Do you trust your employees? Do they trust each other? Do they trust you?
A solid foundation of trust within your business can build more success. While a lack of trust can work against your goals. Investing time to build trusting relationships in the workplace is not only important—it can also provide your business with a competitive advantage.
A number of studies done over the last decade illustrate the advantages of a high trust workplace. One study done by Great Place to Work®, found that high trust workplaces have higher employee morale, higher customer satisfaction scores, less employee turnover, higher productivity, and greater financial performance than their competitors with less trusting environments. Organizations with little or no trust, experience an increase in absenteeism, lower productivity, lower customer service scores, less innovation, higher litigation costs, and increased turnover.
We often take trust for granted. When we have trust in our employees and coworkers, we don’t need to think about it. However, when we don’t have trust, it is the elephant in the room. Lack of trust impacts all our interactions. We often avoid working with someone we don’t trust. We may not communicate as easily. We may even create elaborate strategies to work around a person we don’t trust. Our lack of interaction leads to misunderstanding, confusion, reduced productivity, and less-than-optimal business results. Author Stephen M.R. Covey says, in his book, The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything, “High trust increases speed, and reduces costs in all relationships, interactions, and transactions.” When employees have trust in each other they work well together, tasks feel easier, and employees are happier at work.
Can trust be defined? Trust often feels unclear and abstract. Author and business coach, Charles Feltman, defines trust as “choosing to make something you value vulnerable to someone else’s actions.” Think about all the things we ask our employees to place in other’s hands each day. Employees routinely make their reputation, work product, self-esteem, and even their very livelihood, vulnerable to the actions of others.
Are some businesses just lucky to have high trust between employees and owners? Or can you work towards creating a more trusting culture? The answer is, yes—you can foster more trust! Trust isn’t an abstract concept. It is built on a set of specific concrete behaviors.
Drs. Michelle and Dennis Reina have spent the last thirty years studying the concept of trust. More specifically they study how trust is built and broken in a workplace setting. In their book, Trust and Betrayal in the Workplace: Building Effective Relationships in Your Organization, they identified three dimensions of trust in the workplace—Trust of Character, Trust of Communication, and Trust of Capability. The Reinas list trust-building behaviors under each of the three dimensions. Once you know the elements of trust, you can avoid behaviors that break trust and more consistently utilize behaviors that build trust. Let’s take a closer look at each dimension.
Trust of Character can be simply described by using the phrase, “do what you say you will do.” There are six trust building behaviors under Trust of Character.
Trust of Character is the foundation for trust. If you struggle to maintain Trust of Character, the other two types of trust will never be established.
Trust of Communication describes how information flows between group members. People who inspire this type of trust display the six behaviors listed below.
Many of the behaviors related to Trust of Communication appear to be common sense. However, we are human. Even the simplest of behaviors, like accidentally forgetting to share information or letting a small confidence slip, can break trust.
The final dimension of trust is Trust of Capability. It is especially important for team leaders and supervisors to be able to build Trust of Capability. Behaviors in this trust dimension enable people on the team to learn and grow. The following four behaviors make up Trust of Capability.
Demonstrating behaviors that indicate to your employees that you value their contributions and are invested in their growth benefits your business while building a higher level of trust.
If your workforce is currently (or permanently) working in a remote environment, you may be curious as to whether the trust behaviors differ when in a virtual workplace. The elements of trust are not any different virtually. You should still do what you say you will do, help people learn and grow, and communicate consistently, honestly, and with good purpose. However, the lack of face-to-face interaction means you may have to be more purposeful about your trust-building behaviors.
Make it a point to keep people pacing on where you and others are at with projects. Ask employees to be clear about when they are available to work and when they are out of the office. Spend extra time with employees to set and clarify expectations on a project. Take the time to help people learn, to coach, and to give feedback. Some of these interactions might have happened more casually in an in-person setting. In a virtual setting you will need to intentionally schedule these interactions.
Trust is fragile and hard to rebuild once broken. Even though we may have worked with someone for years and developed a trusting colleague relationship, years of hard work can be shattered in a moment. For your trust to be broken, trust must first exist. Usually, the closer the relationship and the stronger the trust, the deeper the betrayal is felt when trust is broken. If you have been betrayed or have been the one to break someone’s trust, consider these Seven Steps for Healing® from the Reina model to help you move forward.
Being a trustworthy colleague takes work. Trust is built (and broken) with the little interactions and behaviors that you perform each day. To build and maintain trust in your professional relationships you must consistently demonstrate that you are worthy of other’s trust.
Author Bio:
Dawn Johnson is an author, speaker, and the founder of On the Rise Development, LLC. As an advocate for thriving workplaces, Dawn has dedicated more than a decade to helping leaders and employees grow in their careers.
She earned her B.A. in Psychology along with a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Arts in Management, all from The College of St. Scholastica.
Dawn was recently certified in the Reina Team Trust and Leadership Trust Scales which are used to assess trust levels of individual leaders and within teams.
She is eagerly anticipating the publication of her first book. Outwit the Workplace Bully: 8 Steps You Need to Know to Reclaim Your Career, Confidence, and Sanity will be available on Amazon in January of 2022.
To learn more about Dawn and On the Rise Development, visit www.ontherisedevelopment.com
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