Increasing Trust, decreasing fear

“It's no longer enough for employees to simply "embrace" change: continuous improvement must become a way of doing business, where people actively seek improvements and where systems and processes support and drive initiative. Trust is the key. The work environment must be such that people work without fear, within a culture that encourages pride in both personal and organisational accomplishments”. - Erwin Johnson

Trust, a word used frequently amongst people, but so difficult to obtain and maintain, especially due to the demands of the modern world. Dr. D. Tway believes that trust is made up of three interacting components. The capacity for trusting, which refers to your total life experiences and existence, that encourages your capacity and willingness to risk trusting others. The perception of competence refers to your perception, of your ability and others ability with whom you work, to perform competently and produce effective results. The perception of intentions refers to your perception that the actions, motivation, words, direction and decisions are communicated and motivated by mutually-serving rather than self-serving motives. Trust forms the foundation for effective communication, employee motivation and the overall effort that people will plow into their work. When trust is evident within an organisation or relationship, people are inclined to invest more of themselves to achieve greater results.

The critical question thus remains, “does trust exist in your organisation and how important is it?” In many instances, the extent of trust in an organisation is determined by the trust promoted by managers. Management needs employees to feel that they are valued, trusted and have them believe that the company is acting with integrity in their best interest. When this exists within an organisation, it encourages trust not only amongst managers and employees, but amongst team members on different levels as well. It reduces fear and encourages employees to take initiative and be honest and open when communicating. Research has shown that in an environment where employees feel that a friendship has been established with colleagues, it enhances the voluntary input of employees, resulting in increasing productivity.

There are many factors that contribute to the lack and loss of trust within a team, but the past economic crisis has been one of the major contributors. Retrenchments and layoffs can cause a lot of mistrust in any team. When individuals feel threatened, this will often lead to them producing just enough to keep their jobs and they will tend not to share their knowledge or take initiative in fear of risking their employment. With the above in mind, it is important to ask, “How effective are organisations really and how can managers reduce fear and increase trust, especially during these hard economic times?”

It has been found that the most successful organisations use the following five practical ways to foster trust within their working environment:

1.Establish and maintain integrity. It is the foundation of trust in any organisation. Integrity must begin at the top and then move down. This means, among other things, keeping promises and always telling the truth, no matter how difficult it might be. If its leaders and people have integrity, an organisation can be believed and trusted.

2.Communicate vision and values. Communication is important, since it provides the artery for information and truth. By communicating the organisation's vision, management defines where it's going. By communicating its values, the methods for getting there are established.

3.Consider all employees as equal partners. Trust is established when even the newest rookie, a part-timer, or the lowest paid employee feels important and part of the team. This begins with management not being aloof, as well as getting out and meeting the troops. This should be followed by leaders seeking opinions and ideas (and giving credit for them), knowing the names of employees and their families and treating one and all with genuine respect.

4.Focus on shared, rather than personal goals. When employees feel everyone is pulling together to accomplish a shared vision, rather than a series of personal agendas, trust results. This is the essence of teamwork. When a team really works, the players trust one another.

5.Do what's right, regardless of personal risk. We all know intuitively what's "right" in nearly every situation. Following this instinctive sense, and ignoring any personal consequences will nearly always create respect from those around us. From this respect trust will come.