A 2017 global survey of professionals by EY indicated that more
than half of employees lack a great deal of trust in their employers. Among 9,800 full-time employees across the world, only 46% trusted their employers, with bosses and team colleagues slightly higher at 49%.
The survey also asked what factors promoted trust. Two of the highest-ranking factors were ‘communicates openly/transparency’ at 59%, and ‘delivers on promises’ at 67%. Job security, fair compensation, and benefits were highly ranked as well.
The trust problem goes deeper than the risk of
teams growing complacent due to being overworked. Tackling your employees’ productivity is one thing, but if they don’t trust the company, how can they act as ambassadors to your brand?
Is your company doing enough to earn the trust of their employees? How can managers and team leaders tackle transparent communication and deliver on promises?
The Importance of Clarity in Trust
A lot of that seems to come down to a phenomenon dubbed ‘
commitment drift.’ Organisational consultant and 2016 Top Thought Leader in Trust Elizabeth Doty says that this is because ‘most companies are simply not designed to remember commitments over time – let alone communicate them clearly, hand them off between departments, or adjust them effectively as priorities change.’
Think about it. As a business grows in outreach, it also grows internally to meet that demand, and more promises are made. Priorities are bound to shift and change during this time. But is this information being adequately conveyed to your team? Who can you depend on to remember the promises you made on Day 1?
Machine-Accurate Memory
Doty suggested the following steps to ensure that a business is keeping to its commitments:
– Track your key commitments
– Connect the dots between groups
– Focus on processes, not heroics
When it comes to tracking key commitments, it’s not just yours that are important. Doty stresses that we should track who we depend on, and
their commitments, too. That way, you are less likely to forget what commitments you’ve made and you will avoid trampling
their commitments by asking more of them. That way, nobody is taking too much and nothing slips through the gaps.
With TeamworkIQ it’s possible to track commitments accurately and intelligently. TeamworkIQ allows you to turn that shared list of commitments into an actionable
checklist designed to keep everyone focused on the process and step needed to attain a goal. It connects the dots between groups by intelligently understanding who is committed to what and automatically coordinating task assignments to keep everyone on target. Everyone knows who is committed to doing what.
TeamworkIQ also streamlines repeatable processes enabling you to turn
standard operating procedures into smart, managed
workflows designed to deliver high-quality outcomes that make employees and customers happy. Both employee trust and brand trust level benefit.
With TeamworkIQ, you can build your employees’ confidence and deliver on your external promises in a clear and transparent way that build company culture and brand.
Questions? Comments?
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