Trust All : cut the cards

Probus Tower Hotel Waterford

September 22 September 2015

John Maher WIT Business School

Objectives

• To examine the concept of Trust as generally understood.

• To assess its significance in homes, businesses, communities, and society.

• To consider our own disposition and actions with respect to Trust.

• To recognise some expressions of Trust in culture and literature.

Some contributing factors

• Hip replacement recall

• Winnings on horses as a source of unexplained lodgements

• Mad cow disease

• Horsemeat secretly in the food chain

• Contaminated blood products

• Child abuse

• Financial crisis

• Penalty Points

Trust

A relationship between two particular parties, concerning a particular action or range of actions.

(Hardin 2004)

A promise , A covenant

“I now establish my covenant with you and with your

descendants after you and with every living creature that was

with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all

those that came out of the ark with you—every living

creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never

again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never

again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

Genesis, Chapter 9

God & Mammon

Trust : A Word Cloud

Kinship

A web of social relationships involving a degree of affinity between the members.

Establishes a boundary within which mutual interests are promoted and trust can be fostered

Interactions

Ingredients of Trust

Competence

Benevolence

Values

Predictability

Aesop

Interests

1 2

3 4

Trust Continuum

Distrust

Doubt

Trust

Cautious Dependence

Precautionary Stance

Not a Binary state

Reciprocal nature of Trust

Am Trusted

• Self Confidence

• Greater initiative

• Less supervision

• Less hierarchial

Can Trust

• Willing to transact

• Quick action

• Reduced bureaucracy

Pinocchio

Observations

Choice & Trust

If action or behaviour is a result of coercion or control, to what extent does this obviate trust?

Soft Power and Cultural Diplomacy

Conditions which promote Trust

Repeated encounters promote trust as both parties act not just for the present but for the future.

Encounters across a chasm remain difficult….

(Unrealistic Expectations

cannot be fulfilled)

Edelmann Trust Barometer 2015 Who can you rely on ?

• Academics 70%

• Company technical expert 68%

• A person like yourself 63%

• NGO representative 54%

• Financial or Industry Analyst 53%

• Regular Employee 49%

• CEO 43%

• Government 38%

Trust Levels in Ireland Edelmann Barometer

• 2nd lowest of 27 countries

• 70% will not buy from companies they do not trust

• 73% will criticise them to a friend or colleague

• Repose trust in NGOs, Business, Media & Government in that order and all declined 2014 v 2015

Trust & Innovation (Edelmann 2015)

This a function of

Engagement

Discovery + Benefit + Integrity

Key Trust Relationships

Individuals & Teams

Senior Executives

Direct Managers

External Parties

The Firm

High Trust Organisations Searle & Skinner (2011)

• Job Satisfaction

• Recommend to others

• Make more effort

• Offer more co-operation

Have a look at Great Places to Work in Ireland

http://www.greatplacetowork.ie/

Plotting Trust in an Organisation

Bureaucratic

Authoritarian

Secretive

Suspicious

Innovative

Trusting

Empowering

Consensual

Accessible

Adapted from Searle & Skinner (2011

New Approaches to Economic Challenges

OECD (2012)

• The political system must work for all the people and not just special interests. Lobbying and political finance thus need to be properly regulated to address conflicts of interest.

• In addition, business and finance must be appropriately regulated and companies must pay their fair share of taxes, while responsible business conduct must also be encouraged.

• Foreign bribery and illicit financial flows should also be more decisively tackled.

Final Trust Reflections

• Factor trust into our behaviours, design & actions.

• Promote it.

• Build relationships.

• Some conditionality : Trust but Verify? (R Reagan)

• Values & Competences.

• Non verbal cues matter.