I recently had the opportunity to work with a group of HR professionals in Trinidad, through Queen’s IRC’s partnership with the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business within the University of the West Indies.
As part of our discussion about building trust in the workplace, we discussed behaviours that lowered trust and those that raised trust. It did not take long for the participants to generate lists of behaviours through table discussion. It was not surprising how frequently participants pointed to similar behaviours in very different workplaces.
Below are two lists of behaviours which affected levels of trust in their workplaces. Have you experienced these in your workplace?
Behaviours which they experienced in their workplaces that LOWERED trust:
- Dishonesty from management and leadership
- Leadership not walking the talk
- Lack of transparency (hidden agendas)
- Not admitting mistakes
- Playing favourites/showing bias
- Lack of open dialogue (secret side deals)
- Lack of rewards and recognition
- No credit given for ideas contributed
- Executives not fulfilling responsibilities
- Lack of communication
- Unwillingness to change
- Selective sharing of information
- Double delegation
- Personal biases and prejudice
- Double standards
- Incompetence
- Not listening
- Breach of confidence
- Acting without facts
Behaviours which they experienced in their workplaces that RAISED the level of trust:
- Keeping your word
- Being honest, fair and treating people equally
- Rewarding and recognizing employee performance
- Mentoring other employees
- Delegating responsibility
- Sharing information
- Being personally accountable
- Supporting structures such as policy, training, internal promotions, penalties, and sanctions
- Keeping confidentiality
- Supporting work-life balance
- Demonstrating competence
- Giving credit for work and ideas
- Coaching and acting as a change agent
- Demonstrating integrity
- Leading by example
To learn some ways to help build trust in an organization, please read 5 Steps to Build Trust and Change the Culture in an Organization
If you are interested in building trust training for yourself or your organization, please visit Building Trust in the Workplace.
