By Stan Silverman – Contributing Writer,
August 6, 2019
Given
the importance of trust in enabling organizations to thrive, this article
updates my April 2016 article, “How to earn employee trust to
build a high-performance team.”
Have
you ever worked in an organization where there was a low level of trust among
peers, or where direct reports did not trust their boss or the CEO of the
company?
This
type of organization has a toxic atmosphere, which significantly reduces its
effectiveness.
What is
“trust?” The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines trust as a “belief that someone
is reliable, good, honest and effective … one in which confidence is placed.”
Wouldn’t we all like to work within organizations where all employees feel this
level of trust in their leaders and peers?
Stephen
Covey, the late motivational speaker, writer and advisor, once wrote, “Without
trust we don’t truly collaborate; we merely coordinate or, at best, cooperate.
It is trust that transforms a group of people into a team.” When people don’t
trust each other, there is an invisible elephant in the room, which may
adversely impact the effectiveness of the decision process.
Whether
you are the CEO, a mid-level manager or an individual contributor with no
direct reports but a member of a team, trust needs to be earned. So, how do you
earn the trust of others?
1. Be
consistent and readable by those within your organization
As a
CEO or other leader, there should be no misunderstanding as to your tone at the
top — the values to which you hold yourself and your employees accountable, and
the type of organizational culture you are nurturing. Employees trust and want
to work for an organization with high ethical standards, and work for a leader
that lives by those standards.
As a
leader, ensure your expectations are understood. Situations will arise when
decisions need to be made by your employees for which there is no operating
procedure or precedent. Employees will fall back on their good critical
judgment and proceed in a way consistent with your expectations, tone and
culture.
2. Meet
your commitments
Don’t
make a commitment you cannot keep. If the situation changes and you find that
you can’t keep a commitment, notify the individual immediately. She may have
made a commitment to others, based on your commitment to her.
3.
Don’t blame other people for your mistakes
If you
make a mistake, own it, and share how the issue will be handled in a different
manner. You don’t create trust by blaming others for your mistake. Employees
that do this never last long within the kind of organization in which we all
want to work.
4.
Allow your direct reports to share with you a contrary point of view
I have
worked for bosses who were not interested in contrary views. This did not
engender trust. As the leader, compare other’s opinions on how to proceed on an
issue with your own view. Through discussion and debate, you may accept their
view, or may discover a third alternative path, better than either of the first
two paths. Follow this process, and you will rarely choose the wrong way to
proceed.
5.
Create an environment that allows employees to share the brutal facts of
reality
As a
leader, you want your people to feel safe in sharing bad news. Don’t shoot the
messenger. You can’t solve a problem unless you know what it is. You want your
people to have trust and confidence that you will listen to them.
6. Help
employees develop a sense of ownership in what they do
Empower
employees, don’t micromanage. Show your employees that you trust them by
letting them decide how to accomplish an objective. This will help your
employees develop a sense of ownership in what they do. When this occurs, you
can rely on them to drive results.
7. Be
accessible and transparent
Create
opportunities for employees other than your direct reports to talk with you.
Walk around the office or factory floor. Ask how people are doing. However,
avoid telling them what to do.
If an
issue arises that needs to be addressed, talk with your direct report
responsible for the area. Hold town meetings to talk about the business and
respond to employees’ questions. Be as transparent as possible, realizing that
there are things that cannot be publicly shared.
8.
Before making a decision, hear both sides of an issue
No
matter how compelling an argument is presented by an individual on one side of
an issue, there is always the other side, which may be more compelling. Hear
both sides before making a decision. The individual on the losing side of the
issue won’t like your decision, but will respect the fact that you went through
a fair process and heard both sides.
9. Live
your values
Living
your values engenders trust. As CEO of PQ Corporation, I experienced a minor
OSHA recordable accident while traveling on business. I insisted that the
accident be written up, and for that quarter, I was one of PQ’s safety
statistics.
Word
was spread to our 56 manufacturing facilities around the world that the CEO
called an OSHA recordable accident on himself. This demonstrated that I held
myself accountable to the same standards as I held our employees.
The
best talent will want to work for companies where there is a high level of
trust with the senior leadership and among fellow employees. These are the
companies that have the lowest turnover and achieve the highest long-term
returns to shareholders. This is the type of company at which we all want to
work.
Stan
Silverman is founder and CEO of Silverman Leadership. He is a speaker, advisor
and nationally syndicated columnist on leadership, entrepreneurship and
corporate governance. Silverman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical
engineering and an MBA degree from Drexel University. He is also an alumnus of
the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. He can be
reached at Stan@SilvermanLeadership.com.
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