The Cry For Trust In Corporate America

Tim Smith
CEO
The ASLON Group
8/23/02


The cry for trust in corporate cultures today has reached an all time high. President Bush is calling for a "new ethic of personal responsibility" in our corporate leaders and has stressed that high moral values are key to solving corporate America's problems. "The misdeeds now being uncovered in some quarters of corporate America are threatening the financial well being of many workers and many investors," Bush said. "At this moment, America's greatest economic need is higher ethical standards - standards enforced by strict laws and upheld by responsible business leaders."

But what happened to the ethics we learned in school and the trust we had as children? Somewhere along the line ethics got mired in greed and trust was lost in half-truths, cover-ups and down right lies. Poor communication during shrinking economies and the resultant layoffs have left organizations feeling guilty for still being employed and worried about how long their future at the company would last. Good employees who want more control of their destiny jump ship when this happens in search of organizations with more open and honest communication. The formula for a productive and enjoyable workplace boils down to the basic necessities of trust and honesty which was confirmed by the list of Americas Best Companies to work for.

In the past, many organizations did not recognize that trust was an issue when evaluating their internal structure. With the recent catastrophes at Enron, the indictment of six executives from WorldCom, the stunning collapse of Arthur Andersen and the spectacle of ImClone and Adelphia, corporate leaders should be examining their internal culture to assess their employees' trust in their leadership. Without a doubt they should be examining their own ethics and making sure their house is in order.

Once the level of trust is measured - how can it be strengthened? The formula is simple but takes time and corporate-wide buy in to be effective:

Trust = established credibility + consistent fairness + mutual respect + open communication

Often management underestimates the importance of building trust and strong relationships with employees because they are focusing solely on the bottom line and developing and strengthening the relationships with their clients. But to be successful, the senior management team must take the lead on relationship building by having trust, respect and pride in their employees. Leaders must demonstrate principles that are honest, flexible, open, rewarding, a-political, accessible, responsive and fair to each and every worker. One way to accomplish this was demonstrated by Ginger Graham when she was CEO of Advanced Cardiovascular Systems. As stated in an article she wrote for Harvard Business Review, April 2000 "one quick way to get honesty percolating is to establish trust by reversing the top-down communication structure in a physical, visible and immediate way." A coach from the non-managerial ranks was assigned to each executive and was asked to gather very specific information from other departments about the executive's openness and honest communication. This information was presented to the executive so he could hear what really mattered to the employees and not what he thought mattered. The program closed the gap between management and employees. Management responded to employees' feedback and their behavior changed.

It is important to understand that each company has its own culture, goals, and business challenges and therefore, different ways of achieving trust. A turnaround CEO of a $300 million manufacturing company felt that trust was the first and most important element he had to establish. Because he didn't have the time to develop strong relationships with his team, he would often ask them questions about production costs, timing of shipments, status of sales, etc., write down their responses and "check up" on them to ensure that they were telling him the truth. If they weren't, he would fire them on the spot. Upon review, this tactic may initially seem like an anti-trust culture but his long-term goal was in fact, trust focused. He had to have a quick way to find out who he could trust implicitly, without hesitation, in order for the company to be a successful turnaround. The need to be trusted is critical and once the groundwork is established, can be a powerful ingredient to accomplishing difficult challenges.

Two-way communication is key to developing a trust culture. Employees need to be explicitly involved in decision making, whether through teams or employee involvement quality circles. An interactive voice must be encouraged and can be accomplished via an intranet. Chatting online amongst employees is not quite prime time, however, net based surveys and discussions of important topics or events speaks volumes for a company that cares. By listening to ideas from all areas of the company and promoting group cooperation, management will be able to develop the most comprehensive data to make the best decisions. Simultaneously, the development of these groups will naturally create a more intimate environment and improve interaction, communication and camaraderie between employees.

Just as it is important to develop trust within smaller groups, it is important for departments to communicate with each other as well. Developing a process, including monthly or bi-monthly meetings between department heads, status reports and daily communication among groups and departments will lend to a seamless operation and a strong trust culture.

Establishing the communication for developing a trust culture starts early. Several years ago, a Harvard Business School professor wrote an open letter to the nation's graduates. He told them that schools tend to put too much emphasis on the idea that success comes as a result of passing tests and is based on individual performance rather than on group effort and cooperation. The professor pointed out that in the workplace, doing well depends largely on learning to succeed in what he called a "web of relationships." If employees focus more on group achievement, rather than individual success, they will be more trusting in others.

Most importantly, people also need to know that they are cared for as an individual, not viewed as a number. Communicating to your employees that it is acceptable to take risks and make a few mistakes will lead to more innovation, stronger ideas and a more creative work culture.

Establishing a trust culture is not just about focusing on the large initiatives in an organization. It requires starting with the small goals, such as ensuring that all employees consistently follow through with day-to-day tasks. More simply, let your yes be yes and your no be no. This entails all employees doing what they say they are going to do. Once each employee begins to "walk the talk," it empowers others to uphold their end and trust begins to build on its own.

The secret to a trust culture is coupling our individual knowledge with group effort, cooperation, honesty and open communication. Some measures a company can take to build a trust culture include:

1. Clearly communicate the firm-wide initiatives to ensure that everyone is aiming in the same direction
2. Solicit suggestions from employees to help solve company problems
3. Develop status check points and mini-goals for different phases of the project
4. Adjust goals as new situations arise and schedule one-on-one meetings on an as needed basis to make employees feel comfortable with their work
5. Set high standards for group effort and cooperation
6. Ensure - without compromise - that every team member's actions are consistent with their communication
7. Provide positive feedback and rewards for completed tasks that edify the "web of relationship"

As a senior level executive search firm we have seen the increased awareness for the need for trust and values from the executives we are recruiting. Once a candidate has expressed an interest in a top level position, their main concern is with the culture of the company, the honest values of the current management team and the overall environment of the company. Some have hired a due diligence consultant before accepting an offer which goes beyond the traditional indirect reference checking. Major corporations can take from one-two years to find a CEO replacement because of skepticism by the potential new executive. With the recent scandals, rising stars are much more reluctant to leave secure second-in-command posts to run a company. The growing importance of having a strong and enjoyable work environment, staffed with employees that trust each other will be the ultimate deciding factor in attracting top talent.

Trust = established credibility + consistent fairness + mutual respect + open communication

Follow this formula to give your company the competitive advantage it needs to rise above the competition. After all, the best talent is worth trusting, isn't it?

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