Trust Is Built by Closing the Loop
Status of Workplace Trust
I had the pleasure of talking about trust in the workplace with HR.com. Even in a time when trust score are low at employers, there are bright spots. You can find it at many companies.
Charles Epstein facilitated the discussion. Thank you Charles for the lively discussion on what is and isn't trust.
What is workplace trust?
On one end is a place that equips you with compensation and benefits to live your life, provide for family, and grow and learn. On the other end is that they won't fire you on any random day. In the middle is that if you work hard, the company has your back and supports your growth.
Practical Examples of Building Trust
Employees want to be heard. That means when you ask them for ideas you acknowledge them and show you are considering them.
Example 1: Survey Follow Through
One of our healthcare clients implemented an aggressive career growth program. Using AI they asked employees to rank their skills and identify in which areas they want to grow. HR and leadership loved the insights. However HR didn't report back to employees. Instead they published an internal skill competency list and shared summary results.
The trust issue was the employees shared personal info and didn't get a personal reply. We helped by creating personal development plans that incorporated their answers. Central HR reviewed everything. Shared the results with locations and ultimately managers had individualized plans for employees.
The main takeaway is that employees got something in exchange. They could visually see where the skills they want to develop align with the company's. And also see what resources are available.
Example 2: Onboarding
Another client embraced automation when welcoming new hires. Their solution automatically asked new hires for essential info along with their personal preferences such as clothing size, netflix shows they watch, and their work styles. The challenge was that after a robot asks you all these questions they wanted some human interaction.
The solution was to ensure managers received summaries of what their new direct reports like and use that info as conversation starters. The employees knew why they were being asked and overall appreciated they gave HR and their managers insights. This also helped newer managers who sometimes struggle with what to say.
Example 3: Recognition consistency at scale
A global retailer came to us with a very common challenge. Employees today prefer more frequent praise and feedback. Yet managers are busy and either don't see, remember, or are aware of the contributions. This means using practical operational HR protocols to collect associate impact across 87 stores. Provide more visibility so managers can identify whom to reward in ways that would resonate.
Who nominates?
Who approves?
What gets sent?
When does it arrive?
How is the employee recognized locally?
Insights
How does HR know the process happened?
What happens when a store or manager misses the deadline?
Closing Thought
Trust breaks down in the details. Companies can say they value recognition and mean it. Challenge is bottling it up into a replicable process. We all have seen an overfilled suggestion box or nominations sitting idle.
