. Total quality management places top value on accuracy and improvement procedures. Set up TQM practices that include consistent and repetitive checks. These could include tracking errors and assembling employees into quality control teams.
• Train employees to spot accuracy issues. Be sure they know what to look for, inside and out, for every task they perform. Training breeds accuracy as practice makes perfect.
• Empower people with a focus on their strengths. This will make them feel positive about producing a high-quality product or service. Don’t nitpick or place extreme emphasis on mistakes. Instead, make your corrective measures as educational and constructive as possible, emphasizing excellence.
• Remove distractions. Plan each work environment carefully, including such factors as ergonomics, lighting, temperature, noise and privacy. Comfortable employees who can easily concentrate will do their jobs more accurately.

 
The workforce development experts at Magellan Search & Staffing can partner with you to provide additional tips and resources for optimizing honesty, ethics and productivity among your administrative team. Contact us today to learn more.