Barbara Ashton
Dr. Love (aka Dr. Paul Zak) is a neuro-economist at Claremont Graduate University. He’s also a self-professed nerd who loves to be in his lab ‘avoiding humans’. Yet he’s also one of the world’s foremost experts on the love molecule, oxytocin.
Oxytocin is also commonly called the trust molecule. When people feel they are being trusted, their brains respond by producing oxytocin.
And according to Jan Hills of Head, Heart + Brain in her article …”when participants felt they were trusted, their brains responded by producing oxytocin, and when participants were shown increased levels of trust their brain produced even more oxytocin.”
All of this bodes well for the economics of a healthy workplace.
"The typical workplace is at risk of becoming dysfunctionally connected, people crave a deeper human connection at work. They need to feel a more personal and authentic connection with their managers and their peers that goes beyond what technology can provide."
- Ken Blanchard
Emotions Drive Engagement
Nothing meaningful happens in the workplace until people are engaged emotionally, which comes from trust. And trust is of course a product of great leadership.
- Companies with higher employee engagement see the biggest financial gains in their sales growth and shareholder return respectively at +4%, compared to an average company.
- Companies with lower employee engagement see the biggest financial loss in their shareholders return at -8%, compared to an average company.
Employee motivation guru Susanne Jacobs ties the development of trust in the workplace to these eight intrinsic drivers:
- Belong and connect
- Voice and recognition
- Significance and position
- Fairness
- Learn and challenge
- Choice and autonomy
- Security and certainty
- Purpose
On Building Trust From the Get-go
Trust is the single most important foundational value sought in high performance employees.
Regurgitating a gobbledy-gook mishmash of someone else’s corporate culture or mission statement will get you about as far as your next mediocre hire. So heed this warning well: do not pretend to be someone you’re not when trying to woo a star candidate.
You may not have an exact, crystal clear vision of what your organization will look like in the future, but you need to be very concise about the values you are in search of when hiring top talent.
YOU MUST HAVE CONVICTION IN YOUR WORK AND BE ABLE TO SUCCINCTLY COMMUNICATE THE FOUNDATION OF YOUR COMPANY'S CULTURE (YOUR WHY).
YOUR ABILITY TO DO THIS IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN HIRING AND ENGAGING THE RIGHT PEOPLE, HENCE THE SUCCESS OF YOUR COMPANY.
Clarity and conviction around your values and culture conveys authenticity which is essential to building a trusting relationship with that star candidate in front of you, regardless of whether or not they come to work for you.
Leadership is about giving first, reaping the rewards later.
I was pleasantly reminded of this reading Dr. Leo Buscaglia’s book, LOVE:
What love we've given we will have forever. What love we fail to give is lost for all eternity.
Giving, paying it forward, treating others as you would have them treat you ... it’s always about putting one’s trust forward, which brings to mind two other essentials in our workplace: authenticity and transparency, powerful precursors to building a trusting workplace.
We trust people because they showed up when it wasn’t convenient, because they told the truth when it was easier to lie and because they kept a promise when they could have gotten away with breaking it. - Seth Godin
What’s your leadership philosophy on building a trusting workplace?
Barbara Ashton is CEO and Executive Search Consultant with Ashton & Associates. Offices located in Kamloops and Kelowna serving industry leaders throughout BC’s Okanagan Interior.
800-432-6893