Evidence for Trust at Work

How can you build high-trust organizations? And how to integrate trust into your leadership- and HR practices? These were the starting questions during a leaders lunch, organized by Balance HR.

Trust is the willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another - Mayer, Schoorman & Davis, 1995 Academy of Mgt Review

Trust as the basis of any relationship

In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in the concepts of autonomy, personalization and self-management at work. The result is a fundamental shift in the relationship between employer and employee.

A common principle in this evolution towards less control is that it starts with trust. Trust is the basis of any relationship. Evidence shows that trust is related with a range of benefits in the workplace, such as job performance. It takes effort and know-how to build trust, but it's likely rewarding.

• Prof. Dr. Denise Rousseau provided us an introduction into the scientific findings.
• HR Leader David Ducheyne gave us practical insights on how to build trust at work.

Evidence-based takeaways

• Evidence-based Managers are trusted and seen as competent.
• Evidence-based decision making educates and builds trust.
• Grow the competence and mutual trust of your management and workforce: via critical appraisal of multiple sources of evidence, transparency, reflection, and outcome assessment.

Pictures by Raf Michiels