Introduction
Employee trust is a fragile flower. If it’s not “nipped in the bud” you’re in trouble. The client was very upset. “I just can’t trust them“, he told me. “Now I know I’m right. I’ve caught them red handed.” He was concerned that his delivery crews were wasting time. So he’d arranged for them to be followed. And his “observer” had “caught” a crew of two men in a coffee shop having a break on the way back to the workplace having made their delivery on time.
Rigid Rules
I wasn’t surprised. I’d already discovered that this man simply didn’t trust his delivery crews. He imposed rigid and strict controls on how they did their jobs. These controls weren’t about what they should do. They were entirely about what they shouldn’t do. And they included clear threats about the dire consequences of breaking his “rules”.
The Last Straw
Was I able to help? Did I resolve the issue? Did he realize that he’d created a huge problem? Sorry: the answer to each question is the same: “No”. I’d been trying to sort out the issues for a couple of months. When he revealed he was using paid “observers” I decided that my time would be better spent with other clients. His concept of staff management was very different to mine.
An Issue of Trust
You see, I realized that his delivery crews knew he didn’t trust them. They knew he simply wanted evidence that they were, as he saw it, deceiving him. They behaved accordingly. He’d created a negative self fulfilling prophecy. His staff knew it. I knew it. He didn’t. And there was little I could do to reverse it.
But the case is still fresh in my mind, although it occurred almost 20 years ago.
Whose Problem?
The client had a successful business. He engaged me as a consultant because he knew he had a major problem. My enquiries showed that the problem was that he simply didn’t trust his employees and treated them accordingly. They responded in kind. The problem expanded. He felt justified in his increasingly draconian controls. Fact is, his attitude to his employees was the problem.
Blinded By Behaviour
He simply couldn’t see that. His employees were “the enemy” and that was that.
The notion that he and his staff were interdependent seemed to be beyond his comprehension. So … I “walked”. A few years later the inevitable happened: the business closed.
The 7 Trust Creators
In any business
- The boss sets the tone. If you’re positive, enthusiastic, supportive, approachable and performance centred, your employees will be too. If you’re not ……
- Put behaviour in perspective. You’ve heard me say that or read my stuff about it umpteen times. The case study is yet another example of a manager confusing behaviour with performance.
- Be careful about who you recruit. If you simply want “yes men” who’ll be blindly obedient to your commands, don’t recruit “self starters” who want to contribute ideas for business improvement.
- If you must have strict rules, collaborate with employees to make them. “People don’t break rules they make themselves.”
- Use rewards and incentives to show staff you appreciate their performance. Punishment usually has the opposite effect.
- Create a positive self fulfilling prophesy by expecting the best from your staff.
- Use your “best” performing employees as an example that others can aspire to. Otherwise your “best” will slide to the level of the “worst”.
“But I’m The Boss, Leon …”
Of course you are. And you’re entitled to expect commitment and competence from your people. It’s also true that occasionally, some employees are simply uncooperative. Using those employees as a benchmark for others is a flawed approach.
Conclusion
You need your employees to help your business grow and develop. Once they suspect that you don’t trust them to do their jobs properly, that prospect of effective collaboration flies out the window. It’s unlikely that it’ll ever fly back in.
What To Do Now
Firstly, don’t ask your employees whether they trust you. They’ll say that they do, even if they don’t. A good start is to check your performance standards and operating practices. Do they tell employees what to do or what not to do?
