Four Steps to Regain Employees’ Trust

<p>Finally, it&rsquo;s time for executives to invest in the business again. Finally, it&rsquo;s time to rebuild. Unfortunately, it&rsquo;s also the time that talent is heading for the exits. <br /><br />According to a recent Corporate Executive Board study, 25 percent of high-potential employees plan to leave their current companies within the year, compared with 10 percent in 2006. Further, 21 percent of those surveyed identified themselves as &ldquo;highly disengaged&rdquo; &mdash; up threefold since 2007.<br /><br />Employees hang tight when times are tough, hunkering down in survival mode. Now that the job market is picking up, they will be packing up &mdash; and you can&rsquo;t rebuild if employees are looking for a fresh start. However, CLOs can provide a fresh start now with a vigorous trust-building campaign that focuses on the future while acknowledging the pain of the past.<br /><br /><strong>1. Restate the vision. </strong>Give people something to hope for. Describe how the lessons of the past will make the future brighter. Employees want to see that their leaders have a sensible plan and view of the horizon. A 2010 Edelman survey shows people need to hear consistent messaging three to five times to believe it&rsquo;s true. Articulate the mission in all of your communications. <br /><br />One of the best ways to build trust is to make yourself vulnerable. Encourage people to challenge the strategy. Appreciate their skepticism, and get it on the table. Get people talking, thinking and buzzing again. The mission should be familiar: It&rsquo;s your purpose. Whatever tactical twists and turns leaders make, the core mission does not change. Executives who indulge in visionary &ldquo;flavors of the month&rdquo; invite distrust.<br /><br /><strong>2. Make sure employees understand their role.</strong> After the leadership team gets on board with the rejuvenated strategy, cascade it throughout the organization. Mid-management is often a bottleneck, meaning employees on the front lines remain disillusioned. Require managers to meet not only with their teams, but also with each employee to convey optimism and make it clear where they fit.<br /><br />Further, don&rsquo;t rely on technology to align employees. Performance management systems are not a silver bullet. In fact, in many ways, these systems make it easier to do bad reviews faster. Ask your managers to have ongoing personal conversations with employees to tie their individual roles to the mission.<br /><br /><strong>3. Re-examine your rewards systems.</strong> Are they fair? When there&rsquo;s a high-profile promotion or an award, do employees understand and respect the efforts that led to the recognition? Is your organization a meritocracy &mdash; are rewards based on objective criteria tied to your strategy? Or do people shake their heads in disbelief at the latest popularity contest? Ask around. Conduct a survey. If tenure and connections are the keys to advancement, you&rsquo;re breeding distrust. Make sure performance standards are clear, objective and enforced. Send the right message by honoring and rewarding what&rsquo;s important.<br /><br /><strong>4. Give your leaders a dose of reality. </strong>Most leadership training is not engaging because it centers on hypothetical case studies. The training isn&rsquo;t pertinent because it&rsquo;s focused on creating an expert manager who deduces the right answers, learns the competencies and exhibits the right actions. Instead, today&rsquo;s leaders must be dynamic facilitators, gathering insights and building coalitions from a broad range of stakeholders. <br /><br />How about trusting your next leadership development cohort with a real dilemma &mdash; a thorny decision that requires more virtue and judgment than certitude? Give them an assignment that requires them to practice facilitative leadership. They&rsquo;ll have real skin in the game because they&rsquo;re choosing a path with real consequences. In some military training, soldiers use live ammunition to quickly develop rapport and learn to trust. The same rapid learning can happen among your leaders. <br /><br />Trust has taken on greater importance. Employees and consumers alike want leaders to prove their trustworthiness. The Edelman survey found that the way a company treats its employees ranked as one of the top five influences on a consumer&rsquo;s decision to trust that company. The companies on Forbes&rsquo; list of the Most Admired Companies already get it. While trust requires risk and vulnerability, strategic discipline and objective standards, it pays enormous dividends in both the workplace and the marketplace. </p>