Susan Spiers and Cristina Herrera explore the multifaceted the cornerstone for business culture and development: trust.
Trust is not just a feel-good factor; it’s the bedrock of productivity, employee engagement, vibrant workplace culture and sustainable business growth. In a world of constant and accelerating technological change, the human desire for trusted connection is at an all time high.
Trust plays a critical role in psychological safety, seamless productivity, engaged employees, goal achievement and a connected workplace culture. In any work environment —hybrid, remote or traditional; trust drives business.
Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. it’s the foundation principle that holds all relationships.
— Stephen Covey
A Foundation of Trust
Trust in the workplace is as multifaceted as a living ecosystem. It requires trust-building practices within a healthy environment so that employees can believe in the reliability and capability of their colleagues, leaders and organization. The ecosystem is fragile, but it can be built and sustained with intention. The foundation requires accountability, clarity and equity.
Hybrid working has shed light on the foundational cracks the previously considered “in office norm” had. These cracks were exacerbated when the workplace needed to transition to hybrid. The number one thing hybrid organizations struggle with is creating a truly inclusive environment for both in-office and remote employees.
Trust packs a punch. While trust is built over time through consistent actions and open communication, in an environment of distrust, a simple action taken to prioritize trust will ripple and be felt by all.
Without trust, collaboration falters, innovation stalls, cultures crumble and morale plummets, which hinders business growth. The first indicator of a stifled business culture will be losing your talent.
Psychological Safety
Psychological Safety is feeling safe to take risks and express oneself without fear of negative consequences.
We are now seeing companies held accountable for psychological safety and research shows that trust a critical component. When employees trust their leaders, they can feel safe enough to share ideas and take risks.
Psychological safety in the workplace is being evaluated as an employer responsibility through the lens of psychosocial hazards, i.e., the aspects of work design, organization and management, that have the potential to cause psychological or social harm to employees. We are beginning to see trust as a workplace mandate and organizations held accountable.
Much like the wealth of data supporting diversity, equity and inclusion as a business imperative, research has found that psychological safety, fostered by trust, leads to higher employee engagement and encourages innovation.
Organizations with high psychological safety are 1.5 times more likely to report higher innovation and productivity, which translates to business growth.
— McKinsey & Company study, 2022
The questions remain: Will organizations trust the data enough to prioritize the people? Can we trust leaders and organizations to commit and follow through? Which organizations will lead the way?
Productivity
With changing workplace paradigms, what made sense in the past does not make sense now. Attempting to convince employees that return-to-the-office is needed, without considering other factors, is tone deaf.
Hybrid is the new reality and with the AI revolution in full force, those holding onto old paradigms will become irrelevant and erode trust. A highlighted that
Organizations with high levels of trust in their hybrid work models experienced a 20% increase in productivity.
— Trust in Hybrid Workplaces, PwC 2023
Trust enables efficient workflows and seamless operations. When employees trust each other, they can work independently yet cohesively, reducing bottlenecks and enhancing productivity. Collaboration is a driving force in teams with high trust levels, where sharing information freely, brainstorming more effectively and supporting each other’s efforts contribute to business growth. While we know collaboration is critical, collaboration without trust in the office or at home will yield few results.
Engaged Employees
Engaging employees begins with trusting your direct manager and leadership team. Trust in leadership and colleagues boosts morale and motivation. When employees feel valued and trusted, they are more willing to contribute their best efforts, enhancing overall performance. Therefore, if performance is ever in question, the dynamic and level of trust between the direct manager and employee should be evaluated first.
What happens when there is a lack of trust between leaders and employees? The 2022 MIT Sloan Management Review identified a toxic workplace culture as a leading cause of employee turnover. High-trust environments see lower turnover as employees feel secure and appreciated, reducing recruitment and training costs and supporting productivity.
Direct managers and leaders are responsible for upholding and demonstrating a high-trust culture. Hiring a new employee is often seen as the cost of doing business. We challenge you to rethink this as the cost of distrust between individual contributors and their direct managers and leaders.
Employees who trust their leaders are 14 times more likely to be fully engaged in their work.
— The Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2023 survey
When a high-trust environment is the norm, employees feel empowered to take initiative, make decisions, and be proactive with a sense of ownership and accountability.
Exceeding Goals
If trust increases productivity, engagement and employee retention, how are individual goals met and how do individual goals align with organizational objectives? In a high-trust environment, employees and leaders hold themselves and each other accountable to reach both personal and organizational goals, leading to higher performance standards and business growth.
High-trust companies report 50% less turnover and twice the revenue growth of low-trust peers.
— Trust in the Workplace by Deloitte, 2022
From a leadership perspective, clearly articulating and measuring performance will enable employees to work with a level of autonomy toward the goals. So often, complex career frameworks can lead to a lack of trust among employees who struggle to find clarity in how they can grow their careers. Additionally, moving goalposts of what excellent and promotional performance looks like (often based on subjective direct manager’s feelings about an employee) can breed distrust in the organizational system and leave an employee feeling hopeless in their performance efforts.
When employees can openly discuss their career aspirations without judgment, their leaders can coach them to unlock their potential and position them in the proper role. Employees who understand their contribution to the organization are more likely to buy into the company’s vision and work towards common goals.
Building Trust in Your Organization
Leaders must model trustworthiness by being transparent, reliable, and consistent —regardless of the workplace model being employed. Their actions set the tone for the entire organization and drive business success.
Similar to establishing an organization’s vision, mission and values, defining trust goals is nothing but hot air unless they are associated with demonstrable behaviors that can keep everyone accountable. To prioritize trust, effort should be taken to define trustworthy behaviors across different everyday scenarios.
For organizations taking steps to transition to hybrid ways of working for the first time or the 100th attempt, here are top tips to consider:
- Identify effective facilitation standards that help to balance remote and in-person dynamics.
- Make diversity of thought and enthusiastic alignment a strategic priority.
- Define the rules of engagement to manage expectations and ensure there are no surprises.
Importantly, all of these need to be improved at in-office-only organizations, too.
Conclusion
Building trust is a strategic imperative and simply the right thing to do. It is up to all of us as leaders to address the increasing fragmentation and polarization of our fractured workplace. While tackling equality, sustainability, and the ethical implications of AI, the foundation of trust is imperative and begins with transparency, consistency and accountability. Now is the time for all of us to strategically and intentionally build trust into our overall corporate initiatives, projects and workplace.
