Do we still have trust at work?

(I’ve started to talk on this topic on Substack, but I think that it needs more attention also here).

Nowadays, we talk a lot about performance in roles. But do we still assess the level of trust? Between the managers and their teams, between coworkers, between employees and the upper management, from the companies to customers, from society to company… and the list can go on.

I believe not! It’s unusual to discuss trust because this doesn’t impact in a direct way the profit and, maybe, in some situations, it is a weak spot.

At the organizational level, organizational trust is the confidence of your workforce in the actions of your company. Studies have shown there’s a positive relationship between organizational trust and organizational performance. But since COVID and remote working, most people have less confidence in their companies.

Accordingly to HBR, there are 3 types of promises a business make:

• economically - people want to feel the value they bring
• legally - people expect them to follow the law
• ethically - people are looking for what moral values drive them

Based on these, companies make different promises to different stakeholders they have - customers, employees, investors, and society. Expectations can vary between groups, and this makes companies’ missions more difficult.

Trust is a fragile concept. If we lose it, we have to put in some effort to regain it.

But I feel that it is more difficult when we are talking about the trust between people. When a company is affected, we can win easier if we put the right people in charge of it.

In the end, I will challenge you to answer these questions:

• How much trust do you have in your leader?
• How much your leader is a model for you?
• How much value brings to the society of the company you work for?
• How much your values are aligned with your company’s values?
• What values do you feel that are neglected in your role?
  

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