27 Apr 2009 in Corporate Culture
The unwillingness of employees to report misconduct or volunteer their good ideas for helping their companies to improve products and services lies in their lack of trust that good will come from speaking up. Their mistrust, as Detert and Edmonson found, may be a result of their own personal experience, their knowledge of the negative consequences suffered by others who spoke up, or a culture of collective myths, which may be rooted in fact or only in their fears.
Whether employees lack of trust is grounded in their own experience, that of other employees or the persistent, unverifiable stories that populate the workplace, the costs of such mistrust are real and substantial. Trust is an intangible asset, but its loss has a tangible impact on business. Consider its affect on another intangible, brand. In the words of Barrington Hill, then an executive with American Express in Europe, “The value of our physical assets is but a fraction of our market capitalization. The difference between the two is brand-equity. Protecting the brand is a major responsibility of management.”
Trust is a major issue for U.S. companies today. It affects not only corporate brands, but also transaction costs, employee retention and productivity, their commitment to quality of products and services, and their willingness to speak up with their good ideas and their knowledge of problems in the workplace.
Next, we will look at some of the causes of the decline of trust in the workplace, and what some companies are doing about building trust.
GE
