Building Trust Is a Process, Not an Activity

(Editor’s Note: Today’s article is brought to
you by  our
friends at Kronos , a leading provider of workforce
management and human capital management cloud solutions. Want to create a more
trusting work environment? Check out Kronos CEO Aron Ain’s book “ Work Inspired:
How to Build an Organization Where Everyone Loves to Work ”.
Enjoy the article!)  

Ropes
courses are outdoor team building activities where
participants are exposed to physical activities as a way to problem-solve (How
am I going to do this?), communicate (I need some help doing this!), and bond
(Thank you for helping me do this.) Many years ago, going to a ropes
teambuilding course was all the rage.

One of the most common activities in a ropes
course was the trust fall. It was when a participant simply fell backward
trusting that their colleagues would catch them. I couldn’t help but laugh when
I saw this Time
Well Spent from our
friends at Kronos. It also reminded me that trust isn’t
created with a single activity, building and maintaining trust is a process
that happens over time.

Trust is tied to the organization’s brand.
Whether it’s the consumer brand or the employment brand, trust is a part of the
brand. People see the brand and say, “I can trust that brand.” Or “I want to
trust that brand.” And they start to engage with it. Then people find out if
what they initially saw is true (or not) and whether they will continue to
engage with the organization.

Every day is about maintaining trust.
I wonder what company cultures would be like if they viewed their goal as being
simply to
build and maintain trust. That doesn’t mean organizations
can’t change things or that they will make everyone deliriously happy. It is
possible to be disappointed or unhappy with something but trust the source. For
example, when a new policy is implemented and while it might not benefit me, I
understand that it will benefit most.

Losing trust doesn’t have to be the end.
Sometimes trust is broken. It happens among individuals as well as with
organizations. Both sides have a decision to make when trust evaporates – will
we work to regain trust or not. In some cases, it might make sense to realize
that the trusting relationship isn’t going to happen. But in many cases, trust
can be repaired. It takes time, honest conversations, and a willingness to
apologize and forgive.

In today’s business world, consumers are
looking to spend their dollars with organizations they trust. Candidates are
looking to work for organizations
they trust. Employees want to work with managers they
can trust. You get the point. Trust isn’t like a trust fall. It’s not a single
activity. Rather it’s a process that takes time to build and even more time to
maintain.

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