winning strategies

Trust can erode in a changing business environment. Work to rebuild it in seven steps.

Bob Jarvis, the CEO of a multinational company, is working late to contemplate his dilemma: how to tell 25 percent of his employees that they are losing their jobs due to market conditions that have impacted the company’s financial performance. “Should I act like nothing is happening and tell them in a few weeks, when we actually need to let people go? Or should I let them know now that change is coming and what the potential impact might be? What is the best way to tell them, and how will everyone take it?”

He also wonders, ”How do I keep those who remain committed to their jobs and to performing for the company? How do I restore their confidence and trust in me?”

Bob Jarvis, like many leaders today, has numerous challenges on his plate. He is struggling, feeling the stress of trying to do the right thing for his organization and employees while also meeting the demands of a flailing economy. These uncertain times speak to the need for trust—and, more than ever, the need for trustworthy leadership and working relationships.

Constant change and ambiguity do more to break trust than to build it, thereby compromising effective working relationships. The world as we knew it no longer exists. People are experiencing and witnessing enormous breaches of trust, such as the abuse of power, massive layoffs and spinning the truth. Trust has also been broken in minor ways, such as failing to deliver as promised, gossiping, backbiting and withholding information. Many workers feel helpless, hopeless and at a loss for how to respond.

When trust erodes, relationships and performance are compromised. But even though distrust causes pain, doubt and confusion, people can rebuild trust and strengthen their working relationships by choosing to work through the following seven steps. This guide will help business leaders by providing a road map for rebuilding trust with their employees.


1. Observe and acknowledge what has happened.

Assess the health of your organization. Notice what people are experiencing and acknowledge it. Pay attention to both the blatant and the subtle behaviors that break and rebuild trust.

What to do: Administer surveys that assess the level of trust between management and employees, as well as the specific behaviors that are contributing to employee dissatisfaction and diminishing performance.


2. Allow feelings to surface.

Give people permission to express their concerns and feelings in constructive ways. During times of change, people often feel anxious and vulnerable, wondering if they have what it takes to be successful in the new environment, questioning themselves and their leaders. When people are in pain, they do not care about the needs of the business until it is clear that the business cares about them.

What to do: Create safe forums, such as focus groups or one-on-one interviews, that allow people to express their fear, vulnerabilities, doubts and needs. The leader’s role is to listen, observe and acknowledge, not to justify or rationalize.


3. Get support.

A common mistake leaders make is failing to seek support for themselves and for their employees during challenging times. They assume that they can manage on their own. Rebuilding trust is hard work that requires support. Something powerful occurs when broken trust is truthfully acknowledged, rather than twisted, justified or defended. People can shift from blaming to understanding; from judgment and criticism to considering extenuating circumstances; from abdication of responsibility to problem solving and taking responsibility; and from loss to possibilities. Leaders and employees need support to fully understand what has occurred, its effects and the actions necessary to move through the healing process.

What to do: Be your employees’ advocate. Represent their interests, defend them from unwarranted criticism and lobby for resources critical to their jobs. Also, engage coaches who are skilled at trust-building and healing for support.


4. Reframe the experience.

Individuals often feel like they’re at the mercy of the forces of change. Help them see the bigger picture and the extenuating circumstances, understand the business reasons for change and explore the opportunities presented by change.

What to do: Help employees realize that they have choices about how they react to their circumstances. Encourage them to see that while they may not have control over what is taking place, they do have control over how they respond. The more aware they become that they can control their actions, the more they will feel in charge of those actions.


5. Take responsibility.

Spinning the truth or covering up mistakes is not helpful. People see right through it, and their trust will be further diminished. Taking responsibility means acknowledging mistakes and oversights. Telling the truth—without rationalization—demonstrates a leader’s trustworthiness and exposes his or her vulnerability. This makes it safe for others to express their own anxiety, seek support and take responsibility for their behavior. Sometimes three simple words, “I am sorry,” go a long way toward rebuilding trust.

What to do: Acknowledge the impact that change has on your employees. Take responsibility for that impact, even though you may not have played any direct role in creating it. This action helps employees hold themselves accountable for what they can do to improve the situation.


6. Forgive yourself and others.

Anger, bitterness and resentment deplete energy and interfere with relationships and performance. They undermine morale, productivity, innovation and engagement, and they diminish trust. Leaders can help cultivate a healing, trustworthy environment where forgiveness takes place. By helping people exercise compassion, leaders can help their employees shift from blaming to problem-solving.

What to do: Help people focus on their individual needs and roles, then on the needs of the business. Ask employees what tools they want to resolve issues, concerns, fear and pain. What conversations need to take place? What needs to be said? What needs to happen for healing to occur? What will make a difference right now? Address any persistent resentment—it is toxic for individuals and for the organization.


7. Let go and move on.

Acceptance means experiencing the reality of what is happening without pointing fingers. People accept their situation when they can separate themselves from the past and invest their emotional energy in creating a different future.

What to do: Listen compassionately, tell the truth, give everyone the benefit of the doubt, seek to understand and practice trust-building behaviors.

The result of these seven steps will be engaged employees who trust their leaders and are committed to their organization. They will be invested in what they do, bring themselves fully to work, take risks, go the extra mile, hold themselves accountable and perform at their full potential.
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DENNIS S. REINA, PhD and MICHELLE L. REINA, PhD are the authors of Trust and Betrayal in the Workplace: Building Effective Relationships in Your Organization (Berrett-Koehler, 2006) and cofounders of the Reina Trust Building Institute in Stowe, Vt.