Episode: 367

Episode Title: The Telltale Sign of Broken Trust

How can you tell if trust has been lessened in your organization? There’s one telltale sign that gives it all away. Find out more, next on The Perna Syndicate.

Ep 367 show:

Hello and welcome to The Perna Syndicate! How much do you trust the people you work with? And, how much do they trust you? 

Whatever side you’re part of—management or the workforce—it’s usually pretty easy to tell if there’s a trust gap between the organization and the people who power it. Dr. Toby Travis says that when trust has been lessened or broken, people tend to isolate themselves and pull back relationally.  

At work, a lack of trust leads people to do the bare minimum. And it can be measured. People who don’t trust their employer or team tend to dedicate far fewer voluntary hours to projects or task completion. They punch in, do their time and then punch out as soon as possible. Research has shown a direct correlation between high levels of trust in leaders and the amount of discretionary time and effort contributed n by stakeholders. 

Dr. Travis says that if the scheduled workday ends at 5 pm and the office becomes a vacant ghost town at 5:05, that’s a telltale sign that trust between management and the workforce has been lessened or even broken.

So look around at your organization—and at yourself. How much dedication is there to the work at hand, above and beyond the scheduled work hours? I always tell young people to show up five minutes early, leave five minutes late, and care while they’re there. Is that a principle you practice? And if not, why not? Where has trust declined on your team—and how can you start rebuilding it? 

Tomorrow, we’re going to start talking about practical strategies to bridge the trust gap within an organization. Thanks for being part of The Perna Syndicate today…we’ll see you back here soon!