Work like nobody's watching: why trust is a competitive edge
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Work like nobody's watching: why trust is a competitive edge
Matilda French
28 August 2024
6 min read
Matilda French
28 August 2024
6 min read
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WFH: an issue of trust
How your company can become a high-trust organisation
High-trust organisations are 50% more productive, but not many employers actually trust their employees. Here’s how to overcome trust issues and unlock the benefits of remote work.
"Trust is a fundamental factor in any workplace, whether it's remote or not, but many organisations have always unknowingly equated physical proximity with trust." - Sarah Lovelace
WFH: an issue of trust
Working from home has huge benefits, but one challenge remains: many employers struggle to trust their workers when they're out of sight. Keep reading to learn the facts about workplace trust issues from our Out Of Office Report and discover how companies can become high-trust organisations.
A study in 2021 revealed that only 35% of employers trust their employees to work from home.¹ Meanwhile, 2022 research showed that 60% of employees said their work activity had been tracked in the last year. The question is: are employees trusted if they need to be monitored?
Sarah Lovelace, the VP of People at Airbase, says this: "Many organisations have always unknowingly equated physical proximity with trust. They believed that if they could physically see someone, that meant they were working and being productive. In the pandemic, this quickly became an issue."
For many organisations the pandemic caused a harsh transition into remote work. This led to the realisation that when workers were out of sight, many employers found it difficult to believe they were still performing effectively. Many turned to monitoring software as a protection against productivity loss. In a situation that felt chaotic, it was a way of imposing some kind of order.
Nevertheless, some organisations have overcome the trust issues surrounding remote work, proving that it's doable and advantageous to trust your workers wherever they are. The fact is high-trust organisations are 50% more productive,³ and results show they outperform, out-innovate, and retain more employees than their peers.⁴
This is because trust lays the foundation for a psychologically safe environment where employees can work effectively, make decisions, and innovate without fear of judgment.⁵ By comparison, when trust is in short supply, it increases turnover, absenteeism, and (unsurprisingly) weakens morale.⁶ It also increases performative visibility, meaning employees are more likely to work overtime hours to appear visible.⁷
A study in 2021 revealed that only 35% of employers trust their employees to work from home.¹ Meanwhile, 2022 research showed that 60% of employees said their work activity had been tracked in the last year. The question is: are employees trusted if they need to be monitored?
Sarah Lovelace, the VP of People at Airbase, says this: "Many organisations have always unknowingly equated physical proximity with trust. They believed that if they could physically see someone, that meant they were working and being productive. In the pandemic, this quickly became an issue."
For many organisations the pandemic caused a harsh transition into remote work. This led to the realisation that when workers were out of sight, many employers found it difficult to believe they were still performing effectively. Many turned to monitoring software as a protection against productivity loss. In a situation that felt chaotic, it was a way of imposing some kind of order.
Nevertheless, some organisations have overcome the trust issues surrounding remote work, proving that it's doable and advantageous to trust your workers wherever they are. The fact is high-trust organisations are 50% more productive,³ and results show they outperform, out-innovate, and retain more employees than their peers.⁴
This is because trust lays the foundation for a psychologically safe environment where employees can work effectively, make decisions, and innovate without fear of judgment.⁵ By comparison, when trust is in short supply, it increases turnover, absenteeism, and (unsurprisingly) weakens morale.⁶ It also increases performative visibility, meaning employees are more likely to work overtime hours to appear visible.⁷
How your company can become a high-trust organisation
Step One
Sarah Lovelace says, "Creating - and maintaining - trust starts with transparency." This is backed up by research into organisational trust, which found that transparent communication is critical in any culture.⁸
She goes on to say, “Clarity is the baseline of trust. Organisations must give employees crystal-clear expectations as to what they expect from them, and bring transparency to processes around communication, goal-setting, and decision-making. Above all, they need to understand that trust takes time. Staying consistent is critical."
Companies need to consider:
She goes on to say, “Clarity is the baseline of trust. Organisations must give employees crystal-clear expectations as to what they expect from them, and bring transparency to processes around communication, goal-setting, and decision-making. Above all, they need to understand that trust takes time. Staying consistent is critical."
Companies need to consider:
- What are the key values and behaviours you need to see from your workforce?
- How will you enable employees to work at their best while enabling flexibility?
- How will you design processes to prioritise transparency and psychological safety at all levels?
Step Two
Ditch the remote control. Remote employees have diverse needs,⁹ so there shouldn't be a one-size-fits-all approach to working from home. Offering flexibility around work by allowing employees to adjust their hours, tasks, and role to fit their lives is a great way for organisations to make employees feel trusted.¹⁰
Step Three
It's time organisations shifted the focus from outputs (task lists and hours spent at work) to outcomes (results). That means trusting your workforce to achieve their goals regardless of whether they worked one hour or 100.
To do this, organisations have to revisit their performance and progression criteria and clearly define:
To do this, organisations have to revisit their performance and progression criteria and clearly define:
- What does employee performance and productivity mean remotely?
- How will employees set outcomes-based performance goals and stay accountable to them?
- How will we measure how employees contribute to their role and the wider company outcomes?
By acknowledging the trust issues that might be holding your company back and taking steps towards becoming a high-trust organisation, your company could reap massive benefits, such as increased productivity, performance, and talent retention. So what's stopping you?
¹ Ricoh Europe, ‘Two-thirds of employers do not trust their staff to work remotely, survey finds’, People Management, August 2021.
² Trades Union Congress, ‘Intrusive worker surveillance tech risks “spiraling out of control” without stronger regulation, TUC warns’, February 2022.
³ Paul J Zak, ‘The neuroscience of trust’, Harvard Business Review, January 2017.
⁴ Paul J Zak, ‘The neuroscience of high-trust organizations,’ Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 2018.
⁵ Catalina Radu and others, ‘New ways to perform: Employees’ perspective on remote work and psychological security in the post-pandemic era’, Sustainability, March 2023.
⁶ M J Masoodi and others, ‘Workplace surveillance and remote work’, Cybersecure Policy Exchange, September 2021.
⁷ Gianluca F Delfino and Berend van der Kolk, ‘Remote working, management control changes and employee responses during the COVID-19 crisis’, Accounting, Auditing, and Accountability Journal, July 2021.
⁸ Hua Jiang and Ji Luo, ‘Crafting employee trust: From authenticity, transparency to engagement’, Journal of Communication Management, May 2018.
⁹Marylène Gagné and others, ‘Understanding and shaping the future of work with self-determination theory’, Nature Reviews Psychology, May 2022.
¹⁰Emanuela Ingusci and others, ‘Workload, techno overload, and behavioural stress during COVID-19 emergency: The role of job crafting in remote workers’, Frontiers in Psychology, April 2021.
Out Of Office Report
To show your company how remote work could work for you, order your free copy of the Out Of Office Report now.
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Written by
Matilda French
Content Marketing Intern
Matilda has a BA Hons degree in Creative Writing and Film and Screen Studies and is using her love of storytelling to create informative content that helps workers get the most out of their digital tools.
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