In this episode of Harmonious Workplaces, hosts Rich Cruz, Sharyl Volpe, and Ben Kleinman welcome Alix Prassas, a culture design consultant and PhD candidate researching trust, to discuss building trust in diverse teams. The discussion explores the importance of trust, how to build and measure it, and how to repair it when broken.
The Importance of Trust
Alix emphasizes that trust has decreased significantly since 2021, with a 12-point drop in employees who trust their leaders. This decline makes it crucial for organizations to prioritize building trust. High-trust organizations perform better and have more engaged employees. Trust is also essential for successful change management, as employees are more likely to adopt changes when they trust the process and the people leading it.
Building Trust
The podcast identifies several key strategies for building trust:
- Building Connections: Trust is fostered through building connections that make people feel like part of an “in-group”. This connection can be achieved through visibility and open communication, whether in person or virtually.
- Consistency and Transparency: Leaders should be consistent in their communication, be transparent (within reason), and own up to changes in strategy. It is okay to admit “I don’t know”.
- Shared Purpose: Teams should rally around a common purpose, which builds camaraderie, connection, and trust, especially when working with diverse groups.
- Thoughtful and Intentional Communication: Communication should be thoughtful and intentional. Leaders should not gloss over past miscommunications, but instead own them.
Trust in Virtual vs. In-Person Environments
The discussion highlights that trust can be built effectively in both virtual and in-person environments. The key is visibility and effort in connecting with others. Technology enables virtual connection, and the shared vulnerability of seeing people’s homes can sometimes foster deeper connections than traditional office settings.
Addressing Broken Trust
The group also discusses how to address broken trust, emphasizing that it requires work and self-reflection. Steps for repairing trust include:
- Self-Reflection: Leaders must examine their own motivations and actions that might have contributed to the breach of trust.
- Seeking Feedback: It is important to ask the person whose trust has been broken what a remedy would look like for them.
- Action and Accountability: Actions must match words, and plans to rebuild trust should be implemented in partnership with the employee, who then holds the leader accountable.
- Consistency: Leaders must be consistent and admit to bad days, owning their behavior instead of becoming defensive.
Measuring Trust
Measuring trust is essential for improvement. While engagement surveys and trust indices can offer insights, it’s crucial to analyze data for gaps in employee experience among different demographic groups. Qualitative measures, such as whether employees feel their manager is committed to their growth, are also important.
Hiring for Trust
Hiring for trust is more about core values alignment than culture fit. Culture fit can lead to groupthink, whereas a focus on core values will encourage diversity and innovation. Interviewers should be trained to dig into examples of how candidates have demonstrated specific values and how leaders have built and repaired trust with their teams.
Other Key Points
- Psychological Safety: Psychological safety is essential for building trust, and conflict management, not conflict resolution, fosters a psychologically safe environment where different opinions can be voiced.
- Personal Connection: Learning people’s names and something personal about them are micro trust builders.
- Organizational Values: Organizational values must be lived, and communications and policies should match these core values.
- Global Teams: When working with global teams, it is important not to make assumptions based upon cultural dimensions. Leader behaviors have more of an impact on trust than cultural influences.
Conclusion
This episode of Harmonious Workplaces provides a comprehensive look at building trust in organizations. Alix Prassas, Rich Cruz, Sharyl Volpe, and Ben Kleinman offer insightful advice on creating a culture of trust through connection, communication, consistency, and commitment to employees’ growth. By focusing on these key areas, organizations can improve performance, engagement, and the overall work experience.
About Alix Prassas
Alexandra (Alix) is an Organizational Effectiveness Consultant with two decades of experience in the People & Organizational Culture space, as well as a PhD Candidate in Organizational Leadership, with a research focus on fostering trust. Alix is passionate about the evolution of workplace culture and empowerment of the employee experience through strategic design and intentional implementation, built on a foundation of trust. She has empowered companies from 100+ to 30,000+ employees to embrace and accomplish successful evolution, whether the focus be design, digital, learning, or an overall culture shift. She is an Adjunct Faculty member in IO psychology at The Chicago School, Vice President of the Midwest Chapter of the Association for Change Management Professionals (ACMP), and Co-Lead for Culture First Chicago.
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