The Joint Munitions Command’s Links of Success are vital as we move towards JMC of 2030 and beyond. The seven links are accountability, diversity, forward thinking, learning, mutual support, professionalism, and trust.
And how do you define that five-letter word?
When used as a noun, trust is an "assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something," according to Merriam-Webster. Trust also means "one in which confidence is placed," and without trust in the workplace things can be difficult. Having trust in one another leads to businesses and individuals succeeding.
"If employees don't trust their leaders, they won't operate efficiently," Dori Meinhert, senior writer/editor at HR Magazine, a publication produced by The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), wrote in 2018 in an article titled "Why Trust Matters at Work."
Trust helps "enable people to have greater influence on others — which is important not just for leaders but for workers at all levels," Meinert penned.
Employee trust is positively associated with higher levels of workplace performance. Trust is what makes a team function. The best organizations build trust in the workplace, and it is a top priority for managers and supervisors. Without trust, nothing is going to get done, regardless of how talented everyone is within a team.
Being a good source of high-quality information is one of many ways to earn trust in the workplace. Naturally, people want to help each other, and those who make up a diverse workforce welcome each other’s opinions even if they’re different from their own.
Managers and supervisors especially should follow this practice, and they should be open and honest with the individuals who work for them. They should make themselves vulnerable, and their employees will in turn do so as well. Both groups will earn each other’s trust in the process.
According to a study conducted in 2016 by the Harvard Business Review, people at high-trust companies report 74% less stress … 50% higher productivity, 13% fewer sick days, 76% more engagement, 29% more satisfaction with their lives, and 40% less burnout than people at low-trust companies.
Having trust in one another matters, and it brings positive results.
“Building trust is the foundation of any solid team or relationship,” said Zack Rynar, an ammunition acquisition specialist at the JMC. Rynar has filled that role for two years, and before that he served as a social worker for almost two years. In that position, he learned how vital trust in the workplace is.
“The specific work we were doing was crisis intervention with the homeless, and more severe scenarios. It was helping them get off that specific trajectory,” Rynar said. “A lot of those lessons I learned in trying to build trust in the hardest way really helped moving over to a different scenario like an office setting that we have here at JMC.
“Being able to rely on your teammates is one of the most important things,” Rynar added. “They know I'm able to help them, and they're able to help me. It's a mutual relationship.”
What builds trust in the workplace?
Besides being transparent, how can leaders build trust in the workplace?
There are eight words which begin with the letter C that help do that. They are clarity, compassion, character, competency, commitment, connection, contribution, and consistency, according to David Horsager, chief executive officer of the Trust Edge Leadership Institute, located in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Andrea P. Howe, founder of The Get Real Project in Washington, D.C., and co-author of “The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook,” says ‘“You’ve got to be the trust that you want to see in the organization.”
In other words, individuals in managerial roles need to lead by example. They should be their true selves. In one way or another, we can all relate to each other in some way.
In today’s world trust in the workplace is extremely important
A 2014 Citigroup and LinkedIn survey found that nearly half of employees would give up a 20% raise for greater control over how they work. Where they’re allowed to do their duties plays a factor, too.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that has changed across the globe. Now more than ever, individuals are working remotely 100% of the time or teleworking — reporting to their office and working there two times each pay period. Trust in the workplace is of even greater importance in today’s world.
“Each manager or supervisor should be looking to verify telework employees’ commitment to their work rather than merely calculating how long they sit in their seats,” said Stoney Ross, who is the JMC’s director of equal employment opportunity. “The right technology tools that support simple but effective communication, collaboration, and socialization can help managers make both sides of the trust/verify equation work together effectively and productively.
“If you manage a telework team, trust won’t just happen,” Ross added. “Teams sharing a physical workspace can bump into each other in the lunchroom or in the hallway and strike up a natural conversation. No such luck for telework teams. Trust must be built intentionally by managers and supervisors.”
And once trust in the workplace is established everyone wins.
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