Building Trust

Trust is one of the golden threads that helps build a resilient organisation. Trust is a critical component of a secure base and crucial for psychological safety, but it can be complex and fragile.

There are three different kinds of trust:

• Strategic: trust in leaders to make the right decisions, allocate resources effectively, fulfil the organisation’s mission and help the organisation succeed.

• Personal: the trust people have in their own managers, the extent to which they treat practitioners fairly and consider their needs when making decisions.

• Organisational: the trust people have in the organisation itself, e.g. that processes are well designed and consistently and fairly applied

These three types of trust are distinct but linked in important ways: for example, if a manager violates the personal trust of their employees, organisational trust will also be compromised. Trust is particularly important during crises and all three types will help people feel safe, remain mentally healthy and able to support people accessing services effectively. The key foundations of trust are behaviours such as consistency, clear communication, and a willingness to tackle difficult issues. It is also crucial to be aware of the factors that can destabilise trust in an organisation.

Some examples are:

• Inconsistent messages, for example telling people what they want to hear rather than carefully considering priorities and how they should be articulated to practitioners clearly and honestly.

• Inconsistent standards, where some practitioners may get preferential treatment or be allowed to ‘bend the rules’.

• Misplaced benevolence, where incompetence or inappropriate behaviour is tolerated or even overlooked entirely.

• False feedback, where not being honest about some practitioners’ shortcomings will devalue praise given to others for genuinely good performance.

• Failure to trust others, characterised by a reluctance to delegate and help others develop professionally.

• The elephant in the room, where ignoring difficult situations creates assumptions that something is being concealed and, in turn, fuels rumours and gossip.

Rebuilding damaged trust can be a long and arduous process but the following actions can be useful:

• Identify what happened, what occurred and whose trust was violated.

• Assess the damage, ensuring that you adapt your response to the needs of different groups within the organisation affected by the breach of trust.

• Own up quickly, by letting people know that you are aware of the situation and committed to taking remedial action. Make a firm commitment to act within a particular timeframe and provide regular updates on progress.

• Identify the remedial actions required, define what repaired trust would look like and focus on the changes needed to organisational systems, people and culture. Then make the changes planned.

See here for more information.

Also see guidance on ensuring a sense of fairness, justice and equity in KFP4 Mission and Vision.