Organisations have a problem with trust. A recent online article from Deloitte Insights [READ IT HERE] notes that “well-meaning leaders, executives who likely trust individual workers, don’t trust “workers” as a group.” As such, the article asserts that “leaders often treat workers like naughty children to be kept in line, regardless of their trust in individual workers.” This impacts on the policies and processes implemented by leaders which often indicates this distrust, perpetuating a vicious cycle whereby workers trust in the organisation is eroded, and away we go… Yet when workers trust the organisation and management, they tend to be more productive and happier workers, reducing turnover, improving engagement, producing superior productivity and job quality.
Like managers, workers may also trust the manager as an individual, but not in their role as manager. This distrust can come from the decisions of the organisation (as opposed to the individual managers decisions), or from their colleagues’ interactions with the manager. Addressing this, the authors note that “workers develop trust in an organisation, and the managers representing it, when they feel that the organisation is enabling them to be productive and have purpose and impact.”
What then, does a trustworthy organisation look like? From the article, it is characterised as a place where “workers are empowered to be productive”, and information, decisions and processes are openly shared.
The steps to create this kind of trust, as suggested in the article, includes:
- Rethink what success looks like by asking what does the organisation truly value? Is there a difference between declared and revealed values? Where there is a disconnect dysfunction is present which pushes the organisation away from its goals.
- Be mindful of unwritten expectations. Informal values can easily trump policies and processes. Executives must lead by example both in doing the right thing, and in being seen to do the right thing.
- Cocreate policies with workers. Managers and leaders can rarely see how workers will experience life inside the policies and processes being drafted by them. Cocreating policy and process with their workers fosters a culture of trust, collaboration, and inclusion – something done with workers, not to them, resulting in shared responsibility and accountability.
The concluding paragraph of the article is a great summary: “The assumption has long been that low levels of trust have lowered productivity, when it’s possible that causality runs the other way around. Trust is a symptom rather than the cause, with high levels of trust a sign that an organisation has created a productive and fulfilling work environment.”