This is a GREAT study, although it was not an extensive study. But when I learned of it from Pete Cutbush, I found the research and thought it was spot on; although that may be my biases shining through. As I was taught by all my former business leaders, leading with safety can influence ALL aspects of the organization. So learning that CARING was found to be the most important precursor of trust was not a surprise. And how do we show we care? Through strong financials? Great production numbers? We lead with SAFETY, and this element shows we CARE for the men and women doing our dirty and dangerous work.
Highlights
- Trust and distrust were found to be opposites on a continuum; this supports organisations focusing on trust development.
- Care was found to be the most important precursor of trust, contrary to predictions that honesty would be the most important.
- Industry context appeared to influence trust formation; the stability of the oil and gas sector better enabled a culture of care.
- Distrust factors could be sector agnostic, as honesty, care, and concern were highly ranked across the two sectors.
According to the study, below are eight (8) qualities leaders need to build TRUST, ranked in significance from most to least importance:
1. Care for their team members
2. Openness to listen to their team members’ views
3. Concern for each employee’s individual circumstances
4. Honesty regarding safety
5. Consistency in dealing with challenging situations
6. Competency relevant for their role
7. Good moral values
8. Expertise on safety policies/procedures
Note which is first and, interestingly, which is last.
Safety performance, as indicated by incident trends and injury rates, is closely tied to levels of trust in site-level personnel within the oil and gas sector. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the development of trust and distrust is vital to further improving safety. This study examined the most important to least important safety leadership qualities that influence trust and distrust formation among site-level employees. Building upon the work in the construction sector, this study explored views in a different sector, the oil and gas sector.
A total of 59 UK oil and gas technicians participated in a paired comparison activity on trustworthiness qualities, which created consistent rankings for trust and distrust. The rankings for distrust development were similar to those from the construction sector, with honesty being the most important quality. However, trust rankings differed for the oil and gas sector since care was most influential, rather than honesty. This is consistent with the stability in the oil and gas sector enabling effective communication of care towards team members and a leader demonstrating openness to listen to team members views. The top four qualities for trust development were the same as those for distrust which supports the view that trust and distrust are a single construct at opposite ends of a continuum, rather than separate constructs implying that strategies to support trust can also reduce distrust.
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0925753524001437
