Trust Me - I’m Working With You! - By Paul Edmunds - March 2010

What are your office politics like?

When did you last have a whispered conversation in the safety of the corridor out of the earshot of your target with no intention of doing anything straight with your concerns?

At their annual conference the British Psychological Society reported that there is growing evidence that people who feel they can not speak up, particularly with their bosses, are increasingly likely to suffer from stress. In addition, research on exiting employees, beyond those going to better jobs or being made redundant, has consistently indicated that many people leave because of their bosses!

This leads to the questions, who do you really trust at work, and why would anyone trust you?

In analysing the answers you may recognise that you are existing in survival mode, keeping concerns and issues buttoned down tight for fear of looking vulnerable or, even worse, not up to the job. Perhaps all your colleagues are in survival mode too. Is this the unspoken big issue, the elephant in the room, at work right now?

With increasing uncertainty at work, about markets, about performance, about job security etc., is it any surprise that we as humans instinctively want to survive? This creates mistrust and a lack of openess, toxic behaviours which mask frustration and lead to lower performance and stress.

So why is this the case when many organisations promote core values of openness, empowerment and mutual respect?

HR and OD wordsmiths have for some time been grappling with the idea of defining organisational values and the behaviours related to them. Words such as honesty, integrity, respect are commonly seen on smart marketing statements around the organisational corridors, in competency frameworks and in ‘in house’ magazines. These are serious sentiments, which, when lived and breathed, can significantly improve organisational success.

But how often do these words seem to become hollow rhetoric, especially in times of trading uncertainty, organisational re-structuring and redundancies?

Our experience is this language is very often ‘aspirational’ and not real in the sense that people do not trust one another, people are not honest and are not respectful of confidentiality, struggle to say 'No' or say what they really think. With this comes a sense of people not being straight or having hidden agendas or fear of offending and hence avoidance of important issues, or of people using knowledge as a power broker.

At Matchett we are seeing an increasing number of people on our training programmes who say they cannot speak up for fear of the consequences, or because they don’t believe it will make any difference anyway. What often lies at the heart of this is a lack of trust in others.

So what should you do if you want to promote trust in your organisation? Here are a few tips:

• Recognise that promoting trust cannot be achieved through a well intentioned HR poster campaign or through the introduction of behavioural indicators in competency frameworks. It is more likely to be achieved through people seeing that a straight forward conversation will not be career limiting, or worse, and experience through practical action and real evidence that it is ok to give feedback both upwards, with peers and with direct reports
• Don’t leave it up to others, ask for feedback rather than waiting for it to come to you. Encourage people to give feedback and have straight conversations with you
• Ensure that feedback is not just done formally, through 360° review, but also in everyday interactions
• Give people the time, place and skills to give positive and constructive feedback
• Address real issues in real time
• Fight avoidance, as it does not always mean sensitivity, it may just promote a lack of trust from those things that are left unsaid
• Finally, live and breathe it yourself, especially if you are a manager

Building sustainable and lasting trust at work requires people to experience others acting as they said they would and delivering the goods. Without this there is either distrust or blind faith. Acting on this now can help your organisation to overcome existing fears and build a more robust environment to meet the challenges of the future. Start with yourself. Welcome feedback from your colleagues, show your trustworthiness by receiving it positively and have relevant and timely straight conversations with those you manage.