The Idea in Brief
Surprisingly, most organizations seem to operate under the assumption that employees can’t be trusted. Why? Though the principles of trust are well established, they fly in the face of a traditional managerial belief: that companies achieve efficiency only by controlling every aspect of employees’ work.
This emphasis on control—and absence of trust—becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: When we don’t trust people to act on anything but their own short-term interests, they sense our mistrust and think, “Why should I bother putting their needs before mine, if they don’t trust me anyway?”
By contrast, trust gives people a sense of belonging. When people feel that they’re active members of their work community—not merely hired help—they become interested in the company’s future and willingly dedicate their time and talent.
In this article, Handy examines trust in the context of virtual organizations. But his ideas are relevant for any organization. We all manage people we can’t see (networks of salespeople, outside vendors, offsite project teams)—so we need to trust them.
How to build organizations based on trust, not control? Start by understanding the cardinal principles of trust.
The Idea in Practice
1. Trust is not blind. It’s hard to trust people whom we don’t know well and haven’t observed in action over time, and who aren’t committed to the same goals as ours. In large organizations that encourage people to move around to gain exposure and experience, people have little time to learn to trust anyone. The antidote? Establish relatively constant, smaller groupings.
2. Trust needs boundaries. Trust means being confident that employees have the ability and commitment to achieve a goal. Create freedom within boundaries by defining the goal—then letting people do their work. Take control afterward, when it’s time to assess results. This principle works best with self-contained teams that can solve their own problems.
3. Trust demands learning. Work groups must be flexible enough to change when times and customers demand it. Their members must continually explore new opportunities and technologies and renew themselves through learning. Don’t leave recruitment and placement of these employees—or their leaders—to your HR department.
4. Trust is tough. Trust doesn’t mean a guarantee of lifetime employment. If trust proves misplaced—because someone isn’t living up to expectations or can’t be relied on—the person must go, for the sake of the whole.
5. Trust needs bonding. As companies grow, self-contained work groups can become organizations within organizations—weakening the connections between their goals and the company’s. Vision and mission statements can help restore these connections—but only if you reinforce them with exhortation and example. Trust isn’t an impersonal commodity, so organizations need personal statements from their leaders.
6. Trust needs touch. Trust builds with personal, face-to-face contact. Use meetings and conferences to help employees get to know you and each other and to reinforce corporate goals and strategies.
7. Trust requires leaders. In trust-based organizations, teams need minimal managing. But they do need leaders for different aspects of the job—whether it’s setting the pace, building the energy, or clarifying a vision of the future.
Not long ago, I found myself in the Laurentian Library, which Michelangelo built in Florence for the Medicis nearly 500 years ago. It is a special place, filled with the scent of learning; a place more restful and more uplifting, in many ways, than the Church of San Lorenzo, in whose cloister it stands. The Laurentian is no longer used as a library, however. It is visited only by tourists, and, as for its contents, they could all be fitted onto one CD-ROM disc.