Every organization is composed of a diverse group of people trying to accomplish a shared goal. Ideally, you want a mixture of people with different skill sets so you can have the most qualified people in the appropriate roles. There are functional positions that can naturally be at odds with each other. For example a salesperson will want to do anything possible to get the sale, while the financial person is making sure that the company is meeting its profit goals. These roles don’t have to be at odds with each other. They can be partners, working hand in hand to accomplish the same goals for the company.

It all starts with respect for each other’s roles, and trust that everyone is working together to achieve a target goal. The salesperson would not want to be working in the function of a financial role. A true salesperson would feel like a caged animal dying to get out there and hunt for food. Conversely the financial person would not want to be in the role of the salesperson, trying to convince a customer who has many choices in a buying decision, to choose what they are selling. When these different functions respect the role that each plays in the organization, and trust each other to support their efforts with information and guidance on decision making, then they can truly work together as a great team.

This flows throughout the organization but it starts at the very top with the CEO and/or president, as well as the leadership team. Communication has to be consistent, it has to be factual, and management needs to follow through on their word. If conditions change and they need to make a change in direction, they need to be up front and transparent about it. They have to model the behavior of trust. Just like children will look to their parents to emulate the behavior that they are modeling for them, so will employees look to management to display an environment of trust. If employees see trust modeled in the management team, then they will feel comfortable showing trust to their co-workers.  Follow-through reaffirms trust. Lack of follow-through diminishes and ultimately destroys trust.

Management is not always on the same side. It’s very natural for there to be disagreements and discourse resulting from those disagreements. To prevent those from turning into perceived lack of trust issues with employees, management needs to contain their debate to closed sessions. Eventually a decision will be made and then management will need to present a unified front to the company, while at the same time supporting each other and not undercutting each other in front of other employees.

Forbes reports that this is critical behavior with the customer as well. They report that ”…one of the most important aspects of customer experience is trust. Customers simply don’t want to do business with a company they can’t trust.” They go on to say that “Without trust we don’t have a relationship with customers at all. When customers feel he/she is treated like a number by a company rather than a person, it damages the customer experience (relationship).”

Management guru Patrick Lencioni states that “an absence of trust is the greatest dysfunction a team can suffer from” in his book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. His model starts with inattention to results, leading to avoidance of accountability, lack of commitment, fear of conflict, and finally absence of trust.

Entrepreneur magazine discusses “7 Trust Building Tips for your Organization,” which include:

1. Demonstrate that you trust others—be generous and forgiving.
2. Create relationships that are mutually beneficial—show people that you care.
3. Directly address issues—deliver on promises so you will be trusted.
4. Tell the truth—and don’t commit to a promise you can’t deliver.
5. Be flexible and patient—make exceptions when common sense dictates.
6. Respect their time—other people’s time is valuable, too.
7. Deliver the unexpected—surprise and delight employees, customers and clients.

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” – Warren Buffett