I was listening to the leader of a large, multinational organisation speak recently. He was talking about the culture change process the company had implemented. One statement has stayed with me:
“Of course we trust our people.”
Which is great, because trust is so important to workplace culture.
Trust is the glue in relationships and organisations. Stephen R Covey
As much as most leaders believe they do trust their people, actions often bely words.
Some recent examples I have encountered are as follows:
An employee approached their manager about a flexible working arrangement. They wanted to work from home one day a week to lessen the challenge of juggling school drop off and their commute. This manager asked me what systems could ensure that the employee got their work done on these days. I asked them, “what systems do you have in place when they’re in the office?”
A manager was discussing the need to update their IT policy. The current practice involves monitoring every employee’s internet usage. The company has unlimited usage plans. Yet they give warnings to employees who go over the data limit. When questioned, the reply was “people who use a lot of data must be streaming all day”.
