8 Ways to Improve Employee Trust

WORKPLACE TRUST The Jacobs Model The Jacobs Model links eight intrinsic drivers of trust, each of which is impacted by an individual's psychological wellbeing and work environment, to two paths of performance, leading to either positive or negative outcomes. When each of the drivers is satisfied, this leads to the positive outcome path – engagement, energy release, boosted wellbeing and improved performance Decision gap Individual Factors Result Organisational success and advantage Wellbeing and Perception Behaviours eg. commit, creativity Reward Boosted wellbeing Sustainable high performance The 8 Intrinsic Drivers Trust = Safe Engage Energy 1: Belong and connect 2: Voice and recognition 3: Significance and position 4: Fairness 5: Learn and challenge 6: Choice and autonomy 7: Security and certainty 8: Purpose Surprise Il-health absenteeism Reduced performance Threat = Fear Withdraw Distress Result Organisational risk in areas of: advantage, error, output, reputation etc. Behaviours eg. defend, sabotage Environmental Factors e.g. work-life integration, flexible working, workload, communication, leadership, resources, technology, physical environment, reward and performance, other people strategies The Jacobs Model 2012 Susanne Jacobs The Eight Intrinsic Drivers Voice & recognition Belong & connect If people feel excluded in the workplace they feel threatened and it can affect their health and wellbeing. It's important to make sure individuals feel connected to their team People should be encouraged to put their views and ideas across in the workplace so they feel that their contributions are recognised and appreciated Significance & position People are continually assessing their role within their organisation and what contribution they are making. If people do not feel valued, they can feel threatened, which will negatively impact their performance Fairness It is critical for an organisation to treat its employees fairly and consistently. If employees feel they are being treated unfairly it can cause high stress levels and low productivity Learn & challenge Workers need to be continually learning so they can adapt to the ever-changing modern work environment. Research has shown that employees who feel challenged are more productive Choice & autonomy Giving workers a degree of control and the ability to make their own choices can help them balance their work and homes lives more effectively, helping to improve their performance Security & certainty If workers aren't secure in their position then they can feel threatened which has a negative effect on their performance and productivity levels Purpose If workers have a clear sense of purpose and are aware of exactly what their contribution to an organisation is, they are more likely to be engaged and productive unum Because everyone needs a back-up plan