TRUST

Someone wise once said: "Trust is everything." And, when it comes to individual and organizational performance, they were on to something very important. 

Trust is the foundation of all relationships, including those relationships that we establish and sustain at work.  Building and sustaining trust may be even more important in a work setting because, unlike with family and close friends, we have limited interactions and a narrower range of situations with which to test and display our trust for one another. 

When trust is present, we interact with an assumption of mutual respect and support. On a day-to-day basis, the mutual trust may be untested but the assumption is still there. So, when a work situation arises involving them -- and they will arise -- one person expects the best behavior and interaction possible from the other person. Both colleagues seek an opportunity to talk and reach resolution of the situation.  Yes, the communication may be awkward or even testy, but both trusting persons are expecting a mutually agreeable conclusion. The final outcome might be that the two people decide to "agree to disagree" but, ideally, the trust and respect between them remains intact. If so, when another situation arises, that trust is there to draw upon again. Now imagine a situation that ends differently, where the parties involved do not communicate well and tensions between continue. In this outcome, trust is damaged and, unless addressed, it may continue to erode over time.  

Without trust, relationships are shallow and superficial. When a work situation arises involving two people without trust to rely upon, you can assume that Murphy's Law -- that is, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong -- will rule the day.  If one person is expecting support from the other, that is not likely to happen. If one person is expecting the best behavior or reaction from the other person, they can't count on it. If both people are hoping to resolve the situation amicably, that's unlikely. Without trust, there is no "benefit of the doubt," no grace or forgiveness to give. 

Trust is both dependent and reciprocal: I trust you so you trust me, and vice versa. When either person disappoints the other person in regards to trust, it not only impacts the disappointed person but also the relationship between them. As trust wanes, people assume the worse of others, and as a result, they get the worse from them. In a relationship where trust has been lost, everything else comes under scrutiny: Can I count on this person's reliability? Honesty? Competence? What else might be risky about this person?  

Relationships at work cross gender, age, cultural and ethnic attitudes and behaviors and these factors will also impact the issue of trust in relationships. Sometimes people display their feelings and communicate differently based on personal histories. For people to build trust in their relationships with others, they must be aware and sensitive to how diversity factors influence how people interact with one another. 

These concepts of trust also apply all organizations. Trust should be the cornerstone of any organization: not just working relationships between colleagues but relationships between departments, functions and roles, and all levels of management and non-management may evolve in positive or negative ways based on trust. 

The bottom line is this: Given the realities and demands of the workplace, relationships functioning without trust are not sustainable. And, over time, a pervasive lack of trust leads to a working environment where fear, insecurity, anxiety, paranoia, overcompensation, complacency, sabotage thrives. Work relationships become unstable and, as a result, performance declines leading to lost revenue and customer loyalty.

Understanding the essential role trust plays in our professional relationships isn't hard to grasp or embrace. However, with the complexities of humans, groups, and organizations, realizing and sustaining trust in the workplace can present challenges.

At Entevos, we guide your organization -- and individuals within your organization -- explore the trust phenomenon and learn successful strategies for enhancing trust in working relationships.