{"id":4506,"date":"2019-10-15T10:44:12","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T14:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/?p=4506"},"modified":"2019-10-15T10:44:12","modified_gmt":"2019-10-15T14:44:12","slug":"constructing-a-high-trust-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/?p=4506","title":{"rendered":"Constructing a High Trust Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Last week a business owner inquired if I could help his company build a roadmap to a high trust culture. First I asked what he thought the roadmap might include, and his answer was not surprising. “My business coach instructed my office manager to hire a motivational speaker, enter us in a “great workplace” competition, donate money to charity, and have an annual picnic. Then we can call ourselves trustworthy.” ( I didn’t dare ask for the name of the coach, as it was immediately apparent that trust subject matter expertise was not their forte.) My next question was a bit more difficult. I asked him what role he would play in designing the trust roadmap. His response, “That’s why I hired a coach, so I would know how and what to delegate to my staff.” Suffice it to say, it’s a good thing the conversation was occurring by phone so I could end the call quickly.<\/p>\n

With unemployment at record lows and employee engagement and retention looking very bleak, one might think that leaders would pay closer attention to building a culture of trust, which some have gone as far as calling the “new currency,” but apparently not so. In fact, over the past ten+ years, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard similar (and sometimes worse) answers to the questions posed above.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So once again I turned to the members of our\u00a0Trust Council<\/a>\u00a0 and asked them for what they considered to be the first three steps in building a culture of trust.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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Bob Vanourek<\/strong>\u00a0a former Fortune 500 CEO was the first to respond, sharing the following, and from the perspective of a consultant engaged by a large organization:<\/span><\/div>\n
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1. Contact the top leader of the organization for a personal appointment to tell him\/her what they are undertaking and why it is so important, promising to keep them and all intermediate levels of authority informed about this effort.<\/span><\/div>\n
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2. Call a special meeting (with no other agenda items) of his\/her direct reports and other influential staff members to:<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n