By: Shiela Mie Legaspi, President — Cyberbacker

For businesses to thrive, workplaces must adapt to the changing workforce. Today’s employees consider ethical leadership and organizational integrity not just important but essential.

While many business leaders aspire to lead with integrity, drive positive change, and foster a culture of respect, the steps to achieve this aren’t always clear. In my experience, the following strategies build healthy and enduring corporate ecosystems that inspire engagement and loyalty from the whole team.

The Challenge of Unhealthy Corporate Cultures

In toxic workplaces, employees may experience or witness poor behavior from their superiors and co-workers. In such environments, employees may sometimes engage in political maneuvering, compete for credit, or overlook the impact of their actions on colleagues. Poor behavior in these settings can range from deflecting responsibility and blaming others to overreacting to minor criticism, creating an atmosphere that hampers teamwork and morale.

Studies show that many businesses and other organizations suffer from unhealthy cultures like these. In the UK, 64 percent of respondents said toxic behavior at work had negatively affected their mental health. According to an article in HR Dive, 20 percent of American employees report having left their jobs sometime in the previous five years due to toxic workplace cultures.

This is a problem for the businesses themselves, with a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) report estimating that all those turnovers cost $223 billion. But where do these toxic workplace cultures come from? Researchers suggest those at the top should consider taking responsibility for setting the tone within their enterprise.

According to the aforementioned SHRM study, employees point the finger at their managers. Seventy-six percent of participants identified their manager as the source of toxicity, and 58 percent reported that their managers were the reason they left their jobs. Another 30 percent stated their manager doesn’t cultivate a safe environment in which they can engage in open and transparent communication.

This means many businesses would benefit from developing managers’ ethical leadership skills.

The Solution is Ethical Leadership

In my experience, managers who integrate authenticity and integrity into their leadership style can create a healthy company culture. However, this leadership style requires substantial emotional intelligence.

To create healthy company ecosystems, business leaders need to demonstrate self-awareness and avoid egotism. If they make mistakes, they need to own them. If they don’t know the answer to a given question, they need to admit it. If someone else was the linchpin to the company’s success, they need to shine the limelight where it belongs — on that other person.

Another key to this leadership approach is a willingness to slow down and listen. For employees to feel secure in their roles, they need to feel understood. For them to feel happy in their roles, they need to feel appreciated.

None of these things is possible if managers seem too busy to get to know their people on a personal level. Only by investing time and energy in your people can you hope to align their goals with your organization’s, and this alignment is vital to inspiring a genuine commitment to the work.

Empathy is also indispensable. When a team member is struggling, their managers should not only support them in the moment with warmth and acceptance but also make it clear that their door is always open. Employees need to feel like they can share their full selves with their supervisor — even any problems that might pop up in their personal lives.

Moreover, ethical leaders should view themselves as community builders. This means embracing collaboration and inclusive decision-making. Employees at all levels — even the most junior — should be given the opportunity to voice their perspectives. Doing this not only creates conditions in which professionals can come together and form affirmative connections but also prepares your company’s next generation of leaders to take the helm.

The Results Can Create Multiple Benefits For Businesses

Enterprises that prioritize the health of their workplace cultures can expect to dominate the markets of the future. When team members enjoy positive workplaces, their job satisfaction, well-being, and higher-order thinking capabilities soar. As a result, their productivity can shoot up 12 percent.

Numerous studies also show that happier employees are more productive than their counterparts. Gallup has found that highly engaged teams perform 21 percent better than low-engagement ones. According to the Workplace Research Foundation, employees’ productivity is 38 percent more likely to be better than average if they are engaged with their work.

In addition, a healthy workplace culture reflects well on the company’s reputation. When people know a company is a good place to work, they become more interested in working there themselves.

Indeed, a 2019 Glassdoor study reports that 77 percent of job seekers weigh the company’s culture while deciding whether to apply. Customers also become more likely to purchase from these companies, and prospective business partners tend to look more favorably at the possibility of entering into such relationships.

Leading with Authenticity and Integrity

Today’s employees vote for the best workplaces with their presence or absence, and a healthy workplace culture can’t be faked. That’s why it’s necessary for management to learn how to lead with authenticity and integrity. By listening, demonstrating self-awareness, deploying emotional intelligence, and instituting inclusive decision-making, however, business leaders can purify toxic corporate ecosystems into healthy habitats where everyone feels privileged to work.

— Shiela Mie Legaspi is the President of Cyberbacker, the leading provider of virtual assistance and administrative support services from anywhere in the world to anyone in the world. She empowers growth-minded business owners with world-class economic leverage to fulfill their greatest purpose. Legaspi is an expert on career coaching in the remote workplace, and she leads the company to organizational excellence through her work centered around workforce experience. She excels in people management and teaches others how to lead with integrity, purpose, and passion.

Published by: Josh Tatunay