People:  Trust in Small Environments - Ron Witkowski  [03/24/08]  -  Download as .pdf

People: Trust in small scale work environments High trust is a boon to any organization, however in a small organization it is a necessity. Consider a local deli owner. The deli owner is passionate about creating a high quality product, service, and environment for his/her customers. Now initially the owner may try and perform all the necessary functions for success by themselves, but after some initial success they will realize the need for a competent staff to help them fulfill their dreams. Now the question arises... "Who can I trust to run my business like I would?" The answer would most likely surprise the owner.

Trust can be cultivated within most new employees; but in order to do so certain steps must be followed by the owner:

1. Get the right person for the job
    a. Don't rush a hiring decision; hiring the wrong person can often be more costly in the long run
    b. Look for people you like personally and could see yourself spending a lot of time with
    c. Be fair and prepared to compensate them for what they are worth

2. Be genuine
    a. Set your expectations from the start and encourage questions
    b. Define their freedoms and allow them to make decisions
    c. Empower them to make an impact, not to be a drone
    d. Do not micro manage them, trust them to get it done

3. Recognize them
    a. Employees need to know how they are doing, when is the last time you said "Hey, great job doing _____!" to a low level employee of yours?
    b. Provide opportunity. A deli owner may not have a lot of growth potential at his deli but he most likely has connections to other people if the employee ever needs to move on (assuming the employee may be a student.)

4. Do the right thing
    a. If you want to create trust you need to be an example of it, don't let them see you swindling customers, talking negatively about other employees, etc.
    b. You are being judged by them 24/7, remember that.
    c. Have fun.

"Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest." -Mark Twain

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-Ron Witkowski

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