The curious case of trust and growth in organizations

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Debating how trust reflect on the growth of organizations in a post COVID19 environment is key to the CEOs of today’s ailing economy. A research by MacKinsey states that “traditional ways of working change, social capital—the workplace connections that are essential to both individual advancement and organizational cohesion—has plummeted”.[1]

So what is at stake for the correlation between trust and growth in organizations ?

In one of his novels Ernest Hemingway states: “The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” Is this saying true for organizations dynamics to foster (vertical) trust relationship between employees and management to drive them to focus on the work they accomplish? Contrary to that contention is a clear cut relationship between management and the employees. The Unicorn told Alice in Wonderland “If you believe in me, I’ll believe in you. Is that a bargain?” The need for (horizontal) mutual trust between employees seems another way to foster businesses.

This essay will debate how organizations can build both attributes and henceforth which will be more important to organizations building channels between employees or building a transparent communication with management? The topic seem like a no-brainer however organizational trust defined[2] is the confidence of workforce in the actions of your company.

An article in Harvard Business Review say that if people trust each other they will take smarter risks[3] and hence “consistency, clear communication, and a willingness to tackle awkward questions “ [4] This will therefore cement the relationship between trust and growth. However the authors[5] debates the notion that trust has its “enemies” such as inconsistent standards misplaced benevolence, incompetence, false feedback, failure to trust others, “elephants in the parlor” and rumors in a vacuum; just to state a few arguments of the above mentioned article.

Deloitte has investigated the issue of trust in organizations[6] and evidence was given that “a breach of trust involves much more than the risk of bad publicity. It can be an open invitation for clients to switch to another brand, employees to leave, investors to pull their funds, and governments to slap down sanctions, and it can lead to your company’s demise.[7] ”

Of importance in the Deloitte initiative is principles based on accountability and responsibility, clarity. In terms of what needs to be accomplished, how, by when, and with specific measures of impact, communication, frequently and transparently as well as incentive and reward structure and what they measure[8] .

This essay is going to open with exploring different definitions and stakes in an organizational trust scheme, a second chapter will cover literature review on the subject, and specifically about how trust plays then an important role in the growth of an organization. A third chapter will disclose our methodology of research, which will center basically on interviews with some CEOs and from leaders in the field as well as scholar articles.

In a fourth chapter we will analyze our findings and answer different questions mainly ????

1. ·????????Understanding the role of trust in successful work environments,
2. ·????????Investigating how structures, policies, and systems engender the trust the management want to achieve,
3. ·????????Understanding how will the symbiosis between employees reflect on the operations of the organization and its relationship with the customers,
4. ·????????Explaining the role respect play in organizations and the input of all employees by putting effective channels of communication,
5. ·????????Finally advocating that transparency and wide sharing of information is key for sustainable engagement.

The article will conclude by opening up a debate on how managers need to develop their emotional intelligence since it’s easy to manage all employees identically. But not all employees enjoy being managed the same way! The above-cited MacKinsey article is of paramount importance here. Hence injecting more apprentices, and develop “inclusive” unique approaches for specific groups will be key to rebuilding organic connections

There is thus “a need to update strategies based employee sentiment analyses via pulse surveys, allowing the company to tailor its recommendations for working parents and younger employee groups alike and pursue both virtual and in-person solutions as a powerful complement (versus a substitute) “ [9] .

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[1] https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-organization-blog/socio-emotional-ties-a-secret-ingredient-to-success?cid=other-eml-ofl-mip-mck&hlkid=447f415a1303488d8e2c877e8f363765&hctky=13295870&hdpid=3f43084e-f910-43d6-8a36-8c7bff879c55

[2] https://www.predictiveindex.com/blog/what-is-organizational-trust-and-how-to-build-it/

[3] https://hbr.org/2003/02/the-enemies-of-trust#:~:text=As%20difficult%20as%20it%20is%20to%20build%20and,to%20work%20through%20disagreements.%20They%E2%80%99ll%20take%20smarter%20risks .

[4] ibid

[5] The Enemies of Trust by Robert M. Galford and Anne Seibold Drapeau HBR https://hbr.org/2003/02/the-enemies-of-trust#:~:text=As%20difficult%20as%20it%20is%20to%20build%20and,to%20work%20through%20disagreements.%20They%E2%80%99ll%20take%20smarter%20risks

[6] Professor Sandra Sucher and research associate Shalene Gupta study trust at Harvard Business School and are the authors of the upcoming book?The Power of Trust: How Companies Build It, Lose It, and Regain It.?

[7] https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/leadership/open-conversation-with-punit-renjen-on-organizational-trust.html

[8] A conversation on organizational trust with Punit Renjen Insights on building trust in an organization. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/leadership/open-conversation-with-punit-renjen-on-organizational-trust.html

[9] https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-organization-blog/socio-emotional-ties-a-secret-ingredient-to-success?cid=other-eml-ofl-mip-mck&hlkid=447f415a1303488d8e2c877e8f363765&hctky=13295870&hdpid=3f43084e-f910-43d6-8a36-8c7bff879c55