What is The Business Case for Trust?

I am repeatedly asked to make the business case for trust. Trust is the foundation of any successful relationship, both personal and professional, yet it sometimes seems to lack in the workplace. Why?

One reason is trust is one of those in-tangibles, which means that showing a value add and making the business case for trust can sometimes prove difficult. Other than the usual statements about trust reducing transaction costs, increasing employee and customer loyalty and shortening the sales cycles, hard evidence seems difficult to find. One thing I've used as an example lately with clients is the financial crises in the U.S. Due to the unethical business practices of the leaders of some of the financial institutions, the markets went on a downward spiral. The U.S. Government tried to help bail out the banks and restore consumer confidence.

Although positive progress is being made, it's being made very, very slowly. This is partly because the American people (and many others across the globe) have lost trust in the U.S financial system and those affiliated with running those types of firms. It will be a slow process to regain this trust, and we may continue to see the negative impacts for some time. Noticing the negative impacts that lack of trust and transparency have had on the U.S economy, and using this as a real example for clients, seems to provide a tangible basis for the necessity of addressing trust in the workplace.

I like to offer a cause and effect view on trust to my clients: without trust within your company, your engagement and morale will suffer. If engagement and morale suffer, then retention declines. If retention declines, then costs increase and performance slips. If performance slips, customer satisfaction declines. If customer satisfaction declines, revenue declines. If revenue declines too much, business stops. This example serves as simplistic and tangible business case for trust, one that highlights the importance of increasing trust in the workplace.