By Amy Schabacker Dufrane
At HRCI, we have the honor of working with thousands of HR professionals at varying stages of their careers. Recently, three HR professionals – Amela Orlovic, Kaitlin Memmen and Alexandra Miller – who are working on their master’s degrees at Georgetown University gave HRCI a front-row seat to an important capstone project titled Establishing and Maintaining Trust. Not only are their findings compelling, their chosen topic was a great reminder about something we assume but don’t necessarily articulate: The Importance of Trust.
According to PwC’s 2022 report on trust, 51 percent of business leaders and 41 percent of employees strongly agree that trust is a leading priority at their organization. However, operational and behavioral elements of trust are not typically defined. HR can rectify these challenges.
It’s no wonder that trust has been eradicated in business, as well as society at large. Egregious events such as the fall of Enron, fraudulent Wells Fargo accounts, the tragedy of the Boeing 737 MAX and the demise of Silicon Valley Bank topped the headlines in recent years. Economic anxieties, mass shootings, COVID-19 and the #MeToo movement have illuminated significant cracks in society. According to the 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer, business is considered more competent and ethical than media and government. The same report goes on to highlight that in our polarized society, among those feeling the divide, the employer is the only trusted institution.
Taking steps to address trust requires a foundational understanding of what trust is to employees. The research conducted by Orlovic, Memmen and Miller shows that trust is personal. It is based on a positive expectation that an individual will not act opportunistically at another’s expense, i.e., they will be ethical, honest and professional. Trust in capability and consistency – for example, that a manager can and will do something they’ve committed to – is known as Cognitive Trust. The other side of trust is Affective Trust – characterized by feelings of security and perceived strength of the relationship. Both cognitive and affective trust are integral parts of psychological safety.
As teams work together, trust builds through interactions that demonstrate that managers and other team members can be trusted, both cognitively and effectively. By making sure everyone knows what’s expected, giving employees a safe space in which to admit mistakes, and being willing to give and accept feedback reinforces the building blocks of trust in the workplace.
Trust and employee engagement go hand-in-hand. The research from Orlovic, Memmen and Miller revealed that employees who trust their employers experience 74 percent less stress and 40 percent less burnout. One-third of employees indicated they would stay longer with an employer if its leaders kept their promises, and 28 percent said they would extend their tenure if transparency was practiced at all levels. Research shows that highly trusted workplaces enjoy 50 percent higher employee productivity and 13 percent fewer sick days. Companies with high trust levels outperform companies with low trust levels by 186 percent.
What can HR do to advance trust within the organization? First, be part of defining a definition of trust. Whether expressed as archetypes, keywords, or common themes, determining a north star for what trust looks like for your culture helps guide the journey. Once trust has been defined, determine how to garner buy-in from employees, managers, and leaders. This aspect of trust-building is complex, especially in situations where the workforce is hybrid or remote. Having a means by which trust is measured and managed using digital tools with robust reporting gives HR the meaningful insights that inform trust-building initiatives.
According to 2022 Deloitte research, “55 percent of organizations have no current way to measure trust, but nearly half of them plan to start measuring trust in the next 12 months.” Like you, I can attest to what a dizzying ride 2023 has been so far. Knowing no one organization is perfect, it will be interesting to learn what trust measurements have been put in place this year to elevate trust.
The research by Orlovic, Memmen, and Miller reinforced that HR already has an effective method of measuring trust: employee surveys. Providing valuable insights into employee perceptions of the company, the culture and leadership, surveys can be annual (for example, degree of employee engagement), 360-degree feedback (identifying areas for improvement) and pulse (to ensure quick response time to ethics or similar concerns.)
Published in 1894, Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” was the inspiration for the popular Disney film of the same title. Almost all of us can recall the lyrics of the snake’s song “Trust in me.” It’s never as simple as telling the workforce to trust you and, in fact, by saying so, you will repel more than engage. Building trust takes hard work and it needs to happen consistently, every day. Listen more than you speak, build a diverse and inclusive culture, solicit and act on feedback. Most of all, empower your employees by trusting them first.
