What is integrity?

There are many characteristics to workplace integrity. Honesty, respect, loyalty, responsibility and ownership are all examples of characteristics that form integrity. As such, integrity is essential for good decision making, effective leadership and best-in-class customer service. Businesses often find that promoting integrity can help reduce the risk of disputes, improve accuracy, strengthen accountability, and reinforce core values that positively influence company culture.

Having integrity in the workplace may support an ethical work environment, strengthen leadership trust, and contribute to employee morale and retention.

Why does integrity matter?

You may wonder why integrity is important in the workplace. This section focusses on the value of having an organisation with high levels of integrity. From leadership qualities to customer retention, we explore how integrity makes the organisation operate in a smoother way and with better success. Let’s dive into the benefits of integrity for your business:

Integrity fosters a positive work environment

Organisations that promote strong values and an honest company culture will consequently drive integrity in their business environment. Employees will feel that they are supported, that their leadership teams are honest and that the environment they evolve in is truthful and loyal. As such, they will feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts, innovative ideas or even discomfort in conducting certain tasks. They will also connect with their colleagues with more ease personally and professionally.

Integrity endorses inspiring leaders

Companies that have high levels of integrity usually have an inspiring and thoughtful leadership team. Holding up the leaders to the company ethical standards will have a direct impact on integrity in the workplace. The leaders in place will be mindful of the actions they implement, the words they choose and the decisions they make. Their intentions will be good and there to serve the entire business and its employees rather than their own motives.

Integrity builds and encourages trust on an ongoing basis

Trust needs to be cultivated. Credibility is built on honesty, trust and integrity. Businesses with integrity will retain their customers more easily and make credible decisions.

Integrity leads to truthful and ethical decision making

Making mindful decisions that are ethical has an impact on how the workforce sees their leadership teams. These moral standards set the scene for the expectations and culture of the business. As such, they establish an atmosphere of honesty and trust.

Integrity builds resilience in the workforce

The effect of setting standards results in natural resilience in the workforce. When individuals feel comfortable in their environment and have trust in their leaders, they feel more purpose and meaning in what they do. Having leaders inspire the workforce and set the standards will have a domino effect on the employees. Their morale will be boosted, their productivity will be increased and their engagement will be high.

Strong organisations value integrity and foster it as part of their company culture. As a result, employees are committed, feel comfortable in their work environment and are at the peak of their performance. For more information on related topics, such as employee engagement, check our articles below:

• How to develop employee engagement and motivation in the workplace
• How to Motivate Your Employees
• A Comprehensive List of Leadership Qualities: A Guide

Examples of integrity in the workplace

Integrity can be difficult to grasp due to its subjectivity. To put integrity in the workplace into perspective, we have selected some concrete examples that we present in the section below.

1) Being truthful when facing challenges

Being honest when facing challenges is a demonstration of integrity. For example, a manager might be struggling to get two employees within their team to get along with each other. The employees in question might clash on a regular basis and create a negative atmosphere within the team. As the two employees are so tangled in their disagreements, their work is neglected and the quality of what they deliver might be affected, thus having a direct impact on customers. Their manager might have tried to resolve this challenge without any success. As a next step, they decide to reach out to the human resources team for support. A mediation process is launched in order to resolve the issue.

In this situation, the manager shows honesty and openness to the rest of the business, in this instance the human resources team. They share with openness the challenges they are facing and how it is impacting their team. Through this process, they manage to regain trust with their team members and to set expectations in terms of ethics and integrity.

2) Recognising and addressing mistakes

Mistakes happen. They are part of our learning process and should help us grow. However, it is not always easy to face them and admit them to others. In this scenario, a new employee has recently started in their position, and it is a steep learning curve. They are mentored by a colleague on their assigned tasks and also coached by their manager. When making their first attempt at a task on their own, the employee realises that they have made a crucial mistake that will impact the customer. Rather than trying to hide it from their manager, the employee owns up to their mistake and has an open conversation explaining what happened. In this situation, the manager appreciates the transparency of their new recruit, and the employee has demonstrated that they own their mistakes.

3) Doing what is right at all times

Whether someone is watching or not, integrity is about doing the right thing at all times. In this example, the employee is the project manager for a large project. As such, they are in charge of planning and delegating tasks to all the stakeholders involved. As the project drags on, some of the stakeholders involved lack motivation and their tasks get delayed. In their manager’s absence, the project manager encourages them to continue their work and coaches them to deliver on their responsibilities with enthusiasm. When their manager comes back from leave, the project is completed despite the challenges. The project manager delivered it on time by showing commitment, accountability and professionalism, an example of integrity for the rest of the team.

How to encourage integrity in the workplace

The benefits of integrity in the workplace are obvious. But how can you promote it in your business? What can be done to drive integrity and maintain it in your organisation? Below are some pointers to answer these questions. They will need to be adapted to your industry, company culture and other specifics.

Have an open mind and respect different points of view

Having an open mind and being open to different points of view is an important part of integrity. By honouring employees, recognising their work and engagement as well as their points of view, employers demonstrate integrity.

When employees share new ideas or suggest ways of working, senior leadership teams should listen and consider the employees’ perspectives. Having empathy and trying to understand why they put the idea forward in the first place will help them forge a more rounded opinion, one that considers the workforce.

Address challenges and conflicts in a respectful manner, even when it is uncomfortable

Workplace conflict happens. It is sometimes tricky to deal with and requires tactful interventions. Some organisations offer conflict-resolution processes that describe how concerns may be discussed or documented. Managers can refer to their organisation’s approach, depending on what is available.

Managers can set an example

Some organisations note that visible, consistent leadership behavior helps reinforce expectations across teams. Others offer coaching or development resources depending on business needs. Having integrity within leadership teams is a powerful way to promote integrity throughout the organisation. Many organisations highlight qualities such as openness, accountability, and thoughtful decision-making as part of their leadership expectations.

Put the work in

Being able and ready to put the work in is part of having integrity. It means owning responsibilities and having accountability. Taking action and getting the “to do list” done is part of being professional. Businesses can assist their teams by coaching them to be effective, helping them prioritise and by ensuring that they are not overwhelmed by work. Ultimately, this will drive engagement.

How to surface concerns about inappropriate behaviour

Many organisations aim to address inappropriate behaviour consistently, guided by their policies and procedures. Many organisations provide documented policies or processes that outline how workplace concerns may be reviewed. Employees can refer to their organisation’s approach based on what is available. Organisations typically outline how employees can raise workplace concerns and how those concerns are reviewed. These processes usually describe where conduct standards are located and which team manages intake and documentation. Depending on company practices, HR may help review workplace concerns or document relevant information.

Integrity in the workplace should be prioritised. It builds an environment of honesty and promotes trust. Indirectly, it has an impact on employee engagement through company culture.