One of the most significant factors impacting employee retention and morale is trust. When employees do not feel that the leaders trust them or they lose confidence in leadership, things can unravel quickly. A crucial tool we have to establish and maintain trust is clarity in our communication. When we are posting for a position, we work to ensure clarity in how the position is described because we know that candidates will not apply for a job if they don’t have a clear understanding of the role. Once a candidate becomes an employee, clarity is just as important to keep them. We need to feel safe and secure to learn and grow; employees need to know what they can expect from their supervisor(s) and/or leaders and what is expected of them. 

In this week’s blog, we will explore the value of clarity in two areas: clarity in decision-making and clarity when providing feedback. 

Decision-Making

Every workplace needs to clarify how decisions will be made and how those decisions will be communicated. Employees can feel frustrated and stuck when they are unsure of what decisions they can make, what decisions their supervisor can make, and when decisions need to be made by senior leadership. Healthy organizations do not need to be rigid; they need to be clear about the process and communicate when exceptions need to be made. 

When senior leadership is engaged in a decision-making process, there needs to be consensus about what supervisors can share with their teams throughout the process. Leaders do not need to be transparent about all the factors involved—in many cases, they can’t share that information—but they can find what I like to call “boundaried transparency” where they have a consistent message about the process itself. We don’t- and can’t- always have to share the why, but we do have to share the how. If part of the decision-making process is gathering input from staff, be clear before you collect that feedback on how their input will be used. For instance, if you have staff participate in interviewing candidates, be transparent about how the final hiring decision will be made. I have seen employees feel devalued and like their time was wasted when they expected leadership to choose a candidate they preferred. Clear expectations don’t mean we will always agree, but it helps maintain trust when we disagree.

Clear expectations don’t mean we will always agree, but it helps maintain trust when we disagree.

I’ve seen leaders struggle with how and when to share about the decision-making process. I recommend sharing early and often before decisions need to be made. Some leaders worry that if staff are aware that they will not be involved in every decision, they may feel disenfranchised. I worked with a leader for years who struggled to complete a document literally entitled “Decision Making Process at XYZ Organization.” Not every employee wants to be involved in every decision, and the lack of clarity about how a decision is made created more uncertainty and negatively impacted trust. It also made it very difficult to get things done. Clarity is caring. If we can’t give everyone a choice about every decision, we owe them transparency about how the decision will be made. 

Feedback

Providing constructive feedback is vital to our employees’ growth and imperative for a functioning organization. Some supervisors struggle to provide direct and precise feedback, worrying about hurting an employee’s feelings or pushing them away. Clear feedback benefits the employees and can deepen trust with a supervisor.

When you begin working with a new employee, discuss feedback in your first supervision. We have “Onboarding Supervisor Questions” we share with our clients. These questions are to be filled out by a supervisee and give them an opportunity to reflect on how they like to receive feedback, how they like to provide feedback, and what has helped them establish trust with supervisors in the past. We also ask how they like to be acknowledged when they’ve done something exceptional because feedback isn’t just about addressing when something needs to be corrected. Providing feedback shouldn’t wait for an annual review or when a major issue is arising. Feedback should be a consistent part of our supervision meetings and should be a two-way street. Just as we need our employees to know what they’re doing well and where they can improve, we need to know if our supervision style is working for them or if there are modifications we can make to better support their success. 

Trust needs to be established so that someone can hear and integrate feedback and not simply feel attacked. By creating a regular channel for feedback and asking about their preferences when receiving or providing feedback, we can establish that connection and trust. It demonstrates that we care about the success of our employee and we are invested in their growth. Employees need to know when they are doing a great job and when and how they can improve. Building our feedback procedures and our feedback muscles by doing it more often allows us to provide clarity to our employees that can allow them to feel supported and seen and able to grow. 

If you are a leader looking to create a trauma-informed workplace where every employee can thrive, schedule a call with us to see how JT Consulting can support you!