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James Brockett

James Brockett

10 Nov 2011 | 15:24

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One of the themes of this year’s conference has been trust – how to regain it, in some cases, and how to build it in others. As CIPD president Gill Rider said in her opening address to the conference on Tuesday, there is a crisis of trust in leadership which is almost as huge as the more tangible economic challenges organisations face. Whether it is politicians, bankers or even the media, many people at the top of organisations have slipped in the public estimation and it could take some time and effort before they are once again held in high regard.

But allied to this, HR has more specific challenge – how to get and keep the trust of their staff. Wednesday morning saw a fascinating insight from Jane Beine of John Lewis, whose partnership model represents a much-admired example of a trusted employer brand. (Indeed, they will be a case study in forthcoming CIPD research). The retailer had to make 3,300 posts redundant in its three-year restructuring programme, yet employee surveys showed that faith in leaders actually went up during this period – a sign that staff trusted the communication they received from leaders, especially when it came to looking after workers through redeployment.

Marks and Spencer HR director Tanith Dodge was another speaker who touched on the subject yesterday. For her, admitting mistakes rather than brushing them under the carpet was a central plank of being trusted – by employees and customers alike. She referred to the media furore in 2009 over the company’s pricing of bras, which saw women charged more for larger sizes. The openness of the company’s response to that criticism – which included an advert admitting that the company “boobed” – went down well with staff.

“You’ve got to really demonstrate that you live the values, that leaders walk, talk and embed them,” said Dodge. If the leadership is open “that’s how you build employee trust,” she said.

Finally, Marshall Ayoade of Vodafone Global Enterprise touched on another variety of trust in his session on flexible working. He said that much of the resistance to flexibility came from managers who needed to see their staff to be sure they were actually working – a culture of ‘presenteeism’ that he wanted to dispel.

Where everybody trusts each other in the workplace, things run more smoothly – bosses don’t have to spend so much time micro-managing their staff, leaders have faith in their reports to deliver and we don’t waste energy checking up on each other. And that’s the sort of workplace we’d all like to work in.

Comments

1. At 19:42 on 11 Nov 2011, Jose wrote:

Trust is the essence of a working relationship as it is in a marriage and of course in society. We have to trust people to be able to continue with our lives in a simple and smooth way without looking over our shoulders all the time.
I am surprised that it is such an issue today. For me its always been the essence of all working relationships and as an HR director who has worked in many countries this is at the core of all business.
The fact that it has taken center stage tells me that it is seriously not where it should and thus we all talk about it and now see it as the new solution to all our business problems especially when it comes to employee engagement.
But it is not new and we are to blame for lettign it go. A mentor I had many years ago, Paulo Nucci always said if you promise something then you have to deliver it even if not perfectly,this is trust and respect fo rthe other person. My father always said your word is your bond. Perhaps it has become old fashioned but it is true. People trust you because you respect then and always try to do the right thing as promised.
Just do it, and keep on doing it.
I am glad you published this even if as a result of the current cycle of crisis.
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Claire Churchard

Claire Churchard

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Claire Warren

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James Brockett

James Brockett

News editor at People Management

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Jill Evans

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Rob MacLachlan

Rob MacLachlan

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Tim Smedley

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