You cannot always control the trust you experience in your larger organization, but you can act in ways that promote trust within your immediate work environment. The following are ways to create and preserve trusting relationships in a trust promoting work environment.
- Hire and promote people, who are capable of forming positive, trusting interpersonal relationships with people who report to them, to supervisory positions.
- Develop the skills of all employees and especially those of current supervisors and people desiring promotion, in interpersonal relationship building and effectiveness.
- Keep staff members truthfully informed. Provide as much information as you can comfortably divulge as soon as possible in any situation.
- Expect supervisors to act with integrity and keep commitments. If you cannot keep a commitment, explain what is happening in the situation without delay. Current behavior and actions are perceived by employees as the basis for predicting future behavior. Supervisors who act as if they are worthy of trust will more likely be followed with fewer complaints.
- Confront hard issues in a timely fashion. If an employee has excessive absences or spends work time wandering around, it is important to confront the employee about these issues. Other employees will watch and trust you more.
- Protect the interest of all employees in a work group. Do not talk about absent employees, nor allow others to place blame, call names, or point fingers.
- Display competence in supervisory and other work tasks. Know what you are talking about, and if you don’t know—admit it.
- Listen with respect and full attention. Exhibit empathy and sensitivity to the needs of staff members.
- Take thoughtful risks to improve service and products for the customer.
- If you are a supervisor or a team member, set high expectations and act as if you believe staff members are capable of living up to them.
The Human Resources professional has a special role in promoting trust. So do line managers. You coach managers and supervisors about all of the appropriate roles described above in building trust relationships.
You also influence the power differentials within the organization by developing and publishing supportive, protective, honorable policies. You are influential in building appropriate social norms among people who are doing different jobs in your organization.
Engage in trust building and team building activities only when there is a sincere desire in your organization to create a trusting, empowering, team-oriented work environment. Engaging in these activities for any but honorable reasons is a travesty and a sham. People will know the difference, or they will find out, and then, they will never trust you.
Build a Trust Relationship Over Time
Trust is built and maintained by many small actions over time. Marsha Sinetar, the author, said, “Trust is not a matter of technique, but of character; we are trusted because of our way of being, not because of our polished exteriors or our expertly crafted communications.”
So fundamentally, trust, and here is the secret I promised in the title of this article, is the cornerstone, the foundation, for everything you'd like your organization to be now and for everything you'd like it to become in the future. Lay this groundwork well.
Trust is telling the truth, even when it is difficult, and being truthful, authentic, and trustworthy in your dealings with customers and staff. Can profoundly-rewarding, mission-serving, life- and work-enhancing actions get any simpler than this? Not likely.
References About Trust Relationships
- Jones, Del, Gannett News Service, 2001.
- Meyer, R.C., Davis, J. H., and Schoorman, F. S., Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 1995.
- Tway, Duane C., A Construct of Trust, Dissertation, 1993.
- Tway, Duane C., Unpublished Paper, Leadership and Trust: An Imperative for the Transition Decade and Beyond, 1995.
