A few weeks ago I shared a series of videos and my newsletter entitled “Leadership – The Horror Movie.” It described the behavior of employers who are actively using surveillance software to monitor what employees are doing in the misguided belief that keyboard activity equals productivity. Employees are fighting back with all sorts of covert software and devices to mimic device activity and appear to be “active.”

The increase in global demand for employee surveillance software peaked in March 2020 and that was somewhat expected. Bosses suddenly lost line of sight of their employees and reacted. Whilst most of us know that line of sight does not equate to productivity let’s leave that there for now! It was what it was.

The problem is that I assumed it was a knee-jerk reaction and the demand would dissipate over time. How wrong could I have been? The demand has continued to increase consistently throughout the duration of the pandemic. Here are the statistics from Top10VPN.

Global demand for employee monitoring software increased by:

·       80% in March 2020 compared with the 2019 monthly average. Demand for the software the following month was also 65% higher than in 2019.

·       78% in Jan 2022: the biggest increase in demand compared to 2019 since March 2020.

·       75% in Q1 2022: the biggest three-month increase in demand compared to 2019 since the pandemic began.

As employees return to the office, the use of surveillance software is not remains in place.

This activity by employers just screams at each employee:

I DO NOT TRUST YOU 

As the saying goes, “Trust takes years to build, seconds to break and forever to repair.”

So where does this leave the organisations who have eventually learned that monitoring employee activity is not a good practice and have invested time and money into the development of leadership that measures performance by outputs not inputs, and by outcomes not the hours spent at a desk?

Trust

Without trust, there is no team. When there is trust on a team, each team member knows they can rely on each other to do the right thing. They believe in each other’s integrity and strength and know that they have your back. The team feels safe with each other, they can be open and honest with each other, take appropriate risks and show their vulnerabilities. They share knowledge and communicate openly.

How do you reinstate employee trust when it has been broken? There is a myriad of ways to build trust in your team. In this newsletter I want to explore what I believe the top 5 elements that must be in place to create an environment of trust particularly in a hybrid team. I am using the word TRUST as an acronym for the five.

Transparency

No-one trusts a leader who hides behind platitudes and untruths. Transparent leaders are open and honest with their people. They involve their team in decision-making and share information widely ensuring everyone, regardless of location, is informed and involved.

Transparent leaders do not treat their employees like children and assume they will not be able to handle the information shared. Your employees are adults and just as mature and capable of handling information as you are. Of course, there may be circumstances when it would not be appropriate to share information with your team but that should be the exception.

Transparent leaders not only give employees feedback but actively seek it out for themselves. They are open about wanting to be better at what they do and ask for honest feedback. Their employees know that there will be no judgement or reprisal if the feedback highlights a weakness in the leader. Employees are asked to provide examples in their feedback and the leader’s response is ‘thank-you.’ These leaders do not get defensive or angry – they embrace the feedback as an opportunity for growth. Most of all, they act upon it.

Transparent leaders are also authentic. As well as being transparent, they are ethical and true to themselves. They do not hide behind a mask. What you see is what you get. The authentic leader is self-aware – they know who they are and how they impact others. They bring their whole self to the leadership role – intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.

When authentic leaders make a mistake, they are prepared to acknowledge it. They know they are not infallible and do not pretend to have all the answers. This is a leader who is trusted. These leaders are prepared to be vulnerable and share their feeling and concerns. They will ask for help when they need it. When leaders are honest with themselves and their team, they create trust.

The authentic leader holds themselves accountable for their actions. They do what they said they would do. They follow through. Their words hold weight. If for any reason they cannot deliver, they share the reason why.

Transparent leaders communicate with clarity. They ensure that their employees have heard what they intended them to hear. There is no place for ambiguity especially in a hybrid team.

Relationship

The right relationship you create with your team and the relationship you encourage within the team establishes trust. In a hybrid team with some employees working remotely, leaders must create a personal, positive, and consistent relationship with each team member.

Leaders that build trust show that they genuinely care for their employees. They show interest in their wellbeing, their interests, aspirations, and development. They are invested in their employees’ growth and driven to enable them to be the best they can be. 

Employees feel valued and know their leader has their back. These leaders lead with empathy and compassion.

A demonstration of leadership trust is empowering employees and giving them the autonomy to deliver outcomes and value in a way they see best. When a leader micromanages, they are shouting “I do not trust you to do the job.” Good leaders trust their team to do the right thing but are always there to support, guide and advise as needed. These leaders do not direct – they provide direction. These leaders trust their employees to get the job done and measure performance on outcomes and value delivered not hours spent at the keyboard.
Another demonstration of trust is providing employees with the flexibility to work where they want, when they want and how they want. There are parameters so that team and business objectives can be delivered but this leader provides principles rather than policies. For example, rather than dictating by policy the number of days employees need to be in the office, suggest by principles that the team should get together in the office at least once every two-weeks for activities that are collaborative and social in nature.

Trust is a two-way street so when a leader trusts an employee the reverse happens. Trust is also contagious and as employees watch their leader build trust, they will follow suit with their fellow employees.

Unity

Leaders building trust bring the team together either physically or virtually or a combination of both for team building activities.  These are not the activities that result in eye-rolling but the ones that the team have indicated they are interested in participating in. These team building exercises should include those focused on building trust.

Trust also comes with unity resulting from team diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I). When you are leading a hybrid team, diversity equity and inclusion - takes on a new challenge.

Whilst DEI has focused on identities such as race, gender, colour, sexual orientation, religion and so on, we are now adding two more - those in the office and those who are not.

Leaders must make sure that everyone is on a level playing field and there is no bias or preferential treatment related to where you work. Leaders must be aware of proximity bias and remove it. Proximity bias refers to a tendency to give preferential treatment to those in our immediate vicinity. In the hybrid team, this means giving preferential treatment to those co-located with you.

If an employee working remotely does not feel included and treated equally it will erode not only their trust of their leader but also their team. Leaders must work with every member of the team to ensure they treat everyone fairly and include them in finding ways to achieve it. You can read more about the bias and the actions you can take in this article.

Whilst leaders must be available and accessible to support their employee, they also need to encourage every employee to support their colleagues. When an employee knows that their co-workers will willingly help them when needed, this builds trust.  

Encouraging team and cross-team collaboration also builds trust. When employees create, share, and utilize knowledge, this demonstrates a climate of trust. Knowledge is not retained because it is perceived as making a person more important, it is shared openly to enhance the performance of the collective, not the individual.

Safety

The foundation of psychological safety is trust. There is also the chicken and egg conundrum. When you create an environment of psychological safety, trust increases.

Psychological safety means employees will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes. Every contribution is welcomed and listened to with respect. Employees trust their leader and each other to hear what they have to say without any fear of repercussion or reprisal. Each time that happens, trust grows stronger.

Hubspot’s Remote Work and Inclusion Program Manager, Meaghan Williams, describes what psychological safety looks and feels like in a hybrid team  in an article for Running Remote.

“Imagine you’re the only remote employee on an otherwise co-located team. It’s time for the weekly team meeting and you’re Zoomed in as a giant face on the screen while the rest of your teammates sit together around a conference room table. A topic of debate emerges from the team conversation and, for the first time, you decide to be the voice of dissent amongst your team members.

Time flies by, the meeting ends, your teammates walk out of the room, and you log off the Zoom to get back to your workday. But, instead of feeling panicked that everyone is talking about what you said as they walk back to their desks, you return to your work day, feeling confident in your ability to trust that your team members understand and appreciate your view – even if it wasn’t in line with theirs. 

This feeling is what we call “psychological safety” and it’s something we take very seriously at HubSpot. It’s the feeling of safety for anyone on the team to appropriately speak up, admit you don’t know an answer, ask “silly” questions, respectfully challenge an idea, offer a new perspective, and/or share your personal experience without the fear of being judged, embarrassed, or shamed. And, it’s a key ingredient in creating a successful, inclusive, and high-performing team, regardless of where your team members are sitting around the world.”

Psychological safety is important but even more so in a hybrid environment as illustrated in this example. Trust is needed to create an environment of psychological safety and whilst that environment truly exists, trust increases.

Touchpoints

A leader builds trust by checking in, on a regular basis, with every member of their team.

There are many touchpoints.

Good leaders have regular one-on-one sessions. They ensure every member of the team feels valued and prioritised. They look out for the physical and mental wellbeing of team members and show that they care. They enquire about the challenges an employee may be facing with remote or hybrid working.

They actively listen to what employees say and acknowledge they have heard. They are primarily coaches and mentors rather than managers or bosses. They do not reschedule or cancel a one-on-one session unless absolutely necessary. Bosses who do this are sending the message that the employee is not a priority.

There are regular team meetings which are both informal and formal. The Monday morning huddle is a favourite informal session of mine and keeps the team connected and builds relationships. You can read how Simon Sinek and his team do their huddle to keep the 100% remote team together. It is not about work, it is about each other.

The key to touchpoints is to keep them regular and consistent.

Summary

The big takeaway is that building trust takes time. It can also be destroyed in a moment. As a leader you need to keep a watchful eye on the team and their behaviours to ensure there is always an environment of trust and mutual respect being built. The fact that this is more difficult across a hybrid team when behaviours of some employees are not readily evident, is not an excuse not to do it. Remember, no trust means no team.

You need to lead by example and model trust and respect in all that you do.