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Trust Could Be Killing Your Bottom Line

A Managers Guide to a Trusting Workplace

By Jody Urquhart

Imagine a workplace littered with fraud, deceit and regular scams as a way of doing business. Their niche is carved out of false promises and open lies. Thankfully most organizations like this lead a very brief existence. Contrast this with the immaculate organization. There isn’t a trace of lies or deceit to be found; a spotless record and uncorrupt past. For better or for worse, most organizations fit somewhere in between. The mediocre balance of trust and doubt coasts unnoticeably across all business activity. Yet tiny traces of either expose their existence now and again. You see the outward face of business activity while inward feelings of discontent brew. One thing people will always know is how they feel.

Symphony of Trust

How much do you trust your staff and why does it matter? Trust affects the bottom line—the way you treat your employees is the way they will treat customers. If it’s acceptable that a company or manager doesn’t have to keep promises, then you can almost guarantee employees won’t be keeping promises to customers either.

You’ve heard this before, “People do business with people they trust.” A customer’s trust in a company starts with a company’s trust in its employees. As Lance Secretan says in Reclaiming Higher Ground, “ Our society is suffering from truth decay.” He goes on to suggest that, especially in teams, telling the truth is essential.

“If the members of a symphony lie to each other, they will play awful music,” Secretan says. So it goes in any team environment. A compelling advantage for telling the truth—it is efficient. Over a third of a company’s budget may be devoted to administrative functions like controls, reports and procedures. Many controls exist because management doesn’t trust employees. What if we could nix these controls and trust each other to do our best? It would be much less expensive and much more efficient.

Exploding the Trust Myth

Many organizations think trust isn’t a concern. “ We trust each other.” On the surface everything is fine, but look closer and see people may be seeking to satisfy only their basic immediate needs. Their passion is lost in the details of the job. It’s OK in the short term, but the work eventually sickens the mind and weakens the heart.

Advantages to an Open Trusting Workplace:

· Employees are more willing to contribute their ideas

· Saves resources (time and money)

· Fuels creativity, innovation and productivity

· Encourages controlled risk taking

· “undiscussables “create fear and take up a lot of personal energy, which can be freed up and used for more productive work

· Employees will be more eager to get involved. More involved = More Motivated

· Richer relationships among staff

Killing the Trust Factor

Is trust affecting your bottom line? Here are some things companies do that kill the trust factor:

1) They don’t model what they say. As American aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright said, “ A parrot talks

much but flies little.”

Example: a company says the most important asset is their people and then they make changes that affect all

employees without notice or input.

2) They make promises they can’t keep. Example: a manager says the new commission structure will increase everyone’s income—that remains to be seen.

3) They tend to avoid dealing with conflict. This comes across in a false persona “ everything is just great”

4) They guard and selectively disclose information.

Example: There are corporate zones off limits for some employees. Information is guarded and only a select few are in the know. Meetings happen behind closed doors.

4) They don’t allow employees to exercise their own judgment.

Example: the company always goes by the book. There are so many rules designed so that people don’t have to think about what they should do.

5) Managers ask for input and suggestions, then ignores them.

Example: a manager asks for suggestions on improving service. An employee offers two good ideas and no one says anything or brings it up again. Employees get the feeling that management is going through the motions but they really don’t want the input.

Of course, you won’t use all ideas, but follow-up is essential. It shows you are listening;

6) Everything is monitored, from the number of sick days to productivity levels.

7) Employees are “given” information (change in job, new policies and procedures) and not included in it. Quality information that is formally and consistently shared builds trust. It softens the barriers between “us” and “them” thinking

8) They encourage competition. In a competitive workplace employees will not share information and help one another succeed. Competition reinforces the notion that the end justifies the means.

Defining Trust in the Workplace

When I speak to organizations about creating trust in the workplace, these are the most common qualities participants say about trustworthy companies and individuals.

“She has never let me down before.”

“They do what they say they will do.”

“I know the company has my best interests in mind.”

“He knows what he’s talking about and admits it when he doesn’t.”

Here are the qualities I think define a trusting workplace:

1) Open communications. Employees talk openly and informally, sharing between individuals and departments. Everyone’s opinion is valued equally. When changes occur, employees are included and involved. Suggestions and input are encouraged and always followed up. Managers listen to employees.

2) Empowered employees. Employees are encouraged to use their own judgment to solve problems. Their input is valued and included.

3) Rules are a guideline, not a solution.

4) Everyone is accountable. From managers to every level of staff, people keep their promises. They don’t say something will happen until they have the system and resources in place to make sure it will happen. Involve the whole group and make everyone accountable. Invest in commitments.

5) Managers model decisions. Until managers can model change themselves they don’t expect other team members to change. They are careful that what is said on paper is realistic. They know it’s not just something to aim for but also something they are committed to and it will happen.

Make Information Accessible

Imagine your first day on the job in a new company. As you walk in the door you notice rooms that are off limits to everyone but the manager. Day after day you start to see that information is carefully guarded and watched. Meetings occur behind closed doors. As managers walk around, you sense they know something you don’t. Does this sound like a fun and productive work environment?

What’s the big deal? Why do we guard information so carefully? Company information is often seen as intellectual property, for both the company and for individuals. People put effort into creating information and ideas and start to take ownership of it. In doing so, it becomes territorial and guarded. Pretty soon it creates a separation between those who have access to information and those who don’t. Individuals start to see they are excluded and feel disconnected from the whole vision of the organization. This diminishes trust and it causes people to guard their ideas and limit their input.

Information bonds people to one another. It is an important part of the positive growth and community of an organization. Cutting people off from access to information is unhealthy for the company. Find ways to make information accessible to everyone. If meetings must occur behind closed doors, then make sure others in the department are included. Bring their information and ideas to the meeting. Create an “after meeting” follow-up bulletin that discusses what was said.

Try to include employees in the information even though they may not have been at the forefront of the change. Explain the reason for a change, how it will serve management, employees, customers, suppliers, etc. Keep employees well informed of what is going on, why it is happening and how it affects their job and the company as a whole. Ask for suggestions and involve everyone as much as possible. Remember, employees are the resource that make things happen, thus it is essential to get their buy in.

Make Mistakes More Often

Encourage employees to risk making mistakes and create an atmosphere that encourages them to be open when errors occur. Usually when people make mistakes they feel guilty and try to cover up, sometimes even from themselves. The opportunity to learn from the mistake becomes hidden as well. Mistakes are a part of growth. Bring them out in the open and let others learn from the example. This will foster an environment of openness that encourages creativity and autonomy. Celebrate errors and victories equally.

How to Build a Trusting Workplace.

· Dialogue- Most importantly, focus on opening the lines of communication. Get people talking, make it a safe atmosphere for employees to share their honest opinion.

· Acknowledge the undiscussable. People hate the overtime policy? Low morale at the office? Several managers seem to be abusing privileges? These types of touchy issues need to be resolved and openly discussed. Many employees will be quietly harboring ill feelings about such unspeakables. It is essential to open the lines of communication. Be careful not to point fingers or place blame inappropriately. Stick to the facts, what’s been happening, why, and what you intend to do about it.

· Encourage Criticism. This may be tough, but the idea is to create an open workspace where it is safe to support one another. How can you accomplish this if employees are afraid to tell managers how they feel? We are not talking outright warfare or blame. Establish formal ways to discuss criticism with managers. Encourage it at individual coaching sessions. “ Is there anything that has been bothering you that you would like to talk about?” Also have a place where employees can anonymously, “get it off their chest” somewhere they can write down feedback and put it in a box that managers review weekly. Make sure employees realize that not every critique can be addressed, especially if they don’t put their name to it. When offering criticism, suggest that people keep a positive tone and ask to also offer their suggestions. You will need a way of handling these critiques. Discuss individual critiques with employees. Anonymous critiques can be acknowledged in a quarterly “Critique” newsletter. This could be like a “Talk to Management” Column. The employee addresses the complaint. The newsletter publishes the (anonymous) complaint and managers respond to it. Be sure to focus on why things are the way they are. For example, several employees dislike all the tedious administrative duties. To respond to their concern:

Express empathy and understanding, ( We know these reports can be very frustrating as they take up a lot of your time and don’t yield direct results.)

Explain why. (We really rely on these reports being filled out accurately because they help us keep track of what is going on in the fields, without them we would…..)

Explain any actions the company will do to address this.

Leave it on a positive note.

· Managers need to model trust. Are they consistent, predictable, trustworthy? All managers should be evaluated too.

· Eliminate ambiguous behavior. Anything that isn’t necessary, or you can’t justify, eliminate it. There should be a sound purpose for all activity.

· Involve, Involve, Involve. If employees come to you with a concern, why not involve them in the solution. Let them form a task force and come up with several solutions to present to management and other staff. The more involved the naysayers are, the more the problem becomes their own and they take responsibility for it (and the way they feel).

· Secrecy breeds suspicion. When information or activity is kept secret it is open to misinterpretation. So communication is essential. Develop tools that help communicate, “what is going on”. Regular email, meetings, newsletters, conference calls and voicemails keep people in the know. Any new discussion or planning should be shared with all employees sooner than later.

· Keep promises. Make fewer and better agreements. Don’t commit to something that you can’t follow through with. If you can’t honor an agreement, then say so right away and re-negotiate. Keep people in the know… (ie- we are not going to be able to……. , and Here’s why… ). Express your regrets and talk about what you plan to do about it.

Scared To Trust?

This is natural. I’m not suggesting abandoning all rules, throwing trust to the wind, and letting people have free reign in their job.

Ask employees what they feel comfortable with. Look at individuals’ capabilities and history. You wouldn’t ask someone excessively shy with few communication skills to do a speech for your shareholders. Adding trust and responsibility in a job takes small steps, not huge leaps. Both manager and employee have to feel comfortable. This helps you predict the other person’s behavior and minimize the risk of counting on others. Too often plans are not successfully implemented because the appropriate culture is not in place. Strategies are created behind closed doors and given to staff to execute. Like a deer in the headlights, these employees are stifled by the new roles that come speeding towards them. They may not feel comfortable, prepared and confident in this new role. Trust is built on competency. You will not know how competent someone is in a new role without finding out from them first. You need the input of your staff to successfully implement strategies.

Final SAY

Who gets the final SAY? Your employees do. Build trust in your office by involving and including employee input. Make them a part of the problem and they will surprise you with an honest solution. The foundation of trust in any organization is built from a concrete base of openness and input from others.

Comments to: ido@idoinspire.com

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About the author:

Jody Urquhart, a popular speaker and writer, is recognized in Canada, the United States and Europe, She has presented her signature topic, Joy of Work, to 65 organizations last year alone. Her monthly column on the same subject appears in over fifty trade journals. Jody is also an associate speaker for the Individual Development Organization in Vancouver where she works with Bill Clennan, the Dean of Canadian Speakers.

Jody holds diplomas in Professional Speaking and Writing from Mount Royal College and in Management and Marketing from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. She studied Management for three years at the University of Calgary. Her business experience includes management positions in both the banking and retail industries. Jody is a proud member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers and holds the distinction of being one of its founding board members. Jody is the author of the book “ALL WORK & NO SAY TAKES THE PASSION AWAY”. To order your copy, or to discuss having Jody speak at your next meeting, feel free to email her at ido@idoinspire.com