Trust in Leadership declines

The shaky economic and employment climate in the U.S. continues to make headlines.  In a recent poll of 1,857 U.S.-based employees identified another issue for employers to worry about: a lack of employee trust in management.

Among the findings:

Only 14 percent of respondents said they believe that their company’s leaders are ethical and honest.

Just 12 percent believe their employer genuinely listens to and cares about its employees.

A small 10 percent of employees said they trust management to make the right decision in times of uncertainty.

And just 7 percent said that senior management’s actions are consistent with their words.

Poor communication, lack of perceived caring, inconsistent behavior and perceptions of favoritism were cited by respondents as the largest contributors to their lack of trust in senior leaders.

It seems that a strong indicator of management mistrust is lack of shared values.  If a company truly wants to engage its workforce, drive trust and gain loyalty, it must implement a culture that recognizes individual behaviors that contribute to the company’s values and goals, and sadly, this isn’t common practice. … Only 8 percent of employees say they are frequently recognized for demonstrating behavior consistent with their company’s stated values.  And I hate to add that simple Thank You’s and other types of simple acknowledgement of employee efforts is sorely lacking in todays workforce.  Are we all so busy we forgot the fundamentals?

 

 

Organizational Values

Several days ago I asked some colleagues to share how they have implemented core values  in their organizations .  The answers were pretty much unanimous across the board.  Once values are defined, they should impact every aspect of your organization. You must support and nurture this impact or identifying the values will have been a wasted exercise. People will feel fooled and misled unless they see the impact of the exercise within your organization. If you want the values you identify to have a true impact on your organizational culture, the following must occur.

• People at all levels demonstrate and model their values in action in their personal work behaviors, decision-making, contribution, and interpersonal interaction.
• Organizational values help each person establish priorities in their daily work life.
• Values guide every decision that is made once the organization has cooperatively created the values and the value statements.
• Rewards and recognition within the organization are structured to recognize those people whose work embodies the values the organization embraced.
• Organizational goals are grounded in the identified values. Adoption of the values and the behaviors that result is recognized in regular performance feedback.
• People hire and promote individuals whose outlook and actions are congruent with the values.
• Only the active participation of all members of the organization will ensure a truly organization-wide, value-based, shared culture.

Core Values and Organizational Culture

Values exist in every workplace. Your organization’s culture is partially the outward demonstration of the values currently existing in your workplace. The question you need to ask is whether these existing values are creating the workplace you desire.

Do these values promote a culture of extraordinary customer care by happy, motivated, productive people? If not, you will want to:

• Identify the values that currently exist in your workplace;

• Determine if these are the right values for your workplace; and

• Change the actions and behaviors by which the values are demonstrated, if necessary.

To really make a difference in your organization, you need to do all three. I have had the opportunity to serve organizations that have written core values and those where core values were communicated by actions mostly – in the ways in which business is conducted on a day-to-day basis, and not so much in words directly spoken or written. I am a firm advocate of demonstrated values more than written or spoken – actions speak louder, but I also believe that written values that reinforce and support specific actions, and specific actions that reinforce and support written values, make a powerful combination that far exceeds one or the other by itself. If it is written down and demonstrated in action, we can really hold our feet to the fire when we need to. Effective organizations identify and develop a clear, concise and shared meaning of values/beliefs, priorities, and direction so that everyone understands and can contribute.

I have asked some colleagues to share how they have implemented core values  in their organizations and will share that feedback in a few days.  How does your company demonstrate their core values?  Are they just written words or philosophical pillars upon which your company is built?