TRUST IS NOT A NEW buzzword or concept in business. Its presence has always been necessary for business transactions and is an unspoken component in both formal and informal contracts. Trust is the silent ingredient in employee-employer relationships, as well as the vital relationship a business has with investors, shareholders, vendors, and suppliers. Unfortunately, however, most people don’t realize how critical trust actually is, until it is gone.
We live in an era where a lack of trust is evident every day. Investors don’t trust Wall Street, and there is no lack of outcry about the public’s lack of trust in corporations. This is the direct result of a lack or absence of transparency, especially in a time when people demand to be in the know … and if information is not fully disclosed, it raises red flags—what don’t we know and why?
That mindset can be the death sentence of public approval, which I can tell you from experience will result in reduced sales and, therefore, profits, as well as a plethora of other negative effects. Information and details can no longer be swept under the rug, hidden from public scrutiny, for doubt has the potential to uncover what inquiring minds want to know, and technology is the tool that sweeps information into the open, where it can and will affect a company’s bottom line.
Like I mentioned, though, neither trust nor transparency are new. To some degree, they’ve been practiced for centuries. What is new, though, is the concept of trust transparency in a corporate environment, which once prided itself on being closed and in control of the perception they purposely create with their shareholders and the public. As the CEO and founder of Trust Transparency Consulting, I’ve worked with many companies in as many different industries and have experienced the benefits of trust transparency, as well as the sometimes irreversible damage resulting from a lack of the same. Like you, I’ve watched the demise of companies that suffered when unfavorable information was unexpectedly exposed. I’ve also witnessed the dramatic effects on a business when trust transparency is the foundation of their success.
Google took the corporate world by storm when it lifted restrictions on its employees, letting them spend 20 percent of their time on whatever they wanted to do. Not only does its employees get the usual benefits, like vacation time and 401ks, but Google gives them much more—information. If it can be shared, information will be shared, and employees are not only able, but welcome, to provide feedback and suggestions about anything and everything. The company’s foundation is built on trust, and transparency is the vehicle that gives the employees voice … and ultimately, value to the company.
Many watched with interest (some with shock) when Google announced its non-traditional approach. Some claimed that it would be a bust—giving employees too much information and reign would never work. Others avidly stood by waiting for the outcome, thinking that such unprecedented policies put Google ahead of its time. Was Google ahead of its time … or was Google’s corporate culture just the beginning of a new corporate mindset? I contend that Google wasn’t ahead of its time, but as many corporations are witnessing today, they were instead just in time.
Policies like Google’s garner our attention because companies have strayed from trust, opting instead for a top-down management style, one where there is a clear and distinct line that distances what can and cannot be disclosed. Employees are assigned specific duties, and their progress is monitored closely. Fear of scrutiny and/or disapproval has created the mindset that information, as well as decisions, are earmarked for a select group only. It’s a corporate mentality that is well-intentioned … but oftentimes misguided.
I’d like to propose that Google and other companies that exemplify a culture of trust and transparency are not new—they are simply reinstating a concept that is as old and proven as mankind. After all, trust transparency has been the foundation upon which every relationship, personal and business, has been built on for centuries. It’s a simpler concept and one that many of us have seen pioneered in our lives.
Excerpted from Scott's book, The ROI of Trust Transparency.
0 comments