Integrity & Trustworthiness

Note

In this series of brief articles, we explain the basic work skills every team member must develop and practice if they want to be engaged and effective at work. If you are a manager, during the annual review process we ask you to rate your team members on these competencies. Use the following brief description...

to solidify your understanding of the skill,
to recall specific examples of your team member's behavior that either exemplify or betray the skill in focus, and
to think of concrete steps they can take to grow in this specific skill.

What is it?

A team member high in integrity and trustworthiness has both the character and the ability to consistently deliver on what they say they will do.

Integrity is a broader concept than honesty. Honesty is rooted in truthfulness, but integrity requires truthfulness and the competence to deliver on your promises.
Trust, then, is rooted in being honest about your intentions and having the capability to deliver on those intentions. For example, stating “I will supply this product by next Wednesday” and then doing what you say builds trust.
You only take people at their word when they deliver. After they miss a few deadlines and break a few promises, you begin to discount what they say.
Lack of integrity – the inability to depend on someone – causes the process of teamwork to break down. When there is a lack of integrity, it isn’t long before other team members are trying to cover for the team member whose integrity is deficient. As a result, productivity and positive attitudes erode.

How to rate it

Here is a guide to help you rate your team member using our standard 5-point scale.

Tip:

The general descriptions below can give you a mental picture of the variance between the different result options, but, because team members and scenarios vary so widely, you should not rigidly rely on them.

Not Met - the team member forgets their commitments and rarely delivers what they promise. Their lack of trustworthiness obviously drags down the team's morale.
Partially Met - the team member is "hit and miss" on following through on their commitments. There are signs that the team does not trust what they say they will do. And if they are going to miss a deadline, they do not proactively communicate that fact.
Met - for the most part, the team member gets done what they promise. Occasionally, they may forget or miss a deadline. One way they could improve their trustworthiness is by proactively communicating the status of their work. Or they may fully intend to meet deadlines, but do not yet have the competence in their job to get the work done efficiently.
Exceeded - the team member works hard to deliver what they promise and the team can consistently take them at their word. As soon as they realize they may miss a deadline, they proactively communicate that fact to everyone who needs to know.
Far Exceeded - the team member is so trustworthy the team wants to emulate them. And because they value trust so much for the same of the team's effectiveness, they actively coach others on how to improve their integrity and trustworthiness.