The Troubling Topic For Trust In Business

Julie Starr • Apr 19, 2022

Trust is a topic that has been focused on in a number of different conferences, articles, and management books. Trust is claimed to be some almost magical economic elixir that explains everything from enhanced happiness to productivity gains. However, in reality, it is just as challenging and complicated to measure at an organizational, individual, and team level. Luckily, there have been discoveries in neuroscience that have provided us with actionable, peer-reviewed, rigorous, and fresh insight into what trust is, how to measure it, and most importantly, how businesses can create and enhance trust to improve their performance. 



In this blog post, will take a look at the science behind trust and how leaders can cultivate it by giving more in business. 

Understanding trust

There is only one place to begin, and this is by understanding what trust is. In 2001, Steve Kanck and Paul J. Zack released a biologically based model that provided us with the first comprehensive mathematical derivation of trust. It showed us that we can lower the transaction expenses that are linked with investment decisions through sheer trust. It was all about improving the confidence in what the other party would do. This involved using 41 different countries, and the outcome was that the strongest predictor economists had ever found was trust. Since then, trust was deemed an economic lubricant, which lowered the friction that usually happened during economic activity. This same relationship can be applied to organizations when it comes to describing interpersonal interactions between the workforce.

Oxytocin

One of the turning points when it comes to trust in business and in leadership was the discovery of oxytocin and the role it plays. This is where the neuroscience of trust really comes into play. Oxytocin is a neurochemical , and trustworthiness is predicted by the amount of oxytocin produced. Therefore, the study of this chemical enabled us to understand things from a different perspective. One study involved giving synthetic oxytocin to patients. In this research, it found that those participants were twice as likely to show optimal trust by sending all of their money to someone else and they also trusted strangers with 17 percent more money. There has since been further research into this chemical that shows that it works by increasing our empathy and emotional connection to someone else, which again, increases trust. After all, we are motivated to help other people when our empathy is enhanced. So, what does this mean for your business? Well, it is all about creating an environment whereby trust is high, and this means an environment whereby more oxytocin is created. 

Start by reducing stress

One of the most important elements when it comes to creating reciprocity within the working environment, which of course, enhances productivity is to lower stress . This is because there are a number of neurochemicals that either inhibit or promote the brain’s release of oxytocin. One of the chemicals that inhibits oxytocin from developing is epinephrine, which is a stress hormone. When we are experiencing periods of high stress, epinephrine will spike the blood pressure and heart rate, which stops us from connecting to other people and feeling empathy. Therefore, in high-stress environments, creating the trust that is needed for your business to flourish is impossible. Interestingly, though, oxytocin release increases when there are moderate levels of stress, and so it is all about finding a balance. We like a challenge and we will often turn to others to assist us. If you create a workplace that is challenging without tipping people overboard, you can create the perfect environment for trust. People will feel the need to lean on one another and help one another, which will promote autonomy, which in turn promotes innovation to build a strong team. 

Building a high trust culture

When you take all of this into account, building a high trust culture whereby reciprocity lies at the core of productivity is all about designing a work environment whereby oxytocin can be released a lot of times throughout the day. Therefore, you can put together a set of actionable ways to design a business culture that bolsters and sustains interpersonal trust by understanding the brain circuit that oxytocin activates. This should include the likes of recognizing accomplishments through price, enabling participative decision-making and celebrating mistakes as opportunities to learn, and stimulating oxytocin through timed group challenges.

It does not matter whether you run an insurance company, like West Point Insurance Services , or you have a retail clothing store, you need to make sure that there is trust across your business. Trust will enable other areas of your business to flourish as a consequence. You will find that your workforce is more productive because they will not be second-guessing everything they do. Instead, they will be able to do their jobs with full confidence, and the difference that this can make is truly astounding. 

Remember that trust takes time to build but it can take seconds to destroy

While we are on the subject of trust, it is imperative to realize that while trust can take a while to build, it can also be destroyed in just a matter of seconds. This is why you cannot afford to take your eye off the ball when it comes to this area of your company. No one wants to have to embark on the process of rebuilding trust, as it is definitely not something that is easy to do. 

Final words on the troubling topic of trust in business

All things considered, we hope that this blog post has helped you to get a better understanding of the power of reciprocity in business and workplaces. There is no denying that this plays a critical role. However, trust is something that is incredibly difficult to measure and understand, which is why you need to look at it from a neuroscience point of view. 

Is Your Small Business an Appealing Place to Work?

By Julie Starr • 07 May, 2024
Bringing passionate, enthusiastic and talented people into your business is obviously a top priority when you’re growing a company. However, the only way to onboard the brightest talent is by ensuring that your brand is an appealing place to work. Driven employees have certain expectations when it comes to choosing their ideal workplace, so you need to show them what you have to offer. Whether you’re looking into your business ethos , or reassessing certain compensation plans, you can do so much to ensure you’re attracting the best possible employees. Consider some of the following methods and your small business will soon be the go-to place for skilled, driven and talented individuals to work. Pay and Benefits Should Be Competitive When you’re running a small business, the idea of paying regular salaries to your employees will always be on your mind. Keeping up with bills and ever rising costs will never be easy, but you have to offer a competitive salary in order to attract the right type of people to your business. You should also consider all elements of a compensation plan so that your employees always feel valued for their contributions at your workplace. It may be worth talking to your current staff members to see what would be most important to them so you can assess it in the near future. Create a Career Development Plan Working towards the next goal is certainly something that most career driven individuals are keen to do. Staying stagnant in the same role for a prolonged period of time can reduce motivation and cause issues with staff retention. Making sure that there are clear progression opportunities will help to bring in the most talented and focused employees who are willing to put in the work and climb the ladder within your business. Adopt an Eco-Conscious Approach More and more employees are looking for workplaces that put the environment at the forefront and actively choose sustainable processes. Taking care of the planet and going green with your business may help you to align with the right talent for your company. Although this might not be the priority of everyone, it’s certainly a very popular value that a number of people carry in the modern day. Working in an environment where sustainability is a priority is extremely appealing and these people will help you to work alongside like minded colleagues within your business. Your small business goes above and beyond you as an individual; it’s also about the people who work for you and the potential employees you could be onboarding very soon. You can be sure that you’re reaching out to the right type of people and attracting the best possible talent by offering competitive salaries and benefits and working in a sustainable way that always keeps the environment in mind too. Hopefully, these ideas will give you a huge advantage when it comes to bringing in new people who would be an asset to your business.

How to Make Clinical Trials More Sustainable

By Julie Starr • 07 May, 2024
Running a business means you should know how to follow a sustainable path toward success. But while this is straightforward in some industries, it can be trickier in other professions. One common problem involves scientific businesses and laboratory environments that often struggle to ensure full sustainability and eco-conscious approaches. So how can clinical trials become more sustainable? Here is some advice to consider. Early Planning Planning is always a useful tool when working out how to improve sustainability within any workplace. You already know what you need to do, so why not focus on planning the different stages to ensure you can avoid delays or other problems that could generate wasted resources and electricity? Planning in laboratory settings is arguably even more crucial as the controlled environment requires a careful approach that is entirely error-free to ensure success and genuine results that scientists can use. Digital Solutions Businesses are using digital solutions more often as these can accelerate lessons and help them find accurate information immediately. The same can apply to clinical trials where using AI will reduce costs and provide quick insights into what you have learned, allowing you to make the most of the data without worrying you’ve made a mistake. Furthermore, this approach can avoid delays and reduce the number of people required in the lab at any time, meaning you can use fewer resources and don’t need to worry about getting to and from the lab. Partnerships Partnering with other companies or organizations can also help clinical trials become more sustainable. You can collaborate to share information, which means you have an entire library of data at your disposal without needing to collect it yourself. This can provide fast and efficient solutions and you don’t need to waste time and energy going into the field to collect this data yourself. Finding The Balance As much as clinical trials can improve sustainability, they also need to know how to find the balance. Since many central laboratory services require face-to-face conversation, it’s important to determine when to hold these meetings and invite patients into the controlled laboratory environment. You know you need to collect samples, but you must do as much as possible to avoid wasting resources. Ensuring you get everything right the first time will make a significant difference and help maintain a sustainable approach. Recognizing Where to Improve No business is perfectly sustainable, so understanding where to improve will be a continuous process. Clinical trials and similar environments can identify strategies to reduce the carbon footprint and take a more eco-friendly approach to their work. Although you won’t reduce your emissions or environmental impact entirely, you can do as much as possible to minimize any damage by maintaining transparency and following compliance regulations that put your laboratory in the best position to excel in every area. Sustainable Building sustainable practices is vital for any industry, and scientific environments are no different. These tips should highlight how and why clinical trials can become more sustainable to improve conditions and reduce the impact on the planet while also striving to further humanity’s knowledge and ability to overcome diseases and other issues.
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