Happy November.

To support you in being F.I.R.S.T. (Future-Ready. Innovative. Relevant. Strategic. Trusted.), here's 1 tip and 1 quote.

1. The F.I.R.S.T. Tip

Trust is the foundation of any healthy and successful organization/team. Trust deficit creates many problems, such as reduced engagement, low morale, poor productivity, and higher employee turnover.

Here are four steps that can help you ensure high team trust:

Step 1: Acknowledge the Issue

Acknowledge the issue and its impact openly, honestly, and respectfully. Ignoring or downplaying important issues only make matters worse. Whether the breach of trust was a major scandal or a series of minor incidents, it is vital to address it head-on.

Discuss the specific incidents or behaviors that eroded trust and explain how they deviated from the organization’s or team’s values, expectations and social contract (if you have one).

Step 2: Define and Demonstrate New Trustworthy Behaviors

The next step is to define the behaviors and actions that ensure high trust, i.e. The team’s social contract.

This could involve creating or revising policies, codes of conduct, etc., so that all team members are aware of desired behaviours and what to do when contradictory behaviour is demonstrated. It is also important that team members be made aware of the consequences of toxic behaviours.

Step 3. Invest in Training and Development

Trust building requires a collective effort, and training helps team members to develop the skills required to demonstrate desired behaviours, and very importantly, handle situations where toxic behaviours are demonstrated by any team member. Some useful topics for such training are living the values, ethical decision-making, conflict resolution, and effective communication.

Step 4. Foster Transparency and Accountability

Clear and consistent communication across all levels of the organization is crucial to negate the impact of rumours and half-baked information. This is ensured through one-on-ones, regular updates during team meetings, town halls etc.

Regularly soliciting feedback and suggestions from team members not only fosters a culture of openness but also enables them to be part of the solution; this can significantly contribute to ensuring high trust.

When you are committed to building high trust, you will reap the benefits of a happier, engaged, productive and resilient workforce.

Tip: Trust can be rebuilt over time with effort and consistency.

2.The F.I.R.S.T. Quote

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