Trust in the Workplace: The Key to Business Success

“In God we trust, all others pay cash.”

No doubt you have heard this phrase before.  I certainly have seen it in advertising, in retail shops; well, really all over during my lifetime. Apparently, its origination is unknown, but it was a common phrase bandied about in the last century and its use brought it to nearly the status of a proverbial pronouncement. I say nearly proverbial because try as I might I cannot find it in Proverbs, a place where it might fit in just fine.

It is even the title of a book by the author Jean Sheppard. You may remember Jean Sheppard as the creator of “A Christmas Story” the perennial holiday movie featuring Ralphie, his little brother Randy, his quirky family and friends, and multiple warnings to Ralphie not to put out his eye with the infamous Red Rider BB gun.

Sheppard’s story is very funny (at least to me and my family), and certainly casts this era through a big round lens, in the shade of rose, through which Ralphie sees his innocent world.  Trust is certainly a theme of the movie, trust placed and trust misplaced.   Lack of trust in the advice of his parents and teachers almost costs Ralphie his eye as it turns out. But then again in a figurative way does lack of trust not cost us all?

But I digress.

Trust is a central issue of our world today though, isn’t it?  Whether government, religion, the press, business, and even in personal relationships, it is increasingly hard to know who we can trust.  Fake news?  Shaping the narrative?  It does seem that while we are witness to, and participants in, the battles to win trust, every day that goes by seems to undermine many of our hard-held beliefs.

And yet I find myself trusting those closest to me, and I believe that they trust me.  When there is a trustworthy relationship in place, doesn’t that feel just great?  When it is shattered, does that also, conversely, feel proportionality just as bad?

So, what does trust have to do with business success? Well, just pick up the business news every day and it seems the ‘do whatever it takes and clean up the mess later’ finds another victim.  Would it not be best just to do things right in the first place and have customers and employees trust in what the business is up to?

I know, rose colored glasses again, but there appears to be significant evidence that there is a huge benefit to companies considered to be trustworthy by their customers and employees.

Recently I came upon an article in the Harvard Business Review titled “The Neuroscience of Trust” by Paul Zak, (Harvard Business Review January–February 2017; read it here).  Zak is “is the founding director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies and a professor of economics, psychology, and management at Claremont Graduate University.” So, he knows from which he speaks.

Zak, in his research, set out to find what was the key factor in driving workplace engagement.  Was it perks (as he says like “karaoke Fridays”)?  Other so called “golden handcuffs” that lock employees into long term commitment to an enterprise?

Surprisingly he found (my emphasis added): “…that building a culture of trust is what makes a meaningful difference. Employees in high-trust organizations are more productive, have more energy at work, collaborate better with their colleagues, and stay with their employers longer than people working at low-trust companies. They also suffer less chronic stress and are happier with their lives, and these factors fuel stronger performance.”

So how did he determine this?  As the title of the article suggests, he actually engaged in a neurological study to see the effects trust has on us.  I won’t go into detail on his methodology here (the article is definitely worth the read), but he focused on the chemical in our make ups called oxytocin.  Apparently, research using animals had identified that this chemical was responsible for making animals more approachable, and his question became did it do the same in humans?  Taking it a bit further, is there a relationship between our own oxytocin levels and how it actually can cause us to trust?

His research showed that there in fact is a relationship there.  As he writes: “Oxytocin appeared to do just one thing—reduce the fear of trusting a stranger.”

Is this an endorsement to shoot everyone up with oxytocin so we trust more?  Of course not, but it did lead him to several conclusions about what things inhibit trust and what things encourage it.  For example, he notes that high stress inhibits oxytocin.  He went on to develop a framework of management behaviors that encourage oxytocin production, are measurable, and can be managed to improve performance.  They include the following:

  • Recognize excellence.
  • Induce “challenge stress.”
  • Give people discretion in how they do their work.
  • Enable job crafting.
  • Share information broadly.
  • Intentionally build relationships.
  • Facilitate whole-person growth.
  • Show vulnerability.

Does developing trust really work?

Zak writes: “Compared with people at low-trust companies, people at high-trust companies report: 74% less stress, 106% more energy at work, 50% higher productivity, 13% fewer sick days, 76% more engagement, 29% more satisfaction with their lives, 40% less burnout.”

Further: “The effect of trust on self-reported work performance was powerful. Respondents whose companies were in the top quartile indicated they had 106% more energy and were 76% more engaged at work than respondents whose firms were in the bottom quartile. They also reported being 50% more productive—which is consistent with our objective measures of productivity from studies we have done with employees at work. Trust had a major impact on employee loyalty as well: Compared with employees at low-trust companies, 50% more of those working at high-trust organizations planned to stay with their employer over the next year, and 88% more said they would recommend their company to family and friends as a place to work.”

That is pretty powerful stuff.

In summary, Zak says “Ultimately, you cultivate trust by setting a clear direction, giving people what they need to see it through, and getting out of their way.  It’s not about being easy on your employees or expecting less from them. High-trust companies hold people accountable but without micromanaging them. They treat people like responsible adults.”

At A. Alliance  trust between our leadership, our customers (clients and consumers alike) and employees is critical.  We do not take it lightly, and we structure our business to solidify and earn that trust every day.

A. Alliance Collection Agency, Inc. is a full service, licensed accounts receivable management and debt collection agency providing highly effective, customized one on one management and recovery solutions for our business partners.  Founded in northern Illinois in 2005, we have been proudly improving the bottom-line on behalf of our business partners in and around Chicagoland for over 14 years

Image provided by:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/lynellshooks

 

Can You Hear Me Now? Reaching Problem Listeners

Our school district just finished up its fall parent conferences.  Since our oldest graduated from high school last year, however, I no longer pay as much attention.  I admit that I don’t particularly miss conferences, although they were usually upbeat and positive.  We made it a point to bring our kids along and I think that made a big difference:  increased confidence when things were good, and direct feedback from the teacher to the student when a mid-course correction was necessary. 

I think that last point was particularly important in terms of ensuring that a teacher’s message was heard and understood loud and clear.  Nothing like eliminating the middleman (in this case a parent) to effectively drive home a point.

When I stumbled on the subject for this blog, however, I recalled one particular conference which involved listening. 

Our kids, you see, are generally quiet.  In just about every conference I could count on the teachers saying: “Your grades are fine. But you are so quiet!”  That was usually the one and only comment that was consistent throughout the years.  I recall one conference, however, where the teacher probed a bit.  “Why are you so quiet? Is there something wrong?”

“No, nothing is wrong,” said our daughter.  “I am just listening.”

There was an awkward moment of silence and then the teacher basically said “Well, then, keep up the good work.” 

Asking about it later I was told that it was very hard to listen in the classroom because of all the interruptions and, frankly, many of the other students were just not good listeners.  Not surprising, this makes learning that much harder, and in the adult world work more challenging, especially if the person you are trying to work with is not a good listener.

One thing I have found over the years is that trying to change a person and make them a better listener is not easy.  Yet, are there some things that we can do to help improve the process?

I came on a great article in the Harvard Business Review by Rebecca Knight titled “How to Work with a Bad Listener.”  In it she offers tips on some things we can do to help get our messages through to problem listeners.  In addition to her own insights she interviewed Sabina Nawaz, (a global CEO and executive coach) and Christine Riordan, (president of Adelphi University and a leadership coach).  Here are some suggestions they offered to improve the process:

  • Consider work styles:  Is your colleague visual or verbal?  Adapt to their preferred style of communication to be more effective.
  • Reflect on your own behavior:  Is there something in your own style that detracts from the message? Too rambling?  Too detailed? Should you use stories to illustrate your point?  Look in the mirror!
  • Demonstrate empathetic listening:  Turn the tables and try to understand your co-worker’s point of view.  Understand your audience and “what’s in it for them.”
  • Highlight the magnitude of your message:  Right up front emphasize how important the information you want to convey is to the listener. 
  • Create accountability:  Make sure the message is received by creating and documenting how the listener is accountable for an action or outcome of the conversation.  This can be particularly helpful for those who tend to ‘forget’ easily.
  • Show concern:  If your colleague is overly busy and distracted, politely suggest they deal with the distractions or conflicts and arrange a better time to talk when you can have their full attention.
  • Address the problem directly: Don’t beat around the bush. Get to the point, be direct and organized. If the listening problem is acute, seek another, more formal, solution.
  • Propose a ‘social contract’: If the problem is a real road block, work to agree on a ‘social contract’ to create more formal expectations on how you will interact.  I have worked with social contracts before, and while often difficult to negotiate and implement, can pay dividends in creating a framework for behavior that everyone can live by.

Her article also included additional case studies on how to put these principles to work. You can find the full article here.

A. Alliance Collection Agency, Inc. is a full service, licensed accounts receivable management and debt collection agency providing highly effective, customized one on one management and recovery solutions for our business partners. Founded in northern Illinois in 2005, we have been proudly improving the bottom-line on behalf of our business partners in and around Chicagoland for over 14 years.

image provided by: pixabay.com

Password Incorrect: Wait…What Just Happened Here?

I received that message again just the other day: Password Incorrect. 

I don’t know about you, but for a moment that message kind of locks me up.  Some passwords are easy to remember as I use them frequently.  Others, not so much.  Sometimes my mind is on auto-pilot and I mistakenly enter another password I frequently use and it does not work.  When that happens, and I cannot recall the right one (brain lock?), I usually fumble around a bit before I find the right one.

Remembering passwords has become even harder in the past few years as companies have implemented even more complex strategies to create ‘hack-proof’ security for customer accounts.  The use of special characters, numbers, upper case, lower case, no use of any prime number (kidding on this last one), and so on, make remembering them all virtually impossible. 

Experts caution us about how we save passwords. Yet, we are urged to change them frequently.  Well, those of you blessed with a much better memory than mine are probably doing just fine. However, in my case, I find myself concerned about saving the password in a bad place and then just waiting for that supreme hack that will rob us of all we own, our children and grandchildren, and our emotional security for generations to come.  Not a pretty picture.

That said, I came upon an article in CNET the other day that essentially tells us that the methodology we have been encouraged to use to create our passwords for maximum security are now basically, well, ineffective. 

Say that again?

Apparently setting up complex passwords comprised of random characters and symbols is not as effective as, say, setting up a password you make up with identifiable and simple characters.

Mind you, I am not talking about using ‘12345’ or ‘password,’ but much less complex and cumbersome than those we are challenged to create today.

Where did this opinion come from?  No less an authority than the so called “father of the modern password,” Bill Burr.

In an article titled “Father of passwords regrets the advice he gave,” CNET writer Chris Matyszczyk writes that Mr. Burr recently has had a change of heart as to what comprises an effective password.

In 2003 Burr recommended that passwords should be made up of an entirely random string of letters and symbols.  This was the best way known then to minimize the chance of a hacker guessing a password.

He has changed his opinion, however, and “It turned out that these are easier for hackers to crack than, say, weird words that you can actually remember. Like ‘gobbledegook.’ Or ‘nincompoop.’”  Please don’t use these, though, as they are only examples from Mr. Matyszczyk.

Why the change of heart?  According to Matyszczyk “Over the years, people seem to have used similar techniques to create their ‘random’ combinations, which made them actually less random.”

Well, then.

Matyszczyk says that we should not be too hard on Mr. Burr.  I agree.  When he wrote that opinion who would have guessed the level of constant hacking that goes on every day, and how successful so much of it is? Random strings of letters and numbers certainly seemed logical and safe.

What to do?

Certainly, do not use simple and easy to guess passwords.  Most sites and apps still require password content to conform to their standards.  We don’t have much choice if the password is required to be complex and as random as possible.

At A. Alliance we pride ourselves on the security of our systems and the protocols we use to protect our client’s data and secure access to our systems. We utilize multiple layers of security to ensure data integrity and do encourage our clients to change their passwords with some regularity and of course advise us when users change and new access credentials need to be created.  However, it is good to know that we can potentially create easier to remember personal passwords that are more secure than originally thought.  Password security, it would seem, does not always go hand in hand with complexity and inconvenience.

A. Alliance Collection Agency, Inc. is a full service, licensed accounts receivable management and debt collection agency providing highly effective, customized one on one management and recovery solutions for our business partners.  Founded innorthern Illinois in 2005, we have been proudly improving the bottom-line on behalf of our business partners in and around Chicagoland for over 14 years.