During the last two years, what has your organization or collaborative done to build trust, connection, and relationships? Have you focused inward to ensure that your employees feel trusted and engaged? Have you focused outward to share information broadly and intentionally build relationships?
Two years into a pandemic and in many countries, we have moved to remote work environments, and we are hesitating when considering organizing or attending in-person workshops and gatherings. The threat of the pandemic remains high. And for many of us, feelings of exhaustion, weariness and social isolation are becoming the norm. What does this mean for building trust?
In a world that is more socially distanced, focusing on building trust has become even more relevant. In a 2017 Harvard Business Review article, The Neuroscience of Trust, Paul Zak described building a culture of trust in organizations as a powerful employee engagement and retention strategy. In a series of research studies, Zak measured the levels of oxytocin created in brains during times of stress and when individuals felt trusted.
From his research findings, Zak developed eight behaviours to increase managers' capacity to build trust with employees. These strategies include:
- recognizing excellence
- creating challenging but achievable work outcomes
- giving people discretion about how they complete the work
- enabling employees to craft their jobs
- sharing information broadly
- intentionally building relationships
- facilitating whole-person growth
- showing vulnerability
Zak found that companies where managers engaged in trust-building behaviours had higher levels of employee satisfaction and retention, employees felt less stress, and overall production at the company increased.
Compared with people at low-trust companies, people at high-trust companies report 74% less stress, 106% more energy at work, 50% higher productivity, 13% fewer sick days, 76% more engagement, 29% more satisfaction with their lives, 40% less burnout.
What does building trust mean for collaboration and collaborative groups? In Trust Fuels Every Relationship, Dan Cardinali explores the challenges of trust and civil society. He notes that an Independent Sector survey found that trust was declining and that nonprofits and philanthropy were not immune to this trend. He also identified that greater engagement builds trust and purpose and integrity fuels trust between people and nonprofits.
During the last two years, what has your organization or collaborative done to build trust, connection, and relationships? Have you focused inward to ensure that your employees feel trusted and engaged? Have you focused outward to share information broadly and intentionally build relationships?
Building trust is about intentional action. A tool that can be used by organizations and collaborative tables to gauge where trust is strong and where it might be breaking down is the Culture Design Canvas. Designed by Fearless Consulting, the canvas can help a group, a collaborative table, or an organization identify what it values and how it acts.
In this virtual and hybrid world, a focus on building trust will deepen your connections and your impact.
If you want to learn more about building trust, sign up for the workshop Turf, Trust and Virtual Collaboration: Practical Skills for Building Trust on February 22, 2022. Space is limited. Sign up today.
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