Trust in the workplace

Mention Enron, WorldCom, UniFer, Saambou, Andersen, Xerox and Merck in any group conversation, then stand back and watch people`s reactions. Emotions may run the gamut from incomprehension, to anger that it happened, to fear that it could still happen to other companies.

Betrayal of trust has enormous and far-reaching consequences.

Jill Hamlyn, MD, The People Business

President George Bush has come down hard on corporate America, making it clear from the outset that this type of behaviour will simply not be tolerated. However hard a line he has taken, the American markets are suffering - with implications for the worldwide economy.

Back home, we have the King Commission, whose guidelines are intended to make sure there are no dirty dealings when it comes to company financial reports. However, beneath all the fear, anger and paperwork, trust is the deeper issue at stake here.

Trust is, obviously, a multi-level entity, found between individuals who work together, between groups of people within a company, between a group and an individual, between companies, and between consumers and companies. For consumers, read shareholders as well as anybody who has a vested interest in the organisation. Trust is also one of those entities that is seldom spoken about and almost always taken for granted, and perhaps that is why it is such a shock when someone betrays it. As jaded as South Africans are by the high levels of crime and violence, there were still ripples of fear and outrage when Saambou went bang and Leisurenet uncovered its bag of dirty tricks.

Given that it stirs so many different feelings, what exactly is trust? A general definition that may be applied at various levels is that trust is a sense of belief in something or someone such that they are reliable and will not do the wrong thing or hurt or let someone down. Given that human beings place a fair amount of weight on being able to trust someone, the obvious thing would be to assume that trust is indispensable in our dealings with each other. To a large extent this is true, but there may still be some areas in which it is possible to achieve a competent working relationship without necessarily trusting someone.

Money is probably the largest area in which trust is of paramount importance. This stands to reason, of course. We would not invest a resource that is as valuable as it is to many of us in someone or something without being fairly certain of a reliable return. The issue of trust also carries a large amount of influence when the person or entity we choose to place our trust in is in a position of power. When such people or entities betray trust, the backlash is generally worse simply because they are in a position of power and as such have become icons or have risen to power precisely because we placed our trust in them. Adding insult to injury is when people or companies lie about being trustworthy when they are patently not.

Betrayal of trust has enormous and far-reaching consequences. The American companies that are all admitting to, or being found out about, their so-called "creative accounting" have had a huge impact on the American economy, something that America can ill-afford both in light of the worldwide recession and in the post-11 September uncertainty. "Time" ran a lead article in which the foundations of capitalism as an economic system were questioned. Of course capitalism works well when it works, but when the foundations are shaky or the core is rotten, even a system that has the backing of the majority of the world`s countries can falter.

Is it possible to work in a climate in which trust does not exist? The simple answer is yes, but the work in such a climate is harder and probably not nearly as rewarding as it could be. Where there is lack of trust between two individuals in the workplace, it may not necessarily become an issue unless both parties make an issue of it. It is still possible to create a final product where individuals do not trust each other. This, however, allows one to make an observation that there are probably degrees of trust. One may not be able to trust someone else with personal details, but there is enough trust to be able to do the job at hand.

There is certainly a self-empowering process that enables a maturity of interaction when individuals learn to implode the concept of trust into an individually focused responsibility. The theory is usually far greater than the practice, as it takes strength, maturity and knowledge to counteract our commonly practised natural reactive interaction. A small amount of foresight would, however, indicate that our regularly adopted reaction is considerably flawed, as it is based purely upon the pre-supposition that another person`s potential future actions or interactions are always consistent with past behaviours and thereby gives no opportunity for growth, change or maturation in others. Although this concept does open up a healthy debate, the taking of responsibility for trusting ourselves with others is potentially one of the most rehabilitating and empowering responsibilities that people can invoke within themselves.

As with most things, trust and betrayal of trust has a flipside, in this case forgiveness. As inured as we are to our harsh South African reality, forgiveness is something that still has to be practised by the majority of us. It is possible to forgive after trust has been betrayed, as long as there is acceptance that things will never be the same as they once were. Forgiving does not necessarily include forgetting and there will always be some vigilance on the part of the one whose trust has been betrayed. However, forgiveness also includes a component of trust that the transgressor will not repeat the violation.

There is little doubt that before the year is out, more and more companies that have broken the rules will be brought to light. A witch-hunt may be inevitable. In this situation, as in most others, there are lessons to be learnt. Some may take "Don`t get caught" as their primary lesson, while others will lean towards "Don`t do it". This whole period in society and economics is as exciting as it is nerve-racking and the lessons we take from information coming to light can serve as an invaluable guide in the way forward.

Although we are primarily disabled on the macro-level, on the level of individual interaction should we so wish, we can all certainly contribute towards a process of change that then potentially may escalate upwards. Contemplating the concept of trust in others and ourselves, and taking personal ownership for mature interaction is one of the fundamental steps in the process of maturity through development.