A successful organization thrives on the Trust of its employees, Trust of their clients, and the Trust of their brand name in the market. An organization with high Trust is the best place to work as here the information is shared freely, the culture of the organization is innovative and creative, Transparency is practiced by the organization, the communication is real. These are the few of the attributes of a high trust organization which enable it to become a successful one.

The Loss of Trust in the brand affects the whole organization itself and getting the clients to trust the brand again is a Herculean task. Relationships play a pivotal role in an organization as it is the relationships that make the organization successful; Relationships both internal and external and the Trust is the groundwork that helps in building successful and long-lasting relationships. An organization with a high-trust culture attracts loyalty to both employees and stakeholders alike. The attrition rate in a high trust organization is negligible as compared to an organization with low trust culture. The clients also stick to trustworthy companies as well. The tasks are executed better in a high trust organization; hence, productivity also increases.

Low Trust in an organization is like having a house full of termites; it destroys the organization from within and at times beyond repairs. Low Trust breeds disengagement amongst the employees, they put in what effort they must to get their paycheck, but they’re not doing justice to their jobs as in their bodies are there, but their hearts and minds are elsewhere. The quality of the communication is adversely affected by low trust culture; people tend to withhold information which at times has a direct impact on the top line of the organization. Transparency in an organization with a low trust culture is weak. Hence, the employees hoard information, have secrets. It also includes hidden agendas, hidden meanings; these have a direct impact on the productivity and the growth of the organization.

‘An Enterprise that is at war with itself [misaligned] will not have the strength or focus to survive and thrive in today’s competitive environment – Professor John O. Whitney (Columbia Business School)’

As per Stephen M.R. Covey, Trust is the hidden variable that affects everything because leaders aren’t looking for it in the systems, structures, processes, policies, and frameworks that all the day-to-day behaviors hang on. As a leader, you can be successful at the Self Trust and Relationship Trust levels so that people trust you as a person but then fail at the Organizational Trust level by not designing and aligning systems that promote Trust.