Trust – An Organizational Differentiator!

Overview:

The objective of this article is to emphasize the importance of trust and the impact it has on an individual, a team, and an organization.   By understanding what trust is; why it is important; the impact associated with it; how it is earned; how to maintain it; and what to avoid; you can directly influence and build trust at every level.

Let’s begin with a quick exercise:

React to the following statements?

–              Trust me, next year I will promote you.

–              If you do this for me, I will make it up to you. Trust me.

–              I want you to trust me that this will all work out.

–              All I can offer is my trust, and I hope you will do the same.

–              I will work hard to earn your trust.

With each of these statements, a reader will elicit a response on how believable it is and how to react to it.   In the first three statements, the reaction should be cautionary vs. the latter two, which the reader would be more open to.   Why is that?  In the first three statements, the reader is being told to give trust while in the last two, the reader is being asked to give trust.   That is a significant difference as trust is not something that can be demanded, it has to be earned.  And as will be discussed, earning trust is based on observable behaviors.

There are three levels of Trust that must be considered in developing a strategy.

1. Individual level – how trust is given and earned between people to create meaningful productive relationships. This is accomplished through each interaction.
2. Team level – how teams demonstrate the behaviors that build and sustain trust. This is accomplished in how the team is created, the team objectives, the norms, roles within the team, and how accountability is administered.
3. Organizational level – the belief an individual has in a company. A company is a living and breathing organism that evolves in positive and adverse ways.    Trust in a company can be a core driver in many important results.   This is accomplished through the values a company establishes and lives by, the strategy and goals, the way information is communicated and transparency, the treatment of individual and teams, and overall character/style of the company’s leadership.

Let’s create a baseline definition we can use: Trust is a choice to believe in someone or something.

If we can agree that trust is a choice, then we would also have to agree that each individual owns the power to give trust to an individual, team, and organization.   This would assume that the individual can take back trust as well.  This is significant if you are a supervisor, team leader, or senior executive representing the organization, as the impact associated with trust is meaningful in overall results.

Now let’s play word association.  What words are associated when you think about what trust means to you?  Here is a list that I imagine would overlap with many of your words.

Honesty                              Integrity                             Reliable                              Transparency

Communicates                 Empathy                            Compassion                      Consistency

Listens                                Cares                                   Candor                               Follows Through

Dependable                       Does what Says                Has Back                            Good Intentions

Each of these words is a behavioral action word.  None of these words are passive or hopeful.  It takes effort and consistency to deliver on them.

Point:  By understanding words or the behaviors that describe trust, then consistently demonstrating them will be much easier.   Asking what is most important to an individual can also help ensure you are demonstrating the right behaviors.

Remember:  Trust is believing that words mean what they appear to mean.    Trust is experiencing actions that are constant.

What are the benefits of establishing Trust?

Loyalty                               Engagement                      Commitment                    Productivity

Silo breaking                     Risk-Taking                        Results                                Growth

Openness                           Alignment                          Clarity                                 Stronger Teams

Job Satisfaction                Real Feedback                  Ideation                              Innovation

Creativity                           Retention

These are all impact words delivering value between individuals, teams, and organizations.  Each has a business value and can be translated into a specific metric.  When all of the calculations are done, significant revenue and savings can be connected.  Put simpler, it is a bad idea not acting on building individual, team, and organizational trust.

Point:  As a leader, understanding the importance of trust toward delivering more business value is key and requires thoughtfulness, effort, action, and consistency.

How do you build Trust – here are a few core methods?

-Treat people fairly and respectfully

-Ask for input and use it

-Do what you say you will do

-Delegate effectively

-Communicate often and honestly

-Be compassionate and empathetic

-Avoid over managing and micromanaging

-Be available and present

-Update Frequently

-Establish clear goals, expectations, and accountabilities

Point:  Trust has to be earned as it is a choice that is made.  Earning trust is an active and consistent demonstration of meaningful behaviors to the givers of trust.  It is important to realize that losing trust is an outcome of not demonstrating or inconsistently demonstrating the behaviors creating a negative impact.  

Summary

Trust is an integral part of relationships on all levels.  When an individual chooses to give trust, the impact is significant and will drive results.  The inverse are the obstacles that will be created by not establishing and maintaining trust.

As an organization, there are so many moments of truth for an individual to build trust or to lose it.  From living established values, onboarding and orientation, job clarity, communication, how to get information and answers, expectations and accountabilities, growth and development, leadership, and more.

Without trust, the loss in productivity, lack of commitment, less innovation and ideation, lower retention, and a culture that is not engaged causing adverse results to the business and individuals.

There is a burning platform to have a culture that establishes trust as a core value and then building the behaviors and accountabilities to drive and maintain it day in and day out.

Now it is up to you.  Try it, test it, and when you find that trust is not where it should be, get help to re-establish it.

Author

Dan Ginsberg

Principal Partner | https://egage.net/

(802-310-4009) | danginsberg@eGage.net / ndginsberg@gmail.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-ginsberg