A magic disappearing act – Trust in organizations
In today’s organizational landscape, the scarcity of trust within organizations is palpable.
It is a sentiment that reverberates across workplaces, where trust, once taken for granted, has become increasingly elusive.
In acknowledging the universal consensus on the importance of trust, it is all the more disheartening to observe its conspicuous absence in the dynamics of contemporary organizations. Trust deficits have become pervasive, infiltrating various strata of the organizational hierarchy, eroding relationships not only between managers and non-managers but also amongst diverse levels of management.
Research findings underscore the gravity of the trust crisis. Trust levels within management teams, especially within medium and large enterprises, register alarmingly below the 25% threshold. This trust deficit occupies a significant portion of managerial attention, with more than 40% of their time devoted to addressing trust-related challenges—a substantial drain on their capacity to achieve high-performance outcomes.
The significance of trust is further supported by research that demonstrates its tangible value.
A modest 10% improvement in trust among subject matter experts towards their management has the transformative effect of elevating job satisfaction to a degree comparable to a substantial 32% increase in salary. This revelation carries profound implications, as a considerable number of individuals express a clear preference for an increase in trust over a financial raise.
Prioritizing the cultivation of trust within an organization, to exceed the 50% threshold, aligns not only with sound psychological principles but also exerts a far-reaching influence on a multitude of facets, including satisfaction, quality, engagement, and overall performance.
The consequences of trust deficits, particularly those that exist between diverse levels of management and between non-managers and executive staff, are both extensive and intricate. These deficits manifest as a decrease in work ethic, a surge in turnover rates, suboptimal performance, and a constellation of related challenges.
What is more, these trust gaps make substantial contributions to customer dissatisfaction, leading to operational costs that are more than 30% higher compared to organizations where the overall trust level surpasses the 60% mark.
One of the issues in dealing with trust problems is that trust is often regarded as a static value or a mere consequence of behavior or character, and subsequently quite a number of organizations label trust as a core value.
Trust in this perspective fundamentally signifies respect for others, imbuing it with intrinsic value. This intrinsic value is rooted in the innate virtue of an individual’s character. Unfortunately, taking this viewpoint had only an extremely limited impact on actual trust levels within organizations.
Furthermore, taking trust at its intrinsic value prevents systematic action to address trust issues, as interventions tend to be isolated and a series of activities taken, rather than a systematic approach.
A substantial shift in perspective is necessary — one that acknowledges trust not as a value but rather looks at the “value of trust,” looking at the instrumental dimension.
Effectively addressing trust issues needs a transformative shift—from perceiving trust as a fixed value to comprehending its dynamic nature and the value it generates or accompanies in its instrumental aspect.
A pivotal step involved identifying and adeptly managing seven core competencies closely intertwined with trust, such as ‘conflict management’, ‘cooperation,’ and ‘consistency.’
This shift in perspective led to a redefinition of trust as a virtual composite competency—a potent amalgamation of pivotal skills.
The astonishing outcome was a significant increase in trust levels within organizations. Clients bore witness to a remarkable surge, exceeding 30%, in trust levels within their management teams in a matter of months. These enhancements reverberated through the organizational fabric, resulting in elevated team effectiveness, heightened efficiency, enhanced overall employee satisfaction, and a host of other positive outcomes.
Therefore, the approach of treating trust as a virtual composite competency and channeling focused efforts toward mastering these essential competencies emerged as a profoundly impactful strategy, far surpassing the benefits of regarding trust as a mere static value.
Trust is not simply a principle to uphold; rather, it is the result of a requisite, dynamic, competency cluster that, once mastered, propels organizations toward unparalleled success and excellence.