Introduction
Trust is a sensitive subject for any humankind and would say even with animals, but it is a pity we do not know or understand their language. It is an important interpersonal link between any human relationship that a person holds or is part of, it may be professional or personal and if breached the relation may continue or discontinue. I personally consider trust paves the way to disappointment because it's an expectation required or even demanded from a person depending on the position they hold at work or even in their life as an individual. Again, there is not really another subject that we may replace trust with, imagine if you do not have trust in your colleagues or your personal circle be it your friends or family. When examining or analyzing the nature of animals when it comes to trust, look at how the off-springs kinder expect the mother to nature and provide food(breastfeeding) for them and how the male figure is expected to be the shield of protection against danger. Let us look at humans now, employees trust that or expect the Management to provide a stationary and good working environment and with your personal circle what you expect of each person in your life. Let me share my knowledge on why trust is an important dynamic in relations.
Define Trust in the Workplace
Trust in the workplace follows or it gets the platform to be present if the place of work has a good and harmonious atmosphere. As an employee or employer, how do you know when the place of work has a positive atmosphere, well when you enjoy working with your co-workers and trusting the people you work for and with? Well, these factors will follow if you have job engagement with your job or work which refers to the individual’s involvement, satisfaction, and enthusiasm portrayed in the work they are assigned to do (Robbins & Judge, 2018). bring forth these factors is mainly to build an understanding that it's quite challenging to have trust in the workplace if the conditions are unfavorable. Trust in the workplace is a fundamental factor because we share the 24 hours of our lives at work meaning we have some sort of interaction and relation with the people we work for and with. Having trust in the workplace has benefits such as increasing productivity but primarily it builds unity amongst the external and internal stakeholders of the organization especially when it comes to the competitors (Towers, 2017).
Trust is non -negotiable
Teams are not just when a group of people with different skills and backgrounds are in one space working together but it entails individuals who are involved and willing to share their efforts and accomplishments. When any form of cohesiveness surfaces that automatically opens a platform for trust to take place. Before you can join any organization or team trust is the minimum requirement even for the company and the reason is that trust is a fundamental factor that holds and underpins a good cooperative and teamworking culture (Erdem, et al., 2003). Trust is non -negotiable in teams because firstly teams don’t perform well without the key factor of trust additionally since trust is defined as an expectation that an individual has on a certain person, there for both parties involved know what is expected of them, and what to expect in return. Trust opens loyalty on both sides as employees will have an organizational commitment and it enables the management to provide organizational support. Now when the conditions are favorable this will be even visible to the external stakeholders through the behavior and attitude the employees portray now most customers and potential investors will have loyalty to the organization because they have trust even if the company would face a financial crisis the company will survive and also their needs and demands will be met.
Leaders run to Trust Building
One of the traits that make an effective leader is “to be observant “/ be able to assess the atmosphere in the workplace amongst the workers. The majority of effective leaders influence and motivate their subordinates in a way that promotes cohesiveness or cooperation. According to (Reina, et al., 2017) leaders turn to trust building as it forms part of the essential steps that assist in achieving team engagement and collaboration that assist the organization to achieve its long and short-term goals. Trust building helps the organization to increase productivity and at the same time team members learn to trust into one’s individual abilities combined with the rest of the team members. Again, the other possible reason why leaders turn to trust building is that they can see when the team members are pulling in different directions in which a sense of enthusiasm, cooperation, and support amongst the employees is not present. Expectations often lead to disappointment and trust is an expectation but even, if it is a good core of relations, trust in the workplace deepens engagement, support, and motivation. The benefit that comes with trust building for the organization is that employees feel motivated to be part of the team and it prevents them from having exit responses. Exit response is one of the impacts of job dissatisfaction which is expressed through behavior directing in leaving the organization (Robbins & Judge, 2018).
The Challenge of Building Trust
If having or building trust was not important, one wouldn’t have to go through the challenge of building trust but it is important as it prevents the relationship from being toxic and constantly having to look over your shoulder instead of looking at each other to move forward (Angela, 2019). A challenge that tags along with trust in the workplace is that first the environment is diverse, and trust is complex which has different meanings for different people. The culture of trust in the organization automatically requires the leader to lead by example in a sense of the working style, actions, and most behavior must portray trust. One of the reasons it's hard to implement a culture of trust in the workplace is that it is a diverse space, therefore, that means a variety of expectations must be met and ensuring everyone feels included/included. For years we have been told that ‘you must earn my trust’ whereas, in the case of the workplace, it’s the wrong approach because it’s supposed to be the opposite ‘ give trust to your employees, and co-workers and look at how people will be motivated to produce.
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Rebuild Trust
A compromised trust (broken trust) is the same as broken glass and it is hard fixing it but that does not mean it can be mended. Where there are people involved it's a bond that personalities will clash and conflicts to surface. When such events occur, we do not dwell on them, but we find a way forward that will not open the platform for them to resurface. The first step is being “observant and understand” of what has occurred look at how employees are responding to the betrayal and understanding the response may be emotional or physical. Understanding what is important to them means making sure there is an acknowledgment of everyone’s views. People react differently to betrayal so, therefore, allow feelings to surface; the environment must be comfortable with no fear where there is no place of coercive power. Coercive power is when people are persuaded to conform or do something by force and by means of psychological, emotional, or physical threat (Ferriera & Groenewald, 2016). As a leader also you will need to get support, recognize where it is wrong, and not dwell on blaming yourself and blaming shifting game but take your focus on problem-solving. As you are in the process of getting support make sure your subordinates are not left behind dwelling on the blaming game but look forward together for solutions also ensure they recognize where they went wrong or got stuck (Reina & Reina, 2020). There are quite a few other strategies that Reina D. and Reina M. have shared “Rebuilding Trust in the Workplace” like forgiving yourself and taking accountability.
Sustain Trust
When you start trusting you are basically exposing yourself to the vulnerability of betrayal with expectations of not being betrayed. If you once asked yourself why you have to sustain trust it's primarily because takes a huge amount of courage to trust and you give up control of what is valuable to you be it your heart, sharing your secrets, or sharing your work. You can sustain trust through honesty by giving constructive feedback and criticism when your co-worker asked for your perspective on a certain issue or an idea. This will help you to have openness to one’s view. Share your competency with team members and employees, especially in topics that you have adequate knowledge also combined with your abilities which promotes productivity, collaboration, and creativity.
Benefits of Trust
The benefits of having a culture of trust in the workplace are that first off it increases the productivity of the organization and this helps the organization in meeting deadlines on time or earlier. First, if the employees trust the people they work for and with, they feel comfortable and they produce a loyalty response combined with organizational commitment. The moral and integrity increase amongst the staff members. The company can be able to weather storms thrown up by external threats (Reina, et al., 2017). Trust allows team members to connect deeper on a human level and have relations that produce growth, and self-development which both parties benefit from. The ability to work effectively as a team other than as individuals that also brings creativity. Creativity gives the organization a competitive advantage as it will bring uniqueness to its product/ service. Again, as stated before, the behavior and attitude of employees portrayed rubbers off to the external stakeholders, so when there is trust, pride, and engagement, automatically external stakeholders (customers and potential investors) will have loyalty to the organization.
Culture of Trust
It is universally known that trust is the core of all relations and it is vital for the success of the relationship. If your long-term goal is to see your organization progress, then you must consider building a culture of trust. A higher level of trust to be in the organization require consistency and with a few of these strategies, you can be able to achieve it. Respect every employee and employer irrespective of their race or skin color but as humans and your respect for them must not be based on their opinions or cultural beliefs even political views. The treatment you dish out must not be based on the status of wealth or the position they hold in the organization and even personally, treat everyone fairly to avoid animosity and pretense. Effective communication between the management and employees can benefit both parties as that does help with self-development. Give credit where it's due like feedback must be constructive and with your critics. Transparency and credit also form part of the mix.
Reflection about Trust
On a personal level, I do not believe trust should be there in any relationship I hold or am part of. The reason being I can disappoint you as a family, friend, and as colleague. If I betray you unintentionally there is no say if our relationship may continue or discontinue. I personally believe trust is another route that leads to disappointments, for instance, I remember when my mom would tell me she does not have money to buy toys or new clothes I would start questioning her love for me. The reason I start questioning it is that I had an expectation that she could not meet. As an individual can also disappoint me maybe I had a fitness goal and it was realistic, and I do not achieve it for me personally I feel disappointed. I must be realistic, yes, I need someone/people in my corner, and I need to be there for people as they will rely on me. With trust I expose part of myself to vulnerability and betrayal same with the other person, we are humans we are bound to make mistakes. That is why we end up having enemies or frenemies. For me do not have expectations because once trust is broken it's hard to trust again and you will always second guess the person every time you notice a slight change in their behavior. As I am still growing am on the journey to figure out what can I replace trust within which I will not have expectations and the other person will not have expectations from me. I usually say I do not want to trust you or me and I do not want you to trust me. I prefer a person hurting me other than me hurting them, I have been told I must be selfish, but it does not work out because I hold back.
Bibliography
- Angela, C., 2019. How To Build a Trust as a Leader, New Jersey: Forbes.
- Erdem, F., Ozen, J. & Atsan , N., 2003. The relationship between trust and team performance. ResearchGAte, 52(7), pp. 337-340.
- Ferriera, E. J. & Groenewald, D., 2016. Leading in the administrative function. In: K. Sarah, ed. Administrative Management. Cape Town : Juta, p. 389.
- Reina , D. & Reina, M., 2020. Rebuilding Trust in the Workplace. Business Know-How, 22 February.
- Reina, D., Reina, M. & Hudnut, D., 2017. Why Trust Is Critical to Team Success, San Diego: Center For Creative Leadership.
- Robbins, S. p. & Judge, T. A., 2018. Impact of Job Dissatisfaction. In: The Essentials of Organizational Behaviour. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, p. 56.
- Robbins, S. P. & Judge, T. A., 2018. Individual Differences. In: Essentials of Organizational Behavior 14th Edition. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, p. 51.
- Towers, P., 2017. Task Pigeon. [Online] Available at: https://blog.taskpigeon.co/workplace-trust-trust-important-workplace/ [Accessed 26 August 2020].
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