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Does your organisation need to improve trust towards management?:
LCP's 5 minute quiz
When assessing whether trust towards management could be improved, consider the following questions:
- Is the importance of trust promoted across the workforce with each leader aware of this importance and their own responsibility?
- Are managers at each level accessible to their teams e.g. they hold regular meetings or office drop-ins?
- Do managers clearly and openly disseminate all information, with team members feeling they have all they require?
- Are managers fully equipped with the knowledge and skills for their specific job, as well as interpersonal skills and overall wisdom?
- Are managers viewed as open, kind and supportive by their subordinates? (360° feedback can be a way to assess this)
- Are managers respected as fair, moral and having integrity e.g. do they follow through on promises made, and do they do as they say?
- Do staff feel trusted themselves (rather than treated with suspicion and therefore less likely to buy into the organisation)?
- Do managers deal with conflict effectively and efficiently (rather than shying away from problems and preferring to carry on as if 'everything's fine')?
- Does your organisation include qualitative performance measurements and one-to-one review time with managers (rather than only quantitative measurements e.g. productivity or sick days)?
If you answered 'no' to any of the above questions than there are areas in which trust can be improved in your organisation.
Managers that are seen to have integrity are regarded as reliable or predictable and thus individuals feel safe in their job roles. On the other hand, managers that are seen as kind can stimulate an emotional response in their teams, with individuals feeling a sense of indebtedness. These are just two examples of how trust begins to develop; they demonstrate how leaders must be aware of the responses they are stimulating in others.
There are a broad number of practical measures that can be taken in order to ensure managers are viewed as more open and accessible, as well as long term leadership development to improve areas such as interpersonal skills and conflict management.
Along with 360° feedback, psychometric testing can be a way to assess how your organisation needs to improve trust.
Further reading: Colquitt, Jason A. et al. 'Trust, Trustworthiness, and Trust Propensity', Journal of Applied Psychology (92:4) (2007: 909-927)
If you'd like to speak to LCP about leadership training and coaching, call us on 01273 590232 or email enquiries@lcp.org.uk.
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