Face It, Your Organization Has Low Internal Trust
I was recently conducting interviews and surveys in preparation for a series of management workshops with a new client I am really looking forward to working with. In my short list of objective response questions we ask the future participants to rank ‘Management Credibility is Strong’ on a scale of one to four with four being defined as ‘Strongly Agree,’ and a score of one as ‘Strongly Disagree.’
After compiling the results of 36 entries, the score on ‘Management Credibility’ for the entire group averaged slightly above a score of two, but there were a few scores significantly higher as well as a few scores significantly lower. That is to say that most managers in this group of managers, slightly disagreed with the statement and to prove the irony within the survey, the group could not come close to total agreement on the statement.
I use this question buried in the middle of the six objective survey questions as a barometer of Trust. Almost all national research suggests that trust is the number one issue among employees in the Gen X and Millennial categories, that is to say our employees under the age of 48 or so.
As is usually the case, the senior level Executive Committee met the findings in pure denial, mixed with a sampling of, “Simply a reflection of the economy,” type rationalizations. Yet upon the personal interviews with the same groups there were significantly higher levels of credibility/trust in smaller teams, as well as with peers within the generational groups. Interesting?
In many organizations both for Profit as well as Non-Profit Sectors the issue of ‘trust’ is considered a relationship between their brand or organization and their constituents or clients. And I am not here to argue that this type of awareness is not critical to their success. However, I must suggest that the issue of internal organizational trust perhaps has a more profound impact on their long-term success.
Like you I am a Boomer. Like you I was raised in a corporate culture with Policies, Budgets, and Metrics steering the course. I was blessed to learn from some great managers and leaders who taught me to only invest resources in areas where we could measure results. After all the analytics tell the only part of the story that is really worth reading anyway. “If you can’t measure it, don’t do it.”
Now, therein lies the conundrum. How do we measure trust inside an organization? I wish I had the best answer for you. What types of metrics are available that provide real data on the dynamics to ROI? Some might suggest that “Best Workplace’ type surveys that measure employee job satisfaction will be close enough. Others might suggest that by measuring Engagement we will take into account trust issues. I see validity in both, especially compared to not measuring anything at all, which is where I believe most organizations are today.
And then the follow up question is perhaps even more perplexing. Once we have a Benchmark, what tools are available to truly improve the metrics? And at what expense of resources? And as is usually the case the metrics might change from day-to-day based on an email, or single corporate communication.
I am not sure I have definitive answers but here are some key points for consideration.
First, put your organizational ego on the shelf and assume your organization has a low level of internal organizational trust. At the very least agree that the impact of the last six months has reduced trust with employees across the board. It is probably not your fault. Do you feel better? The national figures hover at 50% on this topic, and if you were to examine only employees under the age of 48, then upwards of 65-70%.
All Leaders need to cognizant of this critical internal dynamic in leading teams and maximizing productivity in extremely tough times. It should be discussed at senior management strategic planning sessions; it should be discussed in management meetings as well as review sessions with mid to senior level managers.
Second, in this case I have to suggest that even if we cannot analytically measure trust within our organizations with data to our normal levels of satisfaction, we need to believe by improving our cultures, increasing our engagement, and increasing communication and transparency it simply has to put us in a better situation to be successful.
And finally, if you are frustrated looking for the answers and the metrics you might find the solutions can often be found internally with our people. The national data also strongly indicates that people are more likely to trust themselves than their managers. Surprised?
Challenge your teams, and recognize their success stories. It sounds simplistic but perhaps they are more willing to be part of the solution than we might give them credit for. It reminds me of a line from my book “Their Not Aloof…Just Generation X”. Remember the old adage “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink? In this case, we need to do a better job of explaining why the water is critical to the Mission of the organization, then, step back. Inside of 48 hours the water will be ordered over the Internet, downloaded, and the horse won’t even have to bend over to drink.” Have confidence in honesty and your people.
Looking forward to your comments, mxmm@bellsouth.net