The previous article, “Trust is Good for Business“, showed that businesses that have a strong foundation built on trust, will experience many benefits including a greater sense of sharing, higher morale, are more collaborative, innovative & creative, experience higher productivity and are generally healthier.
In his book “Trust Edge”, David Horsager discusses ten barriers to trust, but there are three that I believe are most relevant to business. Remember, trust requires building deep relationships where you “look out for and look after each other”. However, where conflicts of interest arise, or individualistic behaviour and fear exist, trust within your organisation will certainly have already done the bolt! Why? Because in each case, the individual promotes their self-interest, to the detriment of another individual or worse, the entire group or team. This individualistic behaviour is in stark contrast to objective of “looking out for and looking after each other”.
The 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer found, now more than ever, employees are looking to their employers for safety and security. In a rapidly changing world, employees are looking to those relationships that are “close to home”, accordingly their work relationship, has become an important source of security. Ironically, safety and security is exactly what most business owners want to achieve, but many go about it in the wrong way, by chasing their safety and security to the detriment of the team. If this is you, then listen closely!
For you as a business owner to feel safe and secure, you first need to ensure that you make your staff feel safe and secure. This is the only way to build trust and a performance driven team culture.
If this is you, perhaps it is time to make some changes to nurture trust and give your staff a reason to trust you and want work for you. This will of course require you to include your staff in the process and actively engage with them and listen to their concerns and suggestions.
Building Trusted Relationships
“It is hard to trust someone to take responsibility for others when they can barely take responsibility for themselves”.
To nurture a culture of trust, surround yourself with people who “have your back” and are prepared to support you to achieve your goals. Don’t ask what someone is prepared to do for you in the good times, ask them what they are prepared to do for you in the tough times.
Our team is proud to be the first choice for many businesses and have supported them through their toughest times. As a result, a common theme with all our clients is the feeling that the Real Balance team, “have our back, as much if not more than me”, “without question, I trust the Real Balance team” and “we wouldn’t be where we are, without the team from Real Balance”.
We have dedicated ourselves to building strong, trusted relationships with our clients. These relationships have been crucial to our clients success as much as it has to our success. We have consulted with many organisations and teams, to help them improve their “Trust-Edge” and build better businesses that were more profitable and more enjoyable to work at, thereby helping business owners to reach their goals and make all the hours working in the business, worthwhile.