It has often been said that trust is the critical element of social bonding—the glue that binds relationships.
Taking a sociological perspective, Barbara Misztal explains in her book Trust in Modern Societies that trust has three social implications: 1) it makes social life more predictable, 2) it creates a sense of community, and 3) it allows people to work together. Without trust, social interactions are unpredictable, community building is thwarted, and people are unable to collaborate effectively.
Businesses aggressively strive to establish trust with their customers, but oftentimes neglect the need to cultivate trust in their own workplaces. In their myopia, they create antagonistic work environments with a ‘me versus you’ mentality, where employees feel the constant need to watch their backs. In this space, loyalty, creativity, and innovation are sure to die.
I am reminded of one of my first jobs as a teenager, working in a family-owned framing shop at the local mall. When the owners suspected a thief was lurking among us, they installed a surveillance camera to monitor our every move, without explanation. To add insult to injury, the family would huddle at the back of the store and sit around the television, voyeuristically watching tape after tape of us working. The minimum wage, coupled with the Big Brother culture, created zero commitment to the business. I left the job within a few months. Within a few years, the frame shop went out of business.
Think about how the owners could have chosen the higher path, using the money they spent on the surveillance system and the time they took to watch the videotapes, and invested that back into their workforce. Instead, they succumbed to the trap of conventional wisdom—trust no one, especially not your employees.
Trust Begets Trust
Economist John Helliwell researched the determinants of workplace happiness, and found that trust is the greatest contributor, beating out pay, workload, or perks. A one-point increase on the trust scale can mean the equivalent of the psychological benefits associated with a 40% wage increase. When employees trust their managers, and feelings of trust are extended to co-workers, they tend to be happier. The pay off for managers? More productivity, less turnover, less absenteeism. And when employees are satisfied, customers tend to be satisfied too.
The Container Store, the nation’s leading retailer of storage and organization products, landed its position on Fortune Magazine’s annual list of “100 Best Companies to Work for” for its 9th consecutive year. The company consistently embraces their ‘do unto others’ business philosophy, where trust is foundational at the top levels of management, and penetrates all levels of the organization. With Enron and WorldCom scandals lurking in our collective memories, we as employees expect to remain ignorant and uninformed. In contrast, the Container Store embraces a transparent business philosophy, and makes their financial statements available to everyone in the company. They simply believe that employees have a right to know. In their ‘nothing to hide’ spirit, the Container Store practices values of trustworthiness, starting at the very top.
Like the Container Store, Southwest Airlines proudly takes the higher road with their employees. Under the wings of founder and former chairman Herb Kelleher, Southwest thrived in an industry notorious for low employee morale and bad customer service. He professed, “The only way that you ever get people to respond with trust and fidelity is to treat them as if you trust them and believe they will be faithful … You have to give everyone the opportunity to show their best qualities.”
Other great brands, like DVD-by-mail provider Netflix and the entertaining and educative financial information provider The Motley Fools, expect that their employees will put their best qualities forward. Both offer unusual vacation policies, allowing employees to take whatever time off they need, as long as they get their work done. They not only give employees the freedom and flexibility to choose their work schedules, they also send a powerful message of trust.
In fact, The Motley Fools proclaim, “Just do your job and do it well. We trust you.”
Netflix also tossed out their policy manual on travel expenses, and simply tell employees to “travel as you would on your own nickel.” Netflix doesn’t enforce a per diem rate or impose restrictions on the amount employees can spend on business travel. They trust that their employees will be honest and spend within reason, as marked by the bounds of their conscience.
When companies like Netflix, The Motley Fools, The Container Store, and Southwest Airlines embrace the B-values of truth and honesty, they nurture workplaces empowered by higher principles. Trusted employees pay it forward through first-rate customer service.
It’s not enough to create trust with your customers; you must cultivate the feeling of trust from within your organization. So take an honest look inside. It’s the confluence between the inner and outer expressions of higher values that will ensure your brand’s long-term success.
So what do you say: Are you going to trust me or not?