The idea of ‘trust’ is not only a driver of successful intimate relationships, it is also essential between employers and employees.
That is according to a report entitled Trust: the key to building well-being and performance in the workplace – which shows that having a sense of trust in shared office spaces builds engagement, promotes employee wellbeing and increases productivity, as colleagues realise they are working together towards a shared goal.
Written by work/life balance organisation Working Families and leadership and engagement specialist Susanne Jacobs, it outlines a number of measures to foster greater trust among companies and their staff.
For example, businesses need to be smarter than ever about the people they choose to hire, according to the report. Employing talented individuals will help to foster a more sincere feeling of trust, as well as promote greater staff retention.
And according to Ms Jacobs, companies have to make sure they have an integrated approach included in their staff wellbeing programme that specifically addresses the issue of trust among employees and staff.
To do this, firms should take into account what the report calls the “eight intrinsic drivers of trust” – a step by step system to promote confidence and faith.
For example, employees should be actively made to feel like they “belong and connect”. This means fostering an environment where they are clearly part of a team, as well as the wider organisation.
On top of this, employees should be “given a voice and recognition” so they feel comfortable to speak out and as if their opinion is credible enough to influence major company decisions.
Sarah Jackson, chief executive of Working Families, said: “It is clear that the external contributing factors of flexible working and work life integration are linked strongly to ‘choice and autonomy’, which is a key driver of workplace trust.”
And if employers focus on building this flexible culture of trust, the report believes they will in turn reap the rewards of employee wellbeing and sustainable high performance.
