The death of trust in employees

I just read Gwinavere Johnston’s post “The Death of Trust” in the PRSA Colorado Newsline. Overall, I agree with her points, and I like the quote, “Public relations is about doing the right things and then telling people about it.”

Gwinavere hit the nail on the head with her comment about employee communication:

Keep in mind that all communication should begin within the corporation. How can customers understand and trust a business’ messages when those who work for it don’t? Employees are a corporation’s chief ambassadors, and they must understand what their company is doing in light of this financial situation, how it is affecting business and what the company is doing to plan for the future.

That’s the key to resurrecting trust.

But what about the key to the key? Organizations that want to resurrect employee trust need to lead by example. Don’t be evil. They can start by trusting employees to say and do the right things. They need to train employees to respond intelligently when things don’t go as planned. They need to give employees the skills and the confidence to react appropriately in the face of unforeseen circumstances. They need to be human.

There it is… being human again. It’s worth mentioning because I disagree with Gwinavere that large corporations have done nothing to deserve our wrath. I don’t believe the majority of corporations are malicious, but I do think that they often make it a challenge to be a customer. Poor customer service is the norm, not the exception, in part because employees don’t know how to — and aren’t trusted to — operate in gray areas.

How can you rebuild trust?

1. Be worthy of trust.
2. Tell your employees why they deserve your trust.
3. Teach your employees to instill trust in your customers.

Now that I’ve written it, it looks curiously like “do the right thing and tell people about it.”