Trust is an intangible but powerful determinant of organizations' effectiveness, productivity and potential to offer fulfilling, enjoyable careers. Unfortunately, trust between coworkers - and between individuals, departments and the company as a whole - is not always there.
One key factor is change, which today is almost a constant. Companies frequently downsize, restructure, acquire or become acquired, or change CEOs. How companies deal with change does much to either foster or discourage trust.
"It makes sense with the whole notion of unpredictable change that trust is a problem," says Mary Hansen, communications coordinator for Columbia Gas of Ohio. She cites a survey on trust - conducted by Pittsburgh-based Development Dimensions International's (DDI) Applied Center for Behavioral Research - showing that 50 percent of companies nationwide find that lack of trust is a problem. As a result, Columbia Gas held employee focus groups on trust and is revamping its own culture survey.
DDI identified the following as trust-building behaviors:
- communicating openly and honestly, without distorting information;
- showing confidence in employees' abilities;
- keeping promises and commitments;
- valuing and listening to what employees have to say; and
- cooperating with employees.
Some companies actually work to remove trust from their corporate cultures. One company was so secretive, it would not give out its telephone directory in-house, because it did not want departments to talk to one another.
In other - more successful - corporations management is committed to a constant communication stream. Acting on its philosophy that employees should be informed and empowered, Intel Corp. tries to anticipate employee concerns by making sure they have the information they need to do their jobs - an important factor in trust-building. Annual surveys indicate that Intel employees see the information they get from management as credible and trustworthy.
"In a company like Intel, where almost all employees are potential stockholders, they deserve to know what the public knows - in a timely manner," says John McKean, Intel's creative service manager, worldwide employee communications. Understanding that good communication isn't always instinctive, Intel also runs ongoing job training for managers and employees to help them handle situations.
Although trust is hard to define, you know it when it's there. "It's sort of like a good marriage," says Rodney Lowman, professor and director of the organizational psychology program at the California School of Professional Psychology in San Diego. "The general perception that employees have is that they are treated fairly."
He describes the cluster of behaviors that embody trust.
"Corporations that attract good people, and keep them year after year are concerned about having trusting relationships. They are accurate and persistent in what the current realities are, and if painful or difficult, [they] get people on board to help solve the problem," asserts Lowman.
No Trust, No Work
Moreover, employees' perceptions of trust also affect how they behave on the job and ultimately can affect the company's bottom line. According to Lowman, anecdotal data suggests that when people feel their organization is not trustworthy, there are greater tendencies toward employee theft. Also, employees can behave in a passive aggressive way, undermining positive relationships with customers.
In an effort to help develop greater understanding of the dynamics behind trust, and possibly give communicators the tools to improve it, a major study is being funded by the International Association of Business Communicators Research Foundation (IABC), San Francisco. The study, "Building Organizational Trust Across Cultures," will bring to completion work already under way by three U.S. university professors and a consultant in Rome.
The topic is especially important today for large, global corporations, says lead researcher Pamela Shockley-Zalabak, a professor at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. In these, she says, teams are often put together on short notice, and need to work together well - often despite the fact that team members are not located in the same place. "To work quickly and more effectively with people we don't know requires trust," says Shockley-Zalabak.
She adds that trust also is related to employee morale, and whether employees stay or leave.
IABC's study will be based on data from the United States and about a dozen other countries. The study's database includes information gleaned from surveys and focus groups at 24 companies. Items being studied include:
- competence - whether workers feel coworkers or leaders are effective;
- openness and honesty;
- concern for employees;
- reliability and identification;
According to IABC, its research will result in an index that can help managers and communicators assess levels of trust in organizations. In addition to the index, Shockley-Zalabak says the study should help communicators understand the "components of trust most important in his or her organization." This will allow communicators to know which organizational topics are most important to address, and also to understand what "listening" mechanisms need to be put in place, she says.
Results Due Next June
The final report will be available next June. More information about the study can be found at http://www.uccs.edu/~survey.
Whatever the outcome, respected communications consultant Roger D'Aprix says that one of the most powerful ways to reach employees and inspire trust is improved personal communication between employees and supervisors. "I've become absolutely convinced that the pressing need in organizational communication is the need for face-to-face communication." This communication can be about the financial state of the company, or any changes, such as a loss of a big client or a major acquisition.
Hill & Knowlton USA President Tom Hoog couldn't agree more. "We constantly find that people want to hear [news] in a face-to-face manner." So rather than sending CEO communications by mass email or letter, the messages are better conveyed face-to-face, reinforced by managers at each level with an engaged employee, he says.
Proud of his company's open culture, Hoog touts what he calls "adult straight-talk." "It's important that employees understand the vision of the CEO, what is our strategy, where they currently fit into marketplace environment, where they stand financially, what new business we're chasing, where we stand with each of our clients. The lowest titled person should know what all my managers know all the time," says Hoog.
When an organization doesn't communicate to people top through bottom or words aren't matched by actions, invariably rumor begins to take over and you lose total control of the message.
That ties directly into the health of the workplace. Hoog notes the high turnover rate in the public relations field - close to 40 percent. "We strive to keep it to half of that," says Hoog, adding that if young people don't trust the organization, they will go elsewhere. "Part of the reason we succeed is that even if people don't agree [with everything], they know what's going on, and that inspires a level of trust."
(Roger D'Aprix, 716/482-5241; Mary Hansen, 614/460-6450; Tom Hoog, 212/885-0500; IABC, 415/544-4700; John McKean 408/765-8080; Pamela Shockley-Zalabak, 719/262-3159.)