According to the 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer results, one in three of us don’t trust the leaders in our organizations. Edelman’s study about trust in the workplace surveyed 33,000 people from 28 countries worldwide. The infographic below provides some of the survey highlights.
Across the board, trust suffers. Key elements of the 2016 Trust Barometer findings indicate a 16 percentage point disparity between executive leaders’ levels of trust in their firm and that of rank and file employees. Mid-level leaders trust their organization a mere 3% points more than the rank and file do. In general, peer to peer trust fares far greater than the level of trust those same employees place in their CEO’s credibility.
Why Should Leaders Care about the Trust Gap?
The annual Trust Index© Employee Survey results compiled by the Great Places to Work Institute bear up the Edelman findings of a trust crisis, while providing additional metrics gleaned from data representing workers from thousands of organizations of varying size, industries, and structures in 90 countries. What did this and other trust-related studies find?
- Trust is an organizational performance and profit multiplier. The Great Places to Work Institute’s 2015 research indicated that company stock of firms with a high-trust culture perform nearly two times better than the general market. Similarly, numerous studies cited by Barbara Brooks Kimmel in TRUST! Magazine’s spring 2016 issue confirm that there is both a business case and financial case for developing a high level of trust in organizations. One such study, The Trust Across America-Trust Across the World Survey (TAA-TAW) tracked the performance of America’s most trustworthy companies, finding that those firms produced an 82% return vs. the S&P’s 42.2% since August 2012.
- Trust is an employee engagement and satisfaction multiplier. The 2016 Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Survey conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) concluded that the top two elements contributing to employee satisfaction were trust related:
- Respectful treatment regardless of level (95% rated important versus 71% satisfaction rate).
- Trust between employees and senior leaders. (94% rated important versus 62% satisfaction rate).
- Trust is an individual performance and retention multiplier. The 2015 Trust Index©results report that those in high-trust companies perform 20% better and are 87% less likely to leave their organization than those working in low trust organizations. The research reported that over the past ten years, trust has been continually rated as the essential common denominator for employees to consider their organization a “Great Place to Work.”
What Can Leaders Do to Bridge the Trust Gap?
In his book, The Speed of Trust, Stephen M. R. Covey states that ”the first job of any leader is to inspire trust”. But leaders, even those at the top of the leadership ladder, do not always measure up. The 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer provides detailed analysis of five categories with 16 attributes important to employees in which CEO’s are seen as underperforming. The gap between important leader attributes and leader performance in those 5 categories are 1) Integrity (24% gap), 2) Engagement (25%), 3) Products (12%), 4) Purpose (15%) and 5) Operations (9%). You can see details for each attribute in the categories below. (Click the slide and advance to slide 37 in the slideshare deck to view the data in full screen).
With these attributes in mind, leaders can take heart that trust is not a static state. Engendering trust is something that you can improve with focus and initiative. As Covey says, “It is something you can measure and for which you can ‘move the needle’”. But how?
Covey has identified 13 behaviors of trusted leaders around the world while The 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer found five actions leaders can take to build trust. No matter the number, these behaviors provide a solid roadmap to enhance your own trustworthiness and to grow your team members’ trust in your leadership and in the organization overall.
- Be Transparent– Be open and honest with employees. Be up front about expectations, speak the truth rather than avoiding bad news, communicate often, with clarity, with honesty, and with compassion. Involve employees in decisions that impact them or their work. Ask others’ opinions. Share why you made a decision or took an action.
- Behave Ethically– Keep commitments, be accountable. Trust team members to act with integrity. Do the right thing rather than the expedient thing – always.
- Get Involved– Protect the community, the customer, and the environment. Connect the work to a greater purpose.
- Act – Right wrongs. Confront reality. Drive toward improvements. Make tough decisions, and take reasonable risks. Deliver results through positive actions.
- Share Who You Are– Stand on your beliefs. Listen to others first. Show loyalty, advocate for your team. Share credit. Demonstrate respect. Assume positive intent. Be vulnerable. Share your personal story and admit mistakes. Show that you care.
Leaders who invest time and thought in trust building attract others to their sphere of influence, building teams of outstanding competence and confidence. Practice these behaviors in your everyday interactions and watch your own trust benefits rise. If you would like a copy of AJO's Trust Coaching Guide for leaders, contact us.
"You build a culture of trust by telling the truth, even when it’s hard.”
– Tony Schwartz
Kathy Flora is a Career and Executive Coach and AJO Blogger who is actively pursuing her life’s passion, helping others find and fulfill theirs. Known as a positive change agent, mentor and guide, she has assisted hundreds of leaders and their teams understand their strengths, collaborate effectively, and drive organizational success. She has a special affinity for working with virtual teams, using webinars, virtual meet-ups, and online collaborative communities to optimize communication and productivity. Her experience spans over 25 years in executive management and leadership, career development, facilitation, and consulting in private firms, state government, and in federal agencies.
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