Picture yourself walking into two different companies on your first day of work. In one, you feel welcomed, valued, and confident in your ability to contribute. In the other, you sense palpable tension, skepticism, and doubt about your potential. What sets these companies apart? Trust. How would you perform in either of these scenarios?
Trust is the golden ingredient to creating sustainably high-performing cultures. However, trust remains an abstract topic for many organizations, and there are few validated single metrics or initiatives for improving it. In fact, it may be more beneficial to view trust as a byproduct of daily, systemic actions, opposed to something that can be isolated and viewed as a single, separate element. Much like psychological safety, building trust is a continuous process that requires commitment and effort from all team members.
According to Professor Paul Zak (2017), the principles for building trust are universal. This means that certain actions typically result in increased trust, regardless of geographical location, corporate culture, employee age, or any other factor. This is great news for those experiencing significant structural changes in the workplace, including the rise of remote work and more flexible working environments.
Later in this blog post, we will explore a few of these principles.
What is known about the impact of trust?
Trust can be an incredible tool when it comes to culture. Trust has a broad positive impact, ranging from employee wellbeing to business performance. For example, high-trust businesses are 2.5 times more likely to be high-performing revenue companies compared to low-trust organizations (Covey & Conant, 2016).
Here are a few things we know about the impact of trust on employees:
- According to Zak (2017), people at high-trust companies report 74% less stress, 40% less burnout, 13% fewer sick days, 50% higher productivity, 76% more engagement, 106% more energy at work, and are 29% more satisfied with their lives (compared to people at low-trust companies).
- Additionally, Reichheld and Dunlop (2023) found that employees who trust their employer are 260% more motivated to work, have 41% less absenteeism, and a 50% lower likelihood of looking for another job.
Behaviors for building trust
Building trust takes time. However, research shows that there are specific systemic steps and actions that can be taken to increase and build trust. Over time, positive behaviors will become so ingrained in the culture that they will occur naturally.
- Give recognition. Recognize the excellence of others as soon as possible after reaching a goal and express it publicly (Zak 2017). This can easily be done in team settings or in digital channels. You can craft your own practices that fit your culture!Express vulnerability by sharing challenging emotions, such as difficulty, doubts, or fear. Although intimidating, research supports that as long as expressions of vulnerability are systematically rewarded instead of punished, trust and psychological safety will continue to grow (Blanchard 2023). It’s vital to shape the culture in a way where people do not get into trouble for raising concerns or asking tough questions. Actions ultimately build the culture, not just words (Ryan 2018).Show empathy. Research shows that identifying and recognizing others’ emotions builds trust (Porath & Boissy 2023). Responding with empathy is often most impactful when it’s the hardest. Sometimes you may be stressed by a mistake another person has made or the challenge they’ve faced, but being empathetic is of the highest importance in these scenarios. Empathy, in practice, can be shown as appreciation, checking in on a colleague, validating others’ emotions, and so on. Even reacting with a heart or a caring emoji is a valuable expression of care and empathy.
Take time to reflect on which emotions you are comfortable expressing in your work setting and why. Start with small steps and remember that every individual’s contribution has an impact on the company culture and trust.
Sources:
Blanchard, K (2023). Vulnerability and Psychological Safety at Work. LeaderFactor. Retrieved from https://www.leaderfactor.com/post/vulnerability-and-psychological-safety-at-work
Dunlop, A., & Reichheld, A. (2023) How to Build a High-Trust Workplace. Retrieved from https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-to-build-a-high-trust-workplace/
Goleman, D., & Bennis, W. (2016). The Connection Between Employee Trust and Financial Performance. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/07/the-connection-between-employee-trust-and-financial-performance
Ryan, L. (2018). Ten Ways to Build Trust on Your Team. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2018/03/17/ten-ways-to-build-trust-on-your-team/
Zak, P. (2017). Trust Factor. New York, NY: American Management Association.
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