How to Increase Trust
Why is culture so difficult to change?
Why are so many employees disengaged?
What should a leader do when she arrives at a company that is struggling?
The founding director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies recently wrote a book, Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High-Performance Companies to answer these and other questions. Paul J. Zak, PhD, is also a professor at Claremont Graduate University. He recently answered some of my questions about his extensive research into trust. His book is fascinating and contributes to the body of work on trust and organizational culture.
Survey of 200,000 employees: 71% of companies have mediocre to poor cultures.
Spot the Signs of a Low-Trust Culture
In one part of the book, you tell a story of walking into an office full of cobwebs, old furniture, and a struggling culture. What are some of the signs of a low-trust culture?
Distrust drains employees’ energy, so people move slow, think slow, and lack a passion for their jobs. Organizations with low trust also have lower profits, so offices often look out-of-date, even while new employees show up as turnover tends to be high. We have also shown that people take more sick days when they work at low-trust companies, so one sees empty desks. All these factors are signs of a low-trust syndrome and a downward cycle of productivity, innovation, and profits.
“High-trust companies invest in employee health and productivity.” –Paul J. Zak
Why Healthy Cultures are Based on Trust
Why is a healthy culture based on trust so vitally important to its success?
Companies are, first and foremost, people. As social creatures, we naturally form teams to accomplish goals together. Extensive research shows that teams are more effective when they have a clear objective and when team members are trustworthy. Trust reduces the frictions that can arise in teams so getting things done takes less effort and as a result more and better work is done. By measuring brain activity while people work, we’ve shown that people are more relaxed when they trust their colleagues. They innovate more and shed the stress from work faster than those in low-trust companies. Creating a culture of trust provides powerful leverage on performance because it harnesses what our brains are designed to do: cooperate with others in teams. And the neuroscience I’ve done shows how to create a culture of trust in a system so it has the maximum effect on brain and behavior.
Workers in high trust organizations are paid an average of $6,450 more.
I love the biological explanation of the Golden Rule. Explain the connection between oxytocin and trust.
