#43 Build Genuine Trust: The Power of Transparency, Consistency, and Accountability
Lack of trust hinders progress in organisations. Build trust with transparency, consistency, and accountability. Love your organisation more,because it values these behaviours.
As someone with a few decades of work under his belt, I've seen over and again how a lack of trust can damage relationships and hinder progress in organizations. Without trust, communication breaks down, collaboration suffers, and employees become disengaged. Food gets named in the fridge, people spy on each other and someone will grass you up to the boss. On the other hand, when trust is present, teams thrive, innovation blossoms, and productivity soars. You build genuine trust with three key elements: transparency, consistency, and accountability.
Transparency
Transparency is, frankly, the foundation of trust. When people are open and honest about their intentions, actions, and decisions, everyone feel valued and respected. Transparency goes a long way to building credibility and will help foster an environment of mutual respect.
You can demonstrate transparency in many ways; providing regular updates on you goals and initiatives, sharing relevant information in a timely manner, or being candid about your challenges and opportunities. For example, a CEO might hold a company-wide meeting to explain the reasons behind a major decision, or a manager might share feedback from employee surveys and discuss plans to address areas of concern. You can practice transparency by being open about what bothers you (constructively, of course), by providing feedback on ideas you're presented with and by communicating about your work, whether you're ahead, behind or need help - being transparent about what you're doing goes a long way to building trust.
When leaders model transparency, it sets the tone for the entire organization. Employees are more likely to trust their leaders and each other when they know that information is being shared openly and honestly.
Consistency
Consistency is another crucial element of building trust. When you behave in a consistent manner, people around you feel more secure and confident in your decisions. Consistency creates a sense of stability and reliability that is essential to building trust.
Consistency can be demonstrated in multiple ways, such as by setting clear expectations, following through on commitments, and treating everyone fairly and equally - all the time. Being known as someone who is consistent in their behaviour will, over time, mean people come to trust you'll do what you've said you'll do. For example, setting clear expectations on your role and outpue for a project and following up and communicating regularly to ensure that progress is being made. Or a leader might hold everyone accountable for meeting the same standards of performance, regardless of their position or tenure.
When you model consistency, it helps your colleagues feel more confident in their own decisions and actions. They know that you will behave in predictable ways, and they can rely on you to act with integrity.
Accountability
Accountability is the final element of building trust. When you take responsibility for your actions and hold yourself and others accountable, it builds confidence and trust in you and your leadership.
You can demonstrate accountability by owning up to mistakes, taking action to correct errors when you find them or they're highlighted, and providing regular feedback and recognition. For example, you might publicly acknowledge when they've made a mistake and explain what you're doing to correct it - this is hard, I know. Owning up to mistakes puts your head above the trench and makes you a target, but if you're practising transparency and consistency already, people will know you've made a genuine mistake and will take whatever steps you need to fix it. Another example is providing regular feedback to employees, both positive and constructive, to help them improve their performance by benchmarking against your own performance. You can suggest ways you found to improve and grow and highlight the mistakes you made along the way to help them avoid making their own.
Putting It All Together
To build genuine trust in the workplace, focus on practicing and behaving with transparency, consistency, and accountability. Those who model these traits create a culture of trust and respect that empowers employees to do their best work.
You're all smart people (you signed up for my newsletter, so you must be), but here are the main points for putting these elements into practice:
Communicate openly and honestly with employees at all levels of the organization. Keep no secrets, tell no lies!
Set clear expectations and follow through on commitments. Even if it's painful, and sometimes it will be. But, if you can't, see point 1.
Treat everyone fairly and equally, regardless of their position or tenure. You don't need to be told this, but I'm telling you anyway.
Own up to mistakes and take action to correct errors. This is key. If people see you making mistakes, owning them and dealing with the consequences, they're more likely to own their own mistakes and fix them (and even ask for help). Making a mistake and getting help to fix it is the sign of a mature workforce.
Provide regular feedback and recognition to help employees improve and grow. See the newsletter on open conversations here: #41 Seven Steps for Open Conversations
By prioritising and practicing transparency, consistency, and accountability, you can help build a workplace culture that fosters trust, collaboration, and success. But, moreover, one that you're keen to work in.
Building trust in the workplace takes time, effort and sometimes a little discomfort and occasionally pain, but it is well worth it. When employees trust their leaders and each other, they are more engaged, more productive, and more likely to stay with the organisation. It also means your days will be happier, less stressful and probably more enjoyable.
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