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There is a climate of trust within my work unit.
Survey Domain: Employee
Survey Theme: Coworker Relations
Understanding the Issue: The first step is to understand the issues behind the survey performance scores. Unless you are absolutely sure that you understand the issues related to a particular survey item, the best place to start is identifying them, and the section Understanding Issues can help you do so. The activities described in Understanding Issues can be used for any of the survey items.
The foundation for trust is building good relationships and understanding what motivates others. Trust is gained through keeping promises, being consistent in words and action, maintaining a high ethical standard, and being as honest as possible at all times.
Improvement ideas:
Give employees an opportunity to learn more about each other. Employees need to understand what motivates coworkers; otherwise, they may become suspicious about why they act as they do. An afternoon of bowling or other social activity can be fun and provide an opportunity for getting to know each other.
Avoid the perception of favoritism toward any employee. When employees feel others have an unfair advantage, trust among employees deteriorates.
Trust others. Trust builds trust, so be a role model and encourage others to trust and be trustworthy.
Make sure your actions are consistent with your words. Inconsistencies cause distrust. Encourage employees to behave similarly.
Consider a team-building session for your employees that includes a discussion on trust. Talk to your manager and/or HR representative about possibly using an external facilitator.
Tell the truth and encourage others to do the same. If you have information you cannot share, explain the reason for withholding information. Acknowledge others when they are forthright. When employees see that they can speak openly without fear of retribution, they will communicate openly and build trust among each other.
Always adhere to your organization's code of ethics and insist that others do the same.
Protect confidentiality where appropriate. Do not engage in "off the record" conversations except for rare circumstances. You do not want to encourage employees to run to you with "secret" information about others that could create distrust.
Admit mistakes and encourage others to do the same. No one trusts a person who tries to hide his/her errors.
Make commitments only if you can keep them. If you agree to do something, do it. Meet deadlines consistently. Acknowledge and reward the same behavior in others.
(MI 45)