Many organisations promote authenticity today because employees drive values that are different from those in previous decades. Organisations competing for top talent realise the importance of creating a trusting environment where employees can bring their best selves and authentic strengths to the table—one where they can be valued and heard

Q: Creating a more authentic workplace!

A: Authenticity starts from the top. To generate authenticity from employees, leaders must create a culture of transparency and trust. It begins with a self-assessment exploring three core questions:

• Am I being authentic?
• What does authenticity look like to me?
• How can that translate to our corporate culture?

Leaders must understand how to channel and exemplify authenticity and allow others to follow suit. It’s also important to understand your organisation’s values, stay true to them, and ensure everyone aligns around them.

Authenticity is the most critical piece in creating trust. We don’t have to be best friends or hold hands and sing “Kumbaya” to be authentic, but we do have to be consistent, communicate effectively, and be open to vulnerability.

Q: Is vulnerability critical to authentic Leadership?

A: Vulnerability can be perceived negatively, but it’s positive. Being vulnerable doesn’t mean you have to wear your heart on your sleeve; it’s just a way to show someone that underneath titles and roles, you’re human. It helps shed some of those layers and allows people to level the playing field and understand one another.

Mistakes organisations make to become more authentic

The biggest mistake is not getting full buy-in. If some people commit to authenticity and others don’t, it creates clarity, consistency, and trust. Especially with today’s generation: if employees see it’s not working as it’s supposed to, they’ll eventually leave.

If employees align with the organisation’s values, you’ll have a much easier time explaining the value of authenticity, getting buy-in, and having it trickle down. If some employees aren’t on board, they may no longer be a good fit with the organisation. We all have our superpowers that we should embrace. Authenticity is about tapping into who you are, how you want to lead and manage your culture, and owning it.”

Besides employee satisfaction, authenticity helps improve operations, productivity, and profitability.

We become a different organisation when we can share feedback without fear of being reprimanded. You must require additional approvals to help save on costs and better enforce policies. In a transparent culture, you can say, “Martha, the workflow you spearheaded for travel and expense approvals worked well for a long time, but it’s not working anymore. Let’s have an open conversation to ensure everyone is on board with making changes to improve efficiency.”

In a transparent culture where you can have authentic conversations, that’s an easy discussion. Everyone is coming from a place of wanting to improve operations and grow the business. In a non-transparent environment where you don’t have trust, people won’t speak up – maybe because Martha is their boss, they don’t want to hurt her feelings, or they don’t want to see themself as gunning for her job.

Transparent culture also encourages creativity and risk-taking. It creates a safe space for questions, finding new solutions, learning, and growing. People can think bigger and innovate without fear of making mistakes, which can do wonders for an organisation. Working together is more straightforward, with genuine conversations and understanding each other on a human level. Authentic conversations can accomplish so much more.

It’s also important to remember that productivity goes hand in hand with a sense of meaning and purpose, which will only come if we are authentic. When people are empowered to bring their whole, authentic selves to work and tap into their strengths freely, they become more invested in their work and the organisation. They can achieve a lot more, and their productivity will increase. Nurturing and growing the talent in your organic organisation leads to loyalty, employee retention, and better profitability.

Best way to encourage open communication in the workplace.

Humans communicate in different ways. Some are emotional communicators, some are cognitive communicators, some speak from the heart, and others don’t care about chit-chat and want to get to work. When we all try to reach a common goal, this can cause a communication breakdown.

We can communicate better when we authentically understand how each person perceives information. For instance, I can be direct and only sometimes have a little time for chit-chat. But if a highly emotional communicator comes into my office, I will take a moment to ask how things are going before we jump into the work issue. It’s a genuine action that comes from a place of understanding the individual, what’s important to them, and how we can best connect on a human level.

Evolution of authenticity efforts in an organisation.

Authenticity is an ongoing process. We’re continually learning, growing, and finding our leadership style. As with any significant initiative, you need milestones. Perform regular self-assessments, leadership assessments, and culture assessments to ask, “What’s working? What’s not working? Do we need to refine what’s happening?” Consistently reevaluate your teams, values, and communication methods, then hold yourself and others accountable.

How can authenticity help organisations be flexible and responsive to challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic or other major crises?

2020 spotlighted the actual value of authenticity and why it matters. Suddenly, everyone was working at home, but we all had very different situations and points of view. Some employees had ten people in the house and no childcare. Others were home alone and went for months without seeing another human being.

We can’t assume everyone is going through a crisis similarly. The one-size-fits-all model of management doesn’t work anymore. You have to be able to have open conversations: “What’s going on for you? How can I better support you? What do we need to do? And how does it best align with our business goals?” Without listening actively and hearing and understanding, you can lose good people and miss out on opportunities.