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The Challenge of the R1 Diagnosis
Now, no person is ever “R1.” Let’s be clear: Every person, even a new person, will almost certainly find tasks …
On a personal level, we know that trust is important. It helps us maintain relationships with our family, friends, even our colleagues. But businesses have relationships that need maintaining, too—relationships with employees, partners and, of course, clients. These relationships are what keep businesses thriving, but like any relationship, they need trust to survive. In this case, they need organizational trust.
Organizational trust is the belief that others have in an organization to act ethically, competently and reliably.
Clients, employees, partners, investors and other stakeholders share a certain level of confidence that the organization will be run with dignity and in a way that meets their expectations. They trust that the company will engage in responsible business practices, treat others fairly and maintain their commitment to their mission, whatever it may be.
Organizational trust matters more than you might think. A recent PwC survey revealed that 93% of business executives agree that building and maintaining trust improves the bottom line.
And that starts internally. Trust has been shown to have a massive impact on employee satisfaction and output. In fact, studies shows that:
This upward trend sparks a chain reaction: Trusting employees create trusting customers. With stronger, more productive teams, businesses are able to produce higher-quality products or services faster. Plus, with more engaged and committed employees, businesses are able to provide more satisfactory customer service. These efforts allow them to establish and build trust with their consumer base organically.
When a consumer trusts an organization, they’re much more likely to purchase from them. But reveals they actually do much more than that:
Once again, this creates a domino effect. More organizational trust means businesses are able to convert more clients, drive more sales and achieve higher profits over a longer period of time. In doing so, they build a track record of reliability and profitability, creating a strong reputation that’ll appeal to investors and other stakeholders. And for a good reason: High-trust organizations tend to return 3 times the total return to shareholders than those with low trust (ets).
In the end, high-trust organizations have been shown to not only earn more revenue, but they also continuously increase their potential to grow.
It’s easy to see why 55% of CEOs think that a lack of trust is a threat to their organization’s growth, according to another PwC survey. Organizational trust has become one of the most fundamental tools for any modern business hoping to scale.
But the unfortunate reality is that most businesses tend to overestimate the amount of organizational trust they’ve garnered.
Studies show that while 90% of business executives think customers highly trust their companies, only 30% of customers actually do. Internally, 86% of business executives believe employee trust is high, yet only 67% of employees agree. That trust gap has continued to grow year after year.
So don’t let optimism trick you, like it has so many others, into assuming you have more organizational trust than you actually do. Find out where your company truly stands by using an organizational trust assessment.
Often taking the form of a questionnaire or survey, an organizational trust assessment allows businesses like yours to gather feedback directly from the source. That being anyone your business is hoping to build trust with, whether they’re employees, partners or even clients.
Typically, the assessment will ask them to rate statements about your business on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 – Strongly Disagree, 5 – Strongly Agree). These statements could look like:
For more targeted results, you might consider altering the statements based on the recipient group (e.g. clients, employees, etc.) or on the particular subject you’re looking to learning more about (e.g. product quality, privacy protection, etc.)
For instance, in an assessment sent to employees, you can alter the assessment to include statements like:
Remember, an organizational trust assessment is designed to give your business the insights it needs to build and maintain trust. Don’t be afraid to customize your assessment to get the kind of feedback you’re looking for.
As a leader, you are the crucial link that connects your company’s stakeholders with its frontline. Ultimately, it’s you who’s responsible for communicating their vision to your team. It’s you that they’ll look to for guidance, instruction and support as they work to turn that vision into a reality. They need to know that they can trust you. Because otherwise, that vision crumbles and turning your company’s goals into achievements becomes virtually impossible.
But building trust isn’t impossible; it just takes time and effort. For those looking for a more in-depth guide to establishing trust in the workplace, check out our course, Building Trust. It provides personalized, actionable methods that leaders can apply immediately to build trust that’ll last long-term.
