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In the current economic climate, budgets are being slashed, hiring freezes are commonplace and anxiety abounds. The phrase “doing more with less” has become a mantra of sorts in many industries. The truth is, though, many people have no idea how to do more with less. Where can you start?
One way to boost performance with limited resources is to create an organization that has high levels of trust. At first, these two concepts seem unrelated, but research shows that organizations with high levels of trust produce numerous tangible benefits. For example, these organizations experience accelerated growth, not only because their customers buy more, but also because those customers are more loyal and more likely to refer their friends to companies they trust.
In addition, organizations with high levels of trust outperform competitors with less cost. Why? For starters, in trusting environments there are fewer obstacles to productivity, like backstabbing, red tape and information hoarding. Employees in high-trust organizations are also more likely to be empowered to share ideas and pursue initiatives.
If that weren’t enough, innovation is enhanced because conditions that foster creativity—the willingness to take risks and the safety to make mistakes—thrive in a culture of trust. Trust also facilitates greater collaboration. Forbes recently referred to it as the “bedrock of collaboration.”
Another important benefit is increased employee retention. High turnover rates cost an organization money: about 48–61 percent of the wage for that position according to a Watson Wyatt survey. This fact is especially daunting when you lose higher paid executives.
What you can do
Trust and communication go hand in hand. Attention to the quality and frequency of your communication goes a long way toward creating an atmosphere of trust.
The first step is to garner support from management. Make your case for the importance of a trusting atmosphere using statistics and case study examples. When the cost and benefits are understood, you’ll be in a much better position to proactively develop trust in your organization’s culture. Developing a high-trust culture requires that you observe these non-negotiable principles: honesty, transparency, listening and sharing.
Honesty
The cornerstone of trust is, of course, honesty. Honesty means that you do what you say you’re going to do. Giving polite responses that are not completely sincere does more harm than good. For example, saying, “I’ll get right on that” when you know you have several more pressing issues erodes trust. It’s far better to say, “I have three other things on my desk right now. I’ll start working on that report by the end of the week.” Further, even though your intentions might be good, inevitably crises arise and priorities shift. If you find you can’t keep your word, make sure to let the affected people know as soon as possible.
Another issue that arises regarding honesty is giving people credit for their work and ideas. This is one instance where it’s good to name names. Everyone likes to get recognition for a job well done, and praise is always more effective when it’s public.
In both of these examples, it’s not enough for an organization’s communicators to lead by example. If these practices are lacking in your company, take the lead by educating supervisors and other employees through staff meetings, newsletters, performance evaluations and other communication channels about how these behaviors create a more rewarding work environment.
Transparency
Being transparent means being genuine and forthcoming. Employees shouldn’t have to guess what their supervisors or the organization’s leaders are really thinking. Many people who are in leadership positions today are from the baby boomer generation, which means their experience as an employee was likely very different from that of today’s employees. What they think is acceptable in terms of openness and the timeliness of sharing information may no longer apply. Today’s employees want and expect that in return for their commitment to the organization they will receive truthful, open communication in virtually real-time—not corporate gobbledygook filtered through the legal department.
Transparency also means giving feedback—often. Many managers rarely give feedback. They wait until there is a problem or until the annual performance review, whichever comes first. In a trusting environment, workers are made aware of the quality of their work, both positive and negative, and they are given clear expectations of what is expected of them. To help foster frequent feedback, organizations can provide performance review training to managers, institute quarterly performance check-ins, and implement a 360-degree evaluation process that allows employees to provide feedback on supervisors.
Listening
Many people consider listening to be the same as hearing, and it’s not. Most people hear what is being said, but rather than giving that information careful consideration, they’re coming up with their rebuttal or mentally composing their grocery list. Listening well is perhaps more aptly described as active listening, and this means listening with a purpose. In active listening, you are paying close attention to what the speaker is saying verbally and nonverbally and trying to understand the other person’s point of view. You make sure to check your understanding by paraphrasing and clarifying, thereby communicating more effectively. While it might not be possible to teach every person in a large organization how to be an active listener, it’s absolutely critical that direct supervisors and senior leadership—particularly those who participate in town hall or all-hands meetings—understand the importance of active listening in building and maintaining trust.
Sharing
The old saying “knowledge is power” is true, and low-trust environments are rife with people who play power games by withholding information. Sharing information with employees must be done on a regular basis. There’s no such thing as employees being too informed. The water cooler talk of yesterday has been replaced by the social media tools of today. Like it or not, employees will find out what’s going on. And they’ll lose trust in leadership that provides a candy-coated version of the truth when they can get the full story from other sources. To effectively build trust, communicators must ensure that direct supervisors are provided with full and complete information so they can answer the tough employee questions and maintain credibility.
Building and maintaining organizational trust is a tricky business. There are many variables that are out of communicators’ hands. But embracing these principles will help you lay the foundation for a trusting environment. Keep in mind that trust is a process; it is a result of a multitude of actions, most of which will take place on an interpersonal level. It’s the repetitive and consistent nature of these interactions that will create your culture of trust.
Toni Cascio is vice president and Angelique Rewers is president of Bon Mot Communications, which provides communication consulting, training and information products. To download a copy of their white paper, “The Low Trust Epidemic,” or to sign up for a free subscription to their e-magazine, The Corporate Communicator, please visit http://www.bonmotcomms.com/. Toni can be reached at
. Angelique can be reached at
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