TRUST – AN INDISPENSABLE INGREDIENT FOR AN EFFECTIVE WORK TEAM

TRUST – AN INDISPENSABLE INGREDIENT FOR AN EFFECTIVE WORK TEAM

The English dictionary defines trust as “a firm belief in the reliability, truth or ability of someone or something”

There are a few words in that definition that I would like us to elaborate further.

Belief – we all most likely know what it means to believe in someone or something. This kind of belief must be firm and unwavering as specified by the above definition.

So, what do you believe in that would facilitate this trust in your workplace?

Reliability – you believe that the person would be/ is reliable. In this context of the workplace, you believe that the information you are being supplied with is reliable. That your team members are reliable. That your leaders are reliable.

Truth – you believe in the honesty or truthfulness of your team members. When you start doubting a team member, even when the person has done all that is within their power to remain truthful, you are not building trust. Believing in the truthfulness of a person is very important in building trust.

Ability – you need to believe in the ability of your team members. Belief in the abilities of your colleagues, whether they are your subordinates or contemporaries, is important in building trust.

And that covers the dictionary definition of trust. Let’s move on.

I personally believe that trust can be classified in two categories: earned and unearned. In other words, there is the trust that occurs naturally and we have the one that needs intentional effort to build.

An easy example of natural trust is that which exists between parents and children. From the closeness that exists while the child is in the womb and even after birth. Another example is the trust that exists between members of a family. No matter the circumstance, I believe that my brothers have my best interest at heart. Yes, there are exceptions, or cases where there are perceived intention of family members to hurt one another. But, in an ideal family setting, the existence of such trust is always present.

Any other kind of trust has to be earned or built over time. And that includes winning the trust of a lady to convince her to marry you. The same level of hard work is involved even in your workplace in winning the trust of your team members. Whether they are your subordinates or supervisors, this trust needs to be earned by a consistent show of truthfulness, reliability and constant improvement on your ability to contribute towards the team’s objectives. This consistency is very important in building trust.

However, as trust can be built, it can also be destroyed. But, before we go any further, let’s divert a little. I’d like to share a trust- related story with us about the early days of my career.

I started out my career as an officer in banking operations and I was posted to a branch that was situated in a market area. As such, there were many cash-based activities going on there. Considering the training I had gone through before I started the job, I envisioned that the task I would be required to carry out would be purely white-collar jobs, tasks that would require me to sit comfortably at the head office and apply intellectual skills in solving problems. So, it was shocking to me when my first assignment after resumption was to understudy the activities of the bank tellers who were mostly contract staff. I was to observe how they received and paid cash, watched how they counted money properly, put it in wraps and tie them into bundles when they reached the required amount of wraps (normally five). And, when the stacks became too high, I was to help go through the process of speaking to the cash officer to have the money sent to the vault. I was surprised at the task I was given. On top of that, the vault was downstairs, so we had to fold our shirtsleeves while carrying the money downstairs, to the vault.

Still in that shock, Esther - the cash officer, the second in command in the branch’s operation, took us down to the vault at the close of day to ensure that the amount of money in the vault corresponded with what was in the system. Once that was established, everyone was free to go home. As soon as we got into the vault, Esther called out to me, “Kalu come”. “can you confirm the total amount of cash in this vault?” she asked. I was taken unawares by the question and wondered if the task was some sort of test. Soon after, she repeated her request, this time with a harsher tone. I realized I had to act quickly. So, I started adding up numbers according to the stacks present, based on what I had learnt from the tellers. “is that how you would work here? Is that how you confirm the cash in the vault?” Esther asked impatiently, “no, I’m coming.” I replied. At the end of the day, I was able to confirm it. However, Esther was not pleased. I was even joking around while carrying out the task because I hadn’t realized it was part of the job.

Later on, I asked myself “I hope I haven’t fumbled. What efforts can I make to convince my cash officer, Esther that I can be trusted to work effectively?” From that day on, I increased my level of concentration to ensure that I grasped how the process worked, right from collection until transportation to the vault. My efforts paid up to the point that I could without counting, determine quite accurately the number of currency notes I held in my hand at a time. After some time, I was asked to do the job of a merchant teller.

A merchant teller was assigned an office, the bulk counting room, where (s)he controls the activities of the note counters as people came to deposit cash in the bank. And, like I said earlier, this branch had a lot of cash traffic seeing as it was located in a market environment. I started out quite well at this new assignment. There was no time I was asked how I was getting on that I had to report a difficulty. I rarely had any outstanding tickets. It soon became routine for me to submit my report to Esther in no time as soon as we were closed to the public every day. Over time, she became impressed with my performance. I made it a goal to prove my trustworthiness to Esther.

 Like I said earlier, as an employee, you should try your best to prove yourself as responsible, reliable, and capable. This would encourage your supervisor to trust you with higher tasks and responsibilities. In addition, as a leader, you should work in such a way that would make your subordinates trust you, and make them know that you trust them. Therefore, trust is reciprocal. A lot of supervisors make the mistake of thinking that those under them alone should work towards earning trust. As such, they are less bothered as to whether or not their subordinates trust them in return. Earning this trust involves a lot of work such as emotional intelligence and goes far beyond just technical expertise.

Let’s get back to the story.

The head of operations in that branch was Johnson by name. The incident I want to describe occurred in 2001, not long after GSM was introduced in Nigeria. That was when (and even up until now) banks that had/has MTN as a corporate account were very careful in their method of handling the account. And, at that time, we didn’t have the luxury of speed in technology in the banking system as we have it today. So, whenever we got a ticket that had to do with money being paid into an MTN account, we made sure to handle it carefully and speedily. This was done to avoid queries and constant calls from the head office. On this fateful day, calls were coming in from the head office, with complaints that they were not seeing the money that a dealer with MTN paid into MTN account. And these calls were made directly to Johnson. Johnson called Esther to inquire about the particular deposit to which she replied, “I know Kalu has posted all his tickets. He doesn’t delay in posting any tickets.”

Remember what I had to go through to earn that level of trust. Johnson asked again and even called me to his desk to ask. I replied just as Esther had done before me. The application the bank was using at the time was called FlexCube. Johnson attempted to make an enquiry on the MTN account to confirm that the deposit in question had been posted and the process was very slow.

We used to post transactions using the Retail Flexcube module. If you needed to run an inquiry on an account (internal or customer) you run it using Flexcube Host which require higher bandwidth to generate reports.

The situation became so serious that even the branch manager, Tunde had been contacted and he had come down to find out what was going on with his assistant, Ihuoma. There was quite a crowd around Johnson’s desk.

The enquiry process was not forthcoming due to the lack of speed (as we have it today) and the complainants from the head office were still on the phone. Johnson picked up the phone and said to them “I don’t know where you are checking to know whether the money is in the account or not. I am seeing the money in the account as I speak to you, it is there.” Meanwhile, the enquiry was yet to be completed. But, Johnson made that statement as a result of his belief in what Esther and I had told him. As soon as he dropped the phone, Oga Tunde asked him “Johnson, what did you just do?” to which Johnson replied, “I have asked Kalu, and he told me he has posted the ticket. What do you expect me to do other than to trust him?” the banking hall was silent. Not long after, the host enquiry came up and it was seen that my ticket had been posted. Everyone in the room heaved a sigh of relief, and some people were telling Johnson “God has saved you o” to which he replied “no, it is not a matter of ‘God has saved me’. This guy said he has posted his tickets and I should believe that he did so.”

That incident endeared me to Johnson and Esther and I ensured that I did everything within my power to work and please them. That is how to earn the respect and trust of the people under you.

How do you build trust in your team? Are you expecting only those under you to work hard to earn your trust? What are you doing to earn the trust of your subordinates? Because Johnson could have had his image tarnished because he trusted in me, but he did it anyways. Let me ask you, do you delegate some work to people under you? And when they do it, do you accept responsibility for any error that comes from them when presenting to those above you in the organisation? If you do not take responsibility for those mistakes, you are not building trust.

When there is an disagreement or misunderstanding between your team member and another team in the organisation, do you doubt the information given to you by your team member? Do you only take the opinions of members of the other group seriously while his/her side of the story falls on deaf ears? That is not how to build trust. Of course, trusting people is a dangerous activity. Sometimes, your fingers would be burnt. But, should that stop you from trusting? Definitely not! That someone died in a road accident doesn’t stop people, including the members of the deceased’s family from travelling by road. It is the same way with trust because trust is indispensable in building a cohesive and effective team. You cannot stop trusting. I’ll give you an example where your fingers can be burnt.

So, you gave a team member a task to complete, and just before you step into a meeting to present that task, you ask him if he is sure the figures are accurate and he responds in the affirmative so as not to look doubtful. Only for you to enter into the presentation and the errors were very obvious even to you. Of course you would be disappointed. But, the way you handle the situation would determine whether you make or mar the trust that exists in your team. For some people who are merely managers and not leaders, they would henceforth avoid delegating tasks to that particular person. Rather, they would give it to someone who they know is highly competent in handling such task(s). By doing so, you are not helping either of them. Yes, the trust you put in the person had been disappointed but you have to endeavor to trust him again. By doing so, even he would be sober. Unless, of course, he is someone that is purposefully out to cause your downfall and it would be quite obvious.

So, let’s endeavor to create an ideal family setting in our workplace. Trust and build trust among and with your team members. That way, you would be breeding a very cohesive, united and effective team.

I would love to read your comments.

Thank you!