Trust and Leadership are rare bed fellows – as illustrated by the results of a recent CIPD Employee Outlook survey.
In case you missed it, the level of workers’ trust in their senior managers remains worryingly low, while relationships with immediate line managers are found to be consistently more positive across the board.
This gaping cavern between senior leaders and the wider workforce is thanks to a disturbing lack of transparency and communication from the top. An often misused phrase, ‘knowledge is power’, indicates the attitude that sometimes plays a part in preventing leaders from acting in a transparent way.
But this weak and arrogant approach creates a climate of mistrust and leads to commentary from the ‘cheap seats’ below them. Rarely are business leaders honest about the logic behind their decisions, but taking this tack is key to building trust and gaining respect from their employees – just a simple explanation will serve to make workers feel much more needed by the business, for example.
Given this enormous distance between senior management and the wider workforce, however, it is crucial that HR finds ways to act as the glue to help stick them together more closely.
HR tends to be an underrated function but, as custodians of organisations’ biggest assets as well as biggest cost, it simply must take its place at the top table and demonstrate that behavioural change can be transformative for the business.
A survey that we conducted in 2009 found that staff also appeared to back this idea up too – a huge 42% questioned believed that their chief executive needed more senior management-level HR support.
Understanding the ‘why’
But to really make a difference, HR needs to focus first and foremost on organisational ‘culture’. Every company has one, whether it is great or horrible, discriminating or bigoted. But it is almost always a reflection of the leader’s personality. To ensure that cultural strengths are maintained, however, all parts of the business must be aligned to the corporate vision.
Sir Richard Branson, for example, did a fantastic job in creating high service levels at airline Virgin Atlantic – his extraordinary ‘out there’ leadership style worked effectively and his employees were happy.
However, that this success has seemingly not been repeated at his acquisitions appears to be detracting from the special values of the firm’s brand.
Consumers regularly complain that Virgin Trains do not offer the same pleasurable experience as the airline, while Virgin Media feels like something of an ‘add on’ from a customer perspective. The result seems to be an ugly melting pot of conflicting cultures that have been consolidated to form a single company.
When it comes to ensuring a happy workforce, meanwhile, senior leaders need to have a laser-like focus on the issue.
All too often they forget that the wider workforce doesn’t have the same insight into the decision-making process that they do, which can make individuals feel detached from working towards a common goal. If employees understand the ‘why’ behind a decision, they tend to trust their leader more.
So what should HR directors focus on to try and encourage a rapprochement between the two sides? There are three key areas that require special attention:
1. Staff alignment –Leaders should be encouraged to develop a clear vision that they communicate to employees and that is broken down into an understandable tactical execution plan. Delegating small tasks to staff and explaining what part they play in the bigger picture will mean that the whole workforce is aligned towards a common goal.
2. Communication – All decisions and changes must be explained to employees and linked back to the corporate vision. This approach enables the workforce to understand that they are not random outputs created by a lofty management team, but that someone is leading from the front using an accurate compass.
3. Transparency – HR should ensure that there is transparency in all business matters. This means that, when something can’t be shared, whether it is good or bad, employees will trust that you have their best interests at heart and understand that you will let them know what is happening when appropriate.
Employees tend to trust their line managers more because they have a more honest, frequent interaction and it is this example that senior leaders should attempt to follow.
Unfortunately, all too many senior leaders still adopt personas, whether it is the ‘tough guy’ CEO or the ‘ball-breaking’ female boss, both of which are regularly promoted by influential business people (Lord Sugar and his catchphrase in TV show The Apprentice of “You’re fired” certainly doesn’t help!).
The truth is that these approaches to leadership don’t work within the reality of the regular workplace (and Alan Sugar really is a pussycat in real life…).
But HR can lead the way in helping senior managers to understand that they are no more instrumental to the business than the wider workforce and that it would be useful to bear such ideas in mind when communicating with their employees.
Trust is easily earned and easily lost so it is HR’s responsibility to try and bridge a currently gaping hole.
Nikki Watkins is programme director at executive search and talent development firm, European Leaders‘ HR Academy.
