Building the Virtuous Circle of Trust

During times of recession, feelings of distrust in organizations become acute, making it more necessary than ever to understand how trust is created and maintained. According to the authors, the relationship between managers and subordinates is fundamental to building and maintaining trust. In this article, they present a model based on the results of an international study and their own professional experience as coaches. Put simply, when the behavior of managers is trustworthy, employees trust their managers more; consequently, they become more involved in their work and demonstrate ¿organizational citizenship.¿ This greater involvement, in turn, strengthens their bosses¿ trust in them, which reinforces reciprocal attitudes of trust. In this way, a virtuous circle of trust-building is generated in organizations.