We have known all along that to get any semblance of a culture going within an organization, the first and foremost requirement is to create a Culture of Trust. Nothing more can provide a base as strong as trust for any company culture to grow and prosper. Why? Because apart from the thousands of researches which have demonstrated this, human nature is it’s biggest supporter. People tend to put forward their best, deliver beyond their capabilities and remain self-driven if they are operating in a culture where they can be themselves, be vulnerable, ask for help… all without gear of judgement and retribution.
As easy as it may sound, creating a trust culture is not an easy task as it requires a significant shift of mindset that, unfortunately, most organizations and leaders operate with… a mindset of doubt, mistrust and suspicion. Having said that, trust is definitely a two-way street and employees need to ensure that they do their part to maintain it but undoubtedly, the first step to demonstrate and live it has to be taken by the organization.
The current environment of work driven by COVID-19 is bringing to life and actualising concepts of work from home, flexi-hours, online collaboration … which, let’s face it, were textual concepts rather than a way of life. The big question now is: Will organizations be able to trust that their people will work from home and deliver objectives as passionately as they would when working in an office environment? Will organizations believe that their People use their time efficiently and effectively without the fear of the traditional time-in, time-out machines? The answer to these lies in how effectively the organization can build a culture of trust and drive desirable behaviours amongst their people. Building trust is perhaps the single most critical aspect right now as it gets created based on continuous on-going actions rather than words, demonstrated behaviours rather than value statement – all driven in an environment of transparency by the leadership top-down.
I had read a long time ago.. “In today’s world companies need to change their way of working not to be successful but to survive!” Perhaps the place to start is to go back to basics and first re-establish a Culture of Trust?
