Trust: If you have to say it, you probably don’t have it

Trust. It’s the word that echoes through every aspect of our lives post-pandemic, post-media manipulation, post-conspiracy-loon-I’ve-done-my-research (no offence to those out there that love a conspiracy), and post-truth - where truth itself has become something that needs testing, proving, and often revising, depending on who’s looking at it.

Because, let’s be honest, two things can be true at once. As F. Scott Fitzgerald put it: "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." (who's checking Google to see if I made that up?)

And yet, in business, we’re all familiar with those meetings where company values are rolled out like an overused carpet. I’ve written enough website copy to know that every single one of them includes trust. It’s always in there, nestled between integrity and excellence, like a compulsory tick-box.

But should it even need to be stated? I mean, who’s going to proudly declare, "Hey, we’re as dodgy as Del Boy down the market!"? No one. And yet, despite the endless proclamations of trustworthiness, do companies even believe it themselves? More importantly, do they practice what they preach? Because if you’re asking customers to trust you, you’re also asking them to trust your employees.

This means you trusting your employees - and let’s be real - how often does that happen? How many of us have had to complete timesheets down to the minute, log in and out of systems just to pop to the loo, or had our work-from-home days scrutinised for mouse movement and screen time? Nothing quite says “We are a trustworthy business” like making your team feel like criminals on parole.

Now, before I get accused of being naive, I get it. There are reasons for accountability - reporting to clients, improving efficiency, making sure people actually do their jobs. But there’s an underlying assumption in so many workplaces that employees are fundamentally idle creatures who need to be managed lest they fritter away their days on idle chit-chat.

And it’s not just middle management. Recently, Elon Musk - evil genius or just plain evil, depending on your viewpoint - announced that thousands of government employees would have to justify their work in an email or risk losing their jobs. A modern-day Dickensian nightmare.

At the micro level, this mentality filters down to the manager who insists on double - and triple-checking every little task, creating more work in their obsessive quest to prevent slacking. But here’s the thing - if you’re that worried about people not doing their jobs, maybe the issue isn’t them. Maybe it’s that you’ve hired the wrong people. Or worse, maybe it’s you.

The best workplaces are the ones that trust their people - where the hiring process isn’t just about skills but culture, work style, and the ability to respond to feedback. If you have to micromanage, you’ve already failed in hiring or leadership.

Now, let me be clear - I’m not venting about a bad experience in my current role. In fact, I’m lucky to work in an environment where there is genuine trust and open communication. But in previous jobs it wasn’t always that way.

I’m sure many of you have stories (feel free to share them below - therapeutic ranting is encouraged). So, when companies talk about trust, what are they really saying? Are they just throwing out buzzwords, or do they actually mean it?

Because trust isn’t just a slogan - it’s a practice. And if businesses want customers and employees to believe in them, maybe they should start by believing in their own people first.