Wendy Phaneuf of The Training Source, is a professional speaker and trainer who works in the area of building trust and loyalty in the workplace. She is currently working on an e-book for organizational leaders.
She has posed the following questions:
Although I have been a business owner in the past, my best perspectives on this issue come from my longer experience has a subordinate to other managers. The trust that I have felt with a handful of my past supervisors/companies lies directly in line with their honesty in their dealings with me, both big and small. I have had supervisors over the years who were tough, demanding personalities with high expectations of me.
Our jobs involve care for others and excellence must be expected at all times. As these supervisors (at different times) taught me the ropes, I learned many hard lessons about managing complex systems of people and information. A few times those lessons were very tough and my supervisor/s were the ones teaching it. However, I never once lost my trust for them and only grew from each experience. My self respect remained intact through it all and I am now well regarded among my peer group in my area.
The difference between the two supervisors and others who never had my trust is that those two never lied to me. If they told me something, good or bad, I knew that I could act confidently based on that information. They never manipulated me in a negative sense, which allowed me to easily retain my self respect. Their actions matched their words and their words were always presented professionally, even when in a serious situation. Of course, those two also took good care to do their work with the highest standard possible, which validated all of my perceptions.
Building trust and employee loyalty in the workplace depends on informality. I think the best way is to help people for anything they want. If one of them is looking for a job for his/her relative, you can help that person with it. If you have an opportunity that your employees can benefit, you can share it with them. If you can do something to help your employees with their social lives, you can do that as well. If a person makes sure you think about him/her as a person, he/she trusts you.
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On Building Trust and Employee Loyalty
Trust is defined as “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.”
Someone who is loyal is “unswerving in allegiance” “faithful to a private person to whom fidelity is due”
When one considers the significance of these words it becomes very clear that gaining this from individuals in the employ of an organization might be a daunting task indeed.
How does one give to those who are in our employ, especially individuals who are new to the company, an “assurance of the reliability of our character, abilities, strengths and the truth of who we are?” True strength of character takes years to acquire and is seen in the way we treat others and especially those who are placed under our direction. James Allen, a nineteenth century writer said “You do not attract what you wish, you attract what you are.” So if we want to attract the kind of employee who is trustworthy and loyal, WE must display these qualities of character FIRST.
You cannot command a person to believe in your character or your ability to lead. In the “command and control” methodology of the industrial age it was a simple thing to intimidate, coerce, bribe or technique a person into staying at a company that did little or nothing to merit that person’s continued service. Employees where psychologically conditioned by their supervisors or managers to such a degree that they were willing to put up with any kind of ill treatment under the assumption that if they “stuck it out” long enough with an organization it would pay off in the end. This attitude reinforced by periodic “evaluations” might have kept an employee, even a disgruntled one, in line for years, but with what result.
After many years of “loyalty” to a company an employee might expect to retire with a meager pension and little if any recognition for their many years of hard work for a company whose leadership has changed hands younger generation. This gradual transition of leadership instead of providing high hopes of improvements and inspiring renewed loyalty might inspire distrust that the new establishment may be exactly as the old one, or worse, as usually new management means new rules and regulations that seem to fit the organization more than the employees. So the question remains, how does one build trust and loyalty in both veteran and fledgling employees?
The answer is in building relationships with members of the organization. I mean relationships with members of ALL levels of the organization. We all have relationships. We may tend to think of relationships with work mates as less important than our personal relationships. However, we will spend one third of our lives with the people we work with. That being the case, it would seem wise to cultivate relationships with those individuals that would be conducive to success both individually and as a collective.
Am I saying that we should start sharing our personal lives with the workmates in hopes of creating a bond that will contribute to our working better together? No. Relationships are built on shared experiences not necessarily sharing your personal experiences with your workmates. Mutually shared experiences, particularly those that might be labeled “fun” reveal certain things about our personalities that enable others to determine how best to communicate with us and we with them.
I believe that the person we are when we are playing is the person we wish we could always be, but that our environment, or workplace, or fellow adults will not let us be. However, the person we are when we are playing is the person who is most open to input from others and new ideas.
Trust can be seen when observing children at play who are all about the same age. Most young children have an almost innate sense of community. They share readily and take suggestions from one another without prejudice. Give them a bunch of crayons or building toys and they will each contribute to whatever is being done freely. They don’t seem to care about the color of their playmates skin, or how much money their parents make or where they live. All that seems to matter is that they are all on the playground or at recess and the object is to have fun. They carry on as if they were one big happy family.
So, the idea is to create a “family” environment at the workplace. There are different kinds of family. What I’m talking about is creating a familial environment through fun, shared experiences that break down the barriers between departments and individuals and release the creative energy that contributes to the success of any organization. Ultimately, it is not the quality of an organization’s products or services that will ensure its success but the loyalty of its workforce to its missions and goals. What are you most loyal to? Who do you usually trust the most? Is it not to your “friends” and “family?” Who would you rather see succeed? Is it not those individuals you feel closest to, or at least feel some type of connection to? If that is true of you then it is true of all of us whether we are low level employees or high ranking executives.
The foregoing is the reason why multi-million dollar organizations are spending literally millions of dollars every year sending their groups to teamwork camps to go through team building exercises. The thrust behind all team building exercises to create a fun relaxed environment in which individuals who perhaps we’re not quite as familiar with one another might get to know things about their teammates that would better help them understand the people they work with. Once these fun experiences have been shared by the group it is easier to draw on the good feeling created by those experiences to be more tolerant of a co-workers idiosyncrasies even welcome their sometimes “quirky” view of things. A true teamwork culture values the diversity of its members and regularly draws on that diversity to accomplish its goals. Diversity connects the team.
High level executives within organizations are beginning to realize that unless they find a way to connect with those in their employ, especially in this age of “knowledge workers” the consequences could be dire. Large paychecks and perks are no longer enough to secure the loyalty of skilled employees. There is an emotional void that must be filled if employees are to “trust” that their company is looking out for their best interests.
What kinds of activities can help create this kind of culture? Well, think of what fun did for you when you were a kid. Activities should be a fun learning experience. Experiencial learning has tremendous value and connects teams together. And you don’t have to invest millions of dollars to train your people. Family picnics where you play games that bring people together carry only the cost of the food.
As a trainer I have used many kinds of props and tools to do fun activities that promote teamwork and collaboration. One of the most versatile tools I’ve used is, oddly enough, a toy called Toobeez. It’s a bunch of tubes and spheres that remind me of Tinkertoys only these are life size and can be configured in any way a group can imagine. Visit http://www.toobeez.com, they offer free sample activities you can consider for this kind of training. They have a number of activities that can be customized to fit the needs of your groups. I’ve spoken to a number of trainers who swear by them.
Whatever you decide to use make sure its something the entire group can do. I’ve been to experiencial workshops where those who were not in the best physical condition, or because of body dimensions, weren’t able to participate and felt left out. Hey, lets be honest, not all of us are suited to climbing mountains or repelling down cliffs. The kind of activities I’m talking about engage the entire team and foster a more cohesive company culture and i.e. teamwork culture. Think of what brings you closer together to your friends and family; ask your teams what they like to do for fun and then incorporate those things into your activities. I wish you well in your endeavors to build better teams.
All the best.
Ronin