Week in Review

Focus on Organizational Trust

It’s suddenly becoming very trendy to talk about trust, which we’re pretty excited about since we’ve been talking about trust for quite some time now.  Great Place to Work® is in the business of helping companies measure the levels of trust inside their organizations and then work to help enhance levels of trust between employees and management.

Trust got some lip service from the HBR bloggers this week with Linda Hill & Kent Lineback asking, “Do Your People Trust You?”  They make the excellent point that the entire relationship between managers and employees is predicated on trust, smartly pointing out that “you can ultimately influence people only to the extent they are willing to be influenced by you.”  They also rightly point out that managers are often a bit shocked when you suggest that trust is something you can actively encourage.  If you’ve not thought about developing the trust-building capabilities of your managers, you should.

While we at Great Place to Work® are confident that trust can be cultivated, others are a little more conflicted about the damaged employer-employee relationship, including Tammy Erikson who penned Trust is Dead. Long live Trust!  Tammy looks back to the 70s for the start of the erosion of the tacit employer-employee contract of work hard and be loyal, and get rewarded with stability and a retirement.  The question she asks is: Have the messages from management adjusted to the new business reality where constant change, challenging work, and an uncertain future, are the norm?

Do you trust what your managers are telling you?  Do you think about your own trustworthiness as a leader?  Let us know.

Leslie Caccamese