Summary of Hbr Article Enemies of Trust Essay Example for Free

Summary of Hbr Article Enemies of Trust Essay Stressed situations in organizations such as merger, reorganization, or layoff are situations where people look for something that can provide partial answer to the question: â€Å"What does this mean for me?† * Snatches of remembered conversations. * Innocent statements can be assigned deep sinister meaning. – misinterpreted * Emails can be analyzed word by word Don’t speculate about the future. Treat employees like grown-ups (so:) * In case of layoff, share the performance data that makes reductions necessary. * Be extremely careful about making unequivocal statements such as * I have no hidden agenda * There won’t be any more layoffs * The time we’ve got it fixed * We will be stronger as a result * I have total faith in the senior management team * This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do It will come back to haunt you. All kinds of crisis like an episode of violence, accidents, and serious product flaws can have a profound impact on trust in the organization. Often the damage of the trust occurs not because of the incident itself but because of how it’s handled internally. Company leaders or crisis team members become so distracted by external pressures that they don’t address the crisis internally with attention. (dangerous, because employees feel unsafe during a crisis). * During crises it’s important to recover revenue, and moving the company out of the media spotlight. * But the employees can’t wait until the storm is over. The damage (of trust inside the company) may be beyond repair when you get to it. * Leadership is important (emloyees are under as much stress as the managers and need calm, visible leadership. When everyone worries, trust evaporates). * First lesson is to get yourself some help, a quick check in with an objective third party. (Or if you are directly affected by the crisis maybe you are not thinking clearly). * Lesson two is to not withdraw. Let it be known that you are aware of the situation and that you will keep everyone informed as events unfold and decisions are made. Set an update schedule and keep to it even if the update is that there will be no news until next week. Be accessible to people around you (physically and emotionally). You set the example and people will look to you to see that it is okay to have feelings at work. Taking the time to think it through, what happened, and then they will follow suit. Starting over: It will happen: trust will be badly damaged. This is what the article writers recommend: 1. Figure out what happened * How quickly or slowly did trust break down? (no rapid fix) * When did the violation of trust become known to you and to the larger organization? (if you knew about it for a long time and didn’t do anything about it, your employees will feel it like a betrayal). * Was there a single cause? (easier to address a one-time event, than a pattern of events) * Was the loss of trust reciprocal? (it might be deep seated if both you and the others feel that their trust was violated. No one will behave fairly. A formal process of conflict resolution might be in order). 2. When you have a reasonably good handle on what happened, ascertain the depth and breadth of the loss of trust. (Is it a severe impact or are only some of the regions/branches touched by the breach of trust?) 3. Own up to the loss quickly instead of ignoring or downplaying it. (acknowledge the situation, you don’t need all the answers, just let people know that you are aware of the issue and the impact on them and that you are commited to setting things right). 4. Identitfy as precisely as possible what you must accomplish in order to rebuild trust. (need to change a relationship between people in different departments). 5. Then list the changes you’ll make in organizational structure, systems, people and culture to achiee those outcomes. (which shifts in how decisions are made, how information flows and how it is measured, etc. Should some reporting relationships be changed? Competing areas rivalries dissolve, when they come under the control of a single person. ) 6. Keep an eye on practical issues: How will these valuable changes and initiatives happen? (what work will you do yourself, what will you delegate, what is a reasonable time frame to handle this problem). Working at: The Center for Leading Organizations (CLO) offers highly-tailored educational services, valuable advice, and the delivery and facilitation of offsites at the senior level of organizations. Robert Galford is a managing partner of the Center for Leading Organizations. He divides his time across teaching on Executive Education programs and working with senior executives at the worlds leading firms on the leadership issues that lie at the intersection of strategy and organization. They wrote the book the trusted leader Anne Seibold Drapeau is a managing partner of the Center for Leading Organizations. Her client work focuses on consulting with a wide range of clients on leadership development and frameworks and processes for strategic alignment. She is a leading voice on the leadership requirements of support functions within organizations, and how they are best organized, structured and managed. She also has particular interest in the leadership challenges of early stage businesses and in fostering leadership in women. Patrick Lencioni is the author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, a popular business fable that explores work team dynamics and offers solutions to help teams perform better.[1] In addition to the bestselling Five Dysfunctions of a Team, he has written eight other business books