“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” – Ernest Hemingway
At all Green Valley Hospitality Restaurants we work to build Trust. Whole books have been written about Trust. It is an area that you can explore in many ways with many people.
Trust is not always what we think it is. For example, if there is someone whom you do not Trust because they are always giving away secrets, then they are someone you can Trust to do exactly that. There may be a time and a situation that calls for you to Trust that person to do what they always do. It may be the fastest way to spread the information you wish to spread.
Great Leaders Create Trust
A leader’s job is to create Trust and to create a place where Trust is a shared experience. If an employer does not Trust their staff, then the staff usually does not Trust the employer. I find that the opposite is also true, and this truth creates a more hospitable work environment.
A leader creates Trust by being trustworthy themselves and then extending Trust to others. By embodying and extending Trust, a leader automatically creates a trustful environment. A leader also creates Trust by making and keeping promises, just like we ask the employees to do.
According to Paul J. Zak, the founding director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies and the author of Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High-Performance Companies, when you compare people at low-trust companies to people at high-trust companies, the high-trust employees experience 74% less stress, 106% more energy at work, 50% higher productivity, 13% fewer sick days, 76% more engagement, 29% more satisfaction with their lives, 40% less burnout. They felt a greater sense of accomplishment, as well—41% more. It appears obvious that building and creating trust is vital for any business.
Make and Keep Promises
At our restaurants, we specify what our promises are allowing the employees to ‘see’ that we are making and fulfilling promises recurrently. They will be able to make the assessment that we, as employers, are trustworthy. We make these promises in the Employee Handbook as well as at company meetings and in one-on-one meetings. A few of the basic promises we make are listed below:
- Payday is Wednesday by 2:00 pm.
- The paycheck will not bounce.
- A fair wage will be paid.
- The work schedule for the following week is posted by 5:00 pm on Thursday.
- The schedule will be fair and balanced.
- We will fix any broken equipment.
- We will hire effective people.
- We will get rid of ineffective people.
- We will create a safe and fun work environment.
- The business finances and metrics are available to all who want to see them.
By making and keeping the above promises, we create an environment of Trust. By extending Trust to employees and following up with them in those trusted positions, we are creating an environment of Trust.
Other ways of building Trust include recognizing excellence, communicating clear and attainable goals, allowing people leeway in how they work (by not micromanaging), continually educating and training employees, encouraging upward growth, showing concern for the whole employee (not just the work employee), and allowing them space to do their jobs. As Paul J. Zack goes on to say: “Ultimately, you cultivate trust by setting a clear direction, giving people what they need to see it through, and getting out of their way.”
Just like the Hemingway quotation says above, the best way to find out if you can Trust someone is to put them in a position of Trust. If the right environment has been created, you will find that most people are trustworthy.