Trust transcends Limits

Trials around the globe have shown that humans are naturally tilted to trust others—but don't always.

Why do two people trust each other in the first place?

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Experiments prove that when the human brain trusts another being, it releases more oxytocin in the brain. Oxytocin reduces fear and makes us more trusting. It also creates more compassion- a trait essential for people to work together. 

How then are companies, working towards making the employee culture filled with trust?

Are 'Fun Fridays,' perks like gourmet lunches, shopping perks the answer? Do these promise loyalty in the long-run, or are these merely short term attempts at being an antidote to an otherwise high-stress environment?

Here are some exemplary cases of how companies have 'walked the talk' when it comes to instilling trust among their employees; thought out of the box, and came up with outstanding solutions towards standard business issues. 

How a Family Shared a Burden?

During the economic downturn of 2008, the Barry-Wehmiller group faced a crisis. They received a 40% cancellation in orders for their pieces of equipment. 

As most companies would react, they contemplated laying off people in an attempt to right-size the company. The goal was to save $10 million. 

Bob Chapman, the CEO, then asked himself the question- What would a family do in such a situation? Would it consider laying off its children in the event of a recession? 

'No' was the answer. A loving family would share the burden. 

The solution was in the face. 

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Why not everyone endures a little bit of pain so that no-one had to bear a lot of pain?

A vacation program was launched where 'every person' in the company was asked to take four weeks of unpaid time off. The internal communication was ramped up to share the state of business regularly- reassuring employees of their protected future.  

The reaction was extraordinary. Some team members offered to take double the time off, rising up to "take the time" for their co-workers who could not afford the loss of pay. 

Many associates embraced the time off, scheduling it so they could spend the summer home with kids or partake in special volunteer projects.

A shared sacrifice that, in the end, didn't seem like such a sacrifice.

Beyond saving $20 million- double of the targeted $10 million, the employees worked with all their hearts and helped survive the downturn.

And the company earned something genuinely priceless: their employees' trust.

Next Jump

Charlie Kim founded Next Jump in 1994. Harvard Business Review chose it as one of the only three DDOs ( Deliberately Developmental Organizations). 

They practice some exciting ideas to reinstill confidence and loyalty among their people. 

Central Mantra = Better Me (improve yourself) + Better You (help others with what you learned) = Better Us

 The company has no HR department. The company has 200 people without a dedicated HR department. All HR- responsibilities are equally distributed. 

They believe that the culture within the team cannot be outsourced to a particular group. It's a shared company responsibility. 

Everyone works half their time on HR and culture, from the salesperson to the software engineer, from customer service to the CEO. 

Of course, this also means that experts are under-utilized - a coder is only coding 50% of the time they could be. The purpose this tradeoff makes sense for the business is that by exercising your decision-making on people and culture matters, your other job will become much better, and you will make up for the 50% shortfall. 

Next Jump introduced a No Firing Policy in 2012 – offering a commitment of lifetime employment for their employees – "the ultimate safety at work." You cannot get fired for performance issues. Each employee has a "talking partner." Someone you can bounce off ideas to someone close who can tell you when you're going off track.  

The Impact of Trust

Harvard research proves that the effect of trust is powerful. Employees who trust their companies indicated 106% more energy and were 76% more engaged at work, 70% more aligned to the company vision, and felt 66% closer to their colleagues compared to those whose companies didn't bother to instill trust in their employees. Trust has a significant impact on loyalty, as well. 

Manage Stress

There are meaningful ways of managing stress- that can work towards helping business objectives and making the environment employee-centric. 

• Induce Average Stress- When challenges are achievable, not impossible, the available job induces neurochemicals to strengthen focus. Leaders should continuously check on the challenges and adjust goals when necessary. 
• Public Recognition- Recognizing excellence and celebrating success has the most significant impact on trust. Besides that, it also encourages others to aim for excellence. 

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• Forge relationships- Besides focussing on work, encourage friends at work. Sociality enables oxytocin, and that further empowers trust. 

When people honor each other, there is trust built that leads to synergy, reliance, and sincere respect. 

As Ralph Emerson said, "Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great."