This week I’ve been thinking about trust; the influence it has on relationships, the impact it has on our work, and the process that creates it.  I have seen evidence in many organizational cultures that trust can easily erode during challenging or changing times.

As I reflect back on the employee groups that we have worked with to build a respectful workplace, the common experience I’ve had with all groups is that everyone recognizes the power of trust and wants to build trusting relationships with more people at work.

Our experience with employees is that it’s pretty easy to identify what a trusting relationship looks like.  All we have to do is think about one that we have in our lives.  The characteristics that are identified are always the same.

• You feel you can depend on them no matter what the situation – they “have your back”
• You can talk about anything and information flows freely – even constructive feedback because you believe they care and have the best intentions
• Listening to each other is a common practice
• Confidentiality is honored
• You are able to work out disagreements – these relationships endure conflict and differences are honored
• Trust gets built over time. It’s a process.

The real challenge for most of us is how to regain trust that has been lost or diminished and act on it.

Here is some great advice that one employee group offered as they worked to answer the question: What can I do to help regain or rebuild trust in a relationship where it’s been lost or diminished?

• Approach the other person and request a time to talk
• State your intentions – i.e. you want a stronger, healthier relationship
• Stay mindful of your own behavior and manage your emotions, staying true to your intent
• Be honest, share your perceptions (using “I” statements) and request what you want/need
• Ask the other person for their perspective and what they would request
• Restate what you heard and commit to what you can and will do to build a more trusting relationship
• Forgive the past, start fresh in the present and create a better future relationship
• Persevere – trust is a process that develops over time

Best wishes,

Georgine

I was working with a group of managers and employees in a client organization the other day and the focus of our discussion was sharing the “highlights” of the week. Each participant took their turn and shared the observations, experiences and accomplishments in their week that were “good”.

The time that we spent in review and recognizing the positive outcomes produced a lot of gratitude and appreciation for each other and what was created together.

Along with the appreciation came energy and motivation to keep going in their improvement efforts.

In our work at Madd-Steiny with organizational culture development we have seen the significant impact of celebrating positive outcomes to increase employee engagement and motivation for continuous improvement.

Here is a tool that you can use with your team to recognize and celebrate positive outcomes. It’s called the After Action Review and involves discussion around three questions.

1. What have we accomplished over the last 6 months?
2. Why do you think we were able to accomplish these things?
3. What can we learn from our review to take forward into the next 6 months?

Respectfully yours,
Georgine

Recently, I spoke with one of our clients, Cynthia Davies from the Minneapolis Clinic of Neurology.  She’s not only the Director of Human Resources there, she’s also a valued Madd-Steiny partner.  Cindy and her team are in the middle of implementing our respectfull teams program across the organization.  I asked Cindy why she chose this program, given that she had lots of choices in the marketplace.  Here’s what she had to say:

“This program is in line with our core values in 2004, which includes ‘building a respectful work environment’.  Since we rolled out the core values, we have always strived to link them to programs, training and decisions we make in the organization.  To me, it seemed logical that this was a program we could use to emphasize our core values and build upon our strengths.”

Since they introduced the program in late 2009, Cindy has seen lots of discussion around the concepts of respect.  “I have noticed people talking about respect much more.  People are asking themselves: What can I do to achieve the results I want?’ and What can I do to change the course of things?”

Finally, I asked Cindy about her hopes for the organization after the program is presented to everyone in the organization.  Cindy said:  “My hope is that everyone will see that it’s all about how we treat people.  If we do a good job behind the scenes, it will filter out to the patients.  You can’t help it!  You feel it as a patient and a customer when there is a respectful culture.”

Madd-Steiny clients like Cindy at the Minneapolis Clinic of Neurology are discovering the power of respect.  Are you ready to build a respectful culture?  Visit our website to see how Madd-Steiny can help.

Respectfully,

Lynae