I've been thinking a lot of about trust lately. It seems to be a reoccurring theme in conversations I'm having with friends, relatives i.e., - kids and peers these days. I have always believed trust is important - the foundation of any healthy relationship, but why? What makes trust stand out amongst all the other issues facing the world and particularly the workplace today? I'm not sure I've ever really thought about the reasons why it holds such importance in our day-to-day lives, I was simply raised to believe it was of the utmost importance.

After Enron, WorldCom, 9/11 and countless public political scandals public trust has been eroded. Is this what makes it so difficult for people to trust others in today's workplace? Is it all about us being overly cynical?

I had a look around the World Wide Web to see what others were saying about trust in the workplace. The fact that I found so many blogs and articles written on the subject certainly appears to speak to its importance and prominence in the hearts and minds of so many people.

I really liked Dan Bobinski's post over at The Centre for Workplace Excellence.

He tells the story of a real workplace scenario and comes to the following conclusion:

Intimidation creates fear and lack of trust. With the absence of trust comes the death of passion and any desire for excellence. 

When employees stop contributing, valuable new ideas are never brought the table, and bad ideas are never challenged. An organization suffering from these conditions eventually becomes incapable of correcting its own mistakes, and mediocrity becomes the soup du jour.

Image experiencing the "death of passion and any desire for excellence" in the workplace.  Why bother even showing up? Stephen Covey states in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that "Trust is the highest form of human motivation."

If trust truly is the highest form of motivation perhaps this is the single most important factor why trust is so important in the workplace.

If you are interested in this topic go over to Development Dimensions International and read the paper Trust in the Workplace written by Robert Rogers and Sheryl Riddle. Rogers and Riddle point out the following warning signs that trust is an issue in your organization or for your personally:

1. An active, inaccurate grapevine.
2. Elaborate approval process.
3. Low initiative.
4. High turnover.
5. A high fear factor among employees.
6. Turf wars.
7. Defensiveness.

You may find it helpful to do an audit of your workplace using these warning signs to determine if trust is an issue for you or your workplace.

Trust in human relationships is indeed delicate. Remember that your actions speak louder than words and building trust is probably the most important component of a solid and healthy relationship. Trust can take a long time to build, but at the same time can be destroyed by a single action or misconception.

The good news is that if trust has been broken, your professional or personal relationship can recover. It takes hard work to build trust, especially after it has been betrayed, but it can be done.