Architects of

Trust: Building
Trust in the
Workplace

Some Survey Numbers

70% of employees believe that trust
and loyalty within the firms is declining
60% do not believe that their
management is upright, ethical and
honest
50% believe that lack of trust is a
problem in their workplace (57
organizations surveyed)
70% wont speak up because they fear
repercussions

One Bottom Line

Number
6,500 employees surveyed at 76
Holiday Inn international hotels
Correlated with customer satisfaction
scores, personnel records and hotel
revenues
Hotels where managers were perceived
to follow through on their promises
were more profitable
0.125 (1/8th) improvement in employee
trust ratings (5 point scale) should
improve hotel profitability by $250,000

What is Trust?
Trust n.& v. 1.
(a) a firm belief in the reliability or truth or strength etc.
of a person or thing (b) the state of being relied on 2. a
confident expectation 3. (a) a thing or person committed
to ones care (b) the resulting obligation or
responsibility (OED)

The act of placing yourself in

the vulnerable position of
relying on others to treat you
in a fair, open, and honest way

Where Do We Trust?
Social trust - between people
Trust in organizations - between
organizations and those they serve
Intra - organizational trust - within
organizations
Inter- organizational trust - between
organizations

Some Trust Jargon

Relational trust
Organizational trust
Active trust
Passive trust
Dispositional trust

The Importance of Trust

... in low trust groups,
interpersonal relationships
interfere with and distort
perceptions of the problem.
Energy and creativity are
diverted from finding
comprehensive, realistic
solutions, and members use
the problem as an instrument
to minimize their vulnerability.
In contrast, in high trust
groups there is less socially
generated uncertainty and
problems are solved more
effectively.
Zand, 1972

Under conditions of high

trust, problem solving
tends to be creative and
productive. Under
conditions of low trust,
problem solving tends to
be degenerative and
ineffective.
R. Wayne Boss, 1977
Harvard Business
Review,

Importance of Trust
[Trust] creates a
reservoir of goodwill
that helps preserve
the relationship
when, as will
inevitably happen,
one party engages in
an act that its
partner considers
destructive.
Nirmalya Kuma,
Harvard Business Review
November/December 1996

The most productive

people are the most
trusting people. If this
seems to be an
astonishing statement,
it shows how distorted
the concept of trust
has become. Trust is
one of the most
essential qualities of
human relationships.
Without it, all human
interaction, all
commerce, all society
would disappear.
Taylor McConnell in Group

The Importance of Trust

Productive relationships are based on
trust often unrecognized and taken
for granted
Its a resource that increases with use
Enables coordination without coercion
Enables commitments to be
undertaken in situations of high risk

Reasons for Low Trust

Frame of reference - past experiences
Feelings - low self esteem,
vulnerability
Facts - past results (or perception of
past results)
Perception of attributes of the trustee
competence
capacity and ability
profession
intentions (virtue)

Roots of Low Trust in

the Workplace
Lack of inclusion
Feelings of deprivation
and loss

No positive attachment
to a boss
Previous experiences
yours or other peoples

Perceptions of
vulnerability

Trust (or not) in Change

All change creates distrust. Trust is
often the first casualty of change.
Effective communication depends
on the capability and willingness of
the receiver
Concepts of fairness and clear
process shapes workable
relationships

Fallout From Change

Older forms of hierarchy being replaced
New webs or networks may be based
on business processes
New accountabilities requiring people
to work in teams
May require new skill sets, attitudes
and understanding e.g. initiative,
relational competence, time
management

Biggest Trust Buster in

Change
Organizational change entails a
risk of generating real or
perceived misalignment
between a managers words and
deeds

Behavioural Integrity
Employees
perception of
the pattern of
word/deed
alignment

Willingness
to promote
and
implement
change

Performance

EMPLOYEE
TRUST

Intent to stay
with the
organization

Organization
al citizenship
behaviour

Organizational
Citizenship

How people behave in the organization

norms.
Coworker trust and teams
Environment for trust affects motivation in

HIGH TRUST
LOW TRUST

groups

Knowledge sharing versus knowledge

hoarding
Voluntary Participation covert/overt
resistance

Group Goals
Individual
Goals

Characteristics of Trust
Builders

Faith in life and hope in the goodness

of mankind

A healing attitude

Able to self disclose

Able to risk being open and

vulnerable

Self acceptance

Self awareness - clear values,

Architect of Trust

Taking the responsibility to build trust

Authenticity - finding your voice

Emotional Intelligence - tuning
into your own emotions and those of
others.
Climate Building - creating an
environment where people can bring
forth their ideas, values and
concerns
Walking the Talk - actions speak
louder than words - espoused values

Choosing to Trust
Why do I
trust?

Why do I
not trust?

WHAT
ASSUMPTIONS
AND BELIEFS
ARE AT THE
BASIS OF THIS
CHOICE?

What are
my

feelings

What are
the

facts

How do you Trust?

I dont trust
anyone until
they are
shown to be
trustworthy
1

I trust
everyone until
they are shown
NOT to be
trustworthy
3

What Are Your Trust

Patterns?
People, groups and institutions that
I connect with
Do I trust/not trust them?
Why do I trust/not trust them?
What beliefs, assumptions or facts
am I basing this on?

Who Should I Trust?

Interests:

Does this person share my goals, values

and beliefs?

Competence:

Does this person have the required

knowledge and ability.?

Accountability:

Will this person honor commitments?

Reliability:

Will this person tell me what I need to

know?

Attitude:

Does this person want me to succeed?

The Trust Building Equation

Intention

Outcomes

Preparation
Mechanics

Trust

Self Knowledge

Trust Builders

Implementing Change
Understand the climate.
Understand the level of resilience
future shock
Are you stepping on values, norms and
traditions?
Practice the very best communication
frequently
Resistance is normal and healthy listen
Dont ignore the signs it wont go away

Trust Building Actions

COMMUNICATION

Solve problems through direct communication.Be

explicit. If compromise is productive, do it in
communication, not in your mind alone

Ask non-assumptive questions. Inquiry not advocacy.

Practice deep listening - suspend judgement

Look for the positive - acknowledge the intent first

Validate success or new effort. Share credit

generously

RESULTS

When in doubt about taking on a commitment, air

your concerns. Only make promises you can keep.

Schedule regular opportunities for input and

feedback

Be timely

Hidden Trust Busters

Distance Barriers - telephone, email, fax lacks the high touch - psychological
separation
Physical Barriers - the structure of the
meeting place
Language Barriers - language used may not
be the first language of both parties.
Cultural Barriers - trust may mean different
things and be built in different ways e.g.
North America - Demonstrated performance over
time
China, Latin America, Arab countries -

Common Organizational
Trust Based Practices

Effectiveness and
Productivity
Improvement and Change
Culture and Moral
Employee Retention/Turnover

Communication
Advocacy
A western academic & business tradition that
stresses testing one viewpoint against the other
to find the strongest.
We focus almost exclusively on advocacy
Most managers are trained to be advocates
critiquing - adversarial thinking - confrontation - presenting our views
and arguing strongly for them - debating forcefully to influence others

Communication
Inquiry
A complementary skill to advocacy that seeks
to uncover information about why a particular
view is held
Asks questions about underlying assumptions,
beliefs, reasoning
Explores why do you believe this ?
.

Supported by attitude of wanting to

understand, explore, learn, expand
Not a technique to cross examine people or
find fault

Appreciative Inquiry
Draws on research and studies that show how we get more of
what we focus on and looks for the best of what might be.

Problem
Solving
Assumes
situations are
problems to be overcome
Problem, symptoms,
causes, solutions, action
plan, intervention
Breaks things into pieces
guaranteeing fragmented
responses. Slow, linear
change.
What to fix.

Appreciative
Inquiry
Assumes situations are
sources of infinite
capacity and imagination
Good, better, possibilities
Expanded vision of
preferred future. Creates
new energy fast.
What to grow

Communication
Listening
Group of obstetricians with similar
competence and skills
Drs. perceived as poor listeners who
spent less time or were more abrupt
in their interactions had more
malpractice suits that those who
were perceived as attentive, who
took time and who listened.
JAMA research

Communication
Deep Listening
Level III:Intuitive Listening
at the Essence level

Level II: Focused Listening

at the Feeling level

Level I:Internal Listening

at the Word level.

FOCUS ON ME

FOCUS ON
YOU

Results
Project Management
Keep it simple
Traditional good project practices
small time frames, lots of wins
Full participation in the planning
Clear roles, responsibilities
Full understanding of what
participation and commitment to plan
means

Big Snakes, Little

Ladders
Trust builds incrementally
Distrust has a catastrophic effect
5 times the effort to rebuild

Why Is It So Hard to
Rebuild Trust?
Why is it hard for people to do?
Typically involves admissions of
guilt, apology, compensation
and/or punishment - each of
which may have significant
costs.
Why is it hard to accept from
someone? Involves repeating a
decision that was proven to be
wrong the first time.

Importance of Trust
within Organizations
Although an organization obviously
cannot succeed without high levels of
trust between members, most
aggressive companies do little to
actively build trust. The typical
corporation spends huge sums of
money training its managers in
interpersonal skills, but pays lip service
to the critical issue of trust.
Marsha Sinetar, Organizational Dynamics,
2001

Why Not?
demands on overstretched managers and
executives, skill set that takes us into
intimidating territory, requires significant time
and energy, and demands risk

easier to spend two days learning new project

management software, or two weeks adopting a
new strategic thinking model than to undertake
the complex exploration of building trust and
connection with other human beings.

Maintaining an Environment of Trust

Challenges

As society and institutions become

more complex the attribution of blame
and responsibility for failures becomes
diffuse. (I see you, I blame you so I
dont trust you)

Complex organizations make it hard to

deliver consistent service and conduct

Need for quick trust - being in a hurry

to complete the process pace/workloads

Trust in government is a scarce

resource

High Trust
Organizations
Experience the average turnover of industry

peers
Higher productivity and profitability
More qualified candidates for open positions
Higher levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty
More adaptive organizational structures
Constructive strategic alliances
Responsive virtual teams
Effective crisis management
Reduced transaction and litigation costs

The People Result

Investment in becoming
Architects of Trust,
Trust develops an
organization full of employees
that
trust management
willing to speak up and
challenge the process to
improve the way things
are,
bring commitment,
innovation and energy to
their work