Trust — The Coin of the Realm
“Trust is the coin of the realm,” former Secretary of State George Schultz said on his 100th birthday. “When trust was in the room…good things happened. When it wasn't, good things didn't happen. Everything else was details.”
One of my clients told me that the chance to move up in her career had been a key reason for taking a job a few months earlier. In an early coaching session, she said she recently learned that a less-experienced colleague would get a promotion she had expected. She felt her boss didn’t trust her. Like so many other nonprofit professionals, she chose to leave to seek a more supportive boss and a better opportunity to advance.
Has this happened to you? Perhaps you have--or had--a boss who micromanages or doesn’t offer you authority commensurate with your experience or sufficient flexibility in your job. These kinds of challenges make it tough for an employee to envision a future with their employer and contribute to the high rates of burnout and turnover all too common among nonprofit workers.
THE COST OF DISTRUST
Lack of trust between workers and bosses is not limited to nonprofits. A 2023 Gallup survey found that over three-quarters (79%) of US employees said they don’t trust their organization’s leadership.
Turns out lack of trust is a global phenomenon. A new Slack survey of 10,000 desk workers around the world found that 1 in 4 do not feel trusted at work. It’s not just workers who aren’t performing who feel this. A full 87% of those who said their bosses don’t trust them reported meeting or exceeding manager expectations.
On the flip side, Slack found that employees who DO feel trusted report they have:
2.1 times better focus at work
2 times higher productivity
4.3 times greater overall satisfaction with work
The research revealed that trusted employees are significantly more likely (1.3 times) to say they put in more effort at work. They’re also 1.2 times more likely to say they’re willing to go above and beyond than those who don’t feel trusted at work (40% vs. 33%).
Mutual distrust is corrosive – and costly. Managers who don’t feel trusted by their employers are twice as likely to express doubts about the work ethic of their direct reports, while employees who don’t feel trusted are also more than twice as likely to look for a new job.
BUILD MUTUAL TRUST AT WORK
Since trust is key to both workplace well-being and productivity, what can be done to close the huge trust gap between bosses and their workers?
Showing your employees you trust them is more important than saying you do. That means allowing them to figure out how, when and where they work and asking them what other flexibility would help them. Lack of autonomy at work is a major contributor to burnout and turnover.
Micromanaging is toxic to employees. It sends the message that their boss doesn’t trust them to do a good job. (The NPQ on-demand webinar Becoming A Great Manager, in Resources below, talks about successfully delegating and offering constructive feedback.)
A recent Smart Brief for Leadership article offers strategies to “create a symbiotic relationship with employees with trust at its core”:
Don’t assume that new employees start from a place of trust. Some will but some won’t. You’ll need to earn the trust of the latter group through the following strategies.
Demonstrate your competency and be the most dependable person at work. Hold yourself to a high standard of accountability and integrity.
Be honest, transparent, respectful and compassionate with your employees.
Know thyself. When you know yourself well – strengths and weaknesses -- you're better able to manage yourself and have more options on how to respond in any situation..