systematicHR

As a leader, can you restore trust that has been lost? Knowledge@Wharton has a wonderful article including s research stuffy regarding the restoration of trust. Basically as I stated yesterday (and through the SHRM article) “To a large extent, people fail to recognize that it is not our values and beliefs that build trust,” says Reina, who also is the co-founder of Stowe, Vt.-based consulting firm Chagnon & Reina Associates Inc. “The only thing that builds trust is the way that we behave.” ((Krell, Eric, June 2006. “Do They Trust You?” HR Magazine, SHRM.))

Wharton adds an element: What happens when deception is present in the trust equation? Have you ever wondered why executives can sometimes recover after bad business decision, bad judgment calls, or personal mistakes? Have you also noticed that when executives lie, chat and steal, they are almost universally fired when they are caught? In Wharton’s study:

The 1.5-hour experiment, which involved a total of 262 participants, revealed that trust can be effectively restored after untrustworthy behavior (the partner not returning any money in Rounds 1 and 2), but not when deception occurs (the partner not returning any money when he said he would return $12). “Our results demonstrate that while trust can recover from a period of untrustworthy actions, deception causes significant and enduring harm,” the researchers write.   ((July 26, 2006. “Promises, Lies and Apologies: Is It Possible to Restore Trust?” Knowledge@Wharton.))

The breaking point for trust is integrity. Trust can be restored, but a loss of integrity is almost irrecoverable. Once again, your ability to translate the values of the business into action created yields trust. So long as your honest efforts are justifiable and were in the best interests of the organization, even if the efforts did not yield optimal results, trust is recoverable.