How we build trust

In my last blog I spoke about near misses this week I want to discuss trust.  After all, it's the cornerstone of all our lives.
Trust is about reliability and doing the right thing. It's also a big factor that will determine success in your job and life.

Do colleagues perceive you as trustworthy and honest? How do you perceive them? Trust is a characteristic that builds respect and loyalty, as well as a supportive and safe work environment. Distrust increases tension and negative "Backs to the wall" behaviour, which can erode staff engagement of a team and ultimately productivity.

Trust

 



Below are 5 steps to build trust in the workplace:

1. Be Honest and communicate:
The first step in building trust is to be honest.

• Tell the truth even small lies are dishonest  
• Share honest information, even if it's to your disadvantage   
• Don't steal -others ideas or misuse them.

2. Be Consistent: 
 It's not enough to be trustworthy only on Mondays and Thursdays.

• Work to our 5 values set the highest standards  
• Do what you say you will do
• Fulfill your promises and if you can't, explain your reasons for this.

3. Be Honest in Non-verbal Communications:
Body language plays a large part in non-verbal communication. So, to increase trust through body language:

• Look others in the eye with comfortable and direct eye contact  
• Exhibit open body language by using open arms and not folded ones as this can cause a communication barrier.

4. Have a Mutually Beneficial Attitude:

Blatant self-serving agendas may cast doubt on one's ability to trust and be trusted. In reality, everyone has self-serving agendas, but it is the level of harm to others that determines the level of trust in that person.

5.To increase trust:

• Genuinely care about others and promote team work  
• Have beneficial relationships with open communications  
• Willingly accept information and reciprocate.

Where am I next week?

On Friday 28th April I will be available in the Chelmsford Bus station canteen between 11 am and 2.30 pm to help with any questions that you may have.

Save a Life. Near Miss/Hazard Reporting

This is the safety triangle 

Why you should care about this in Essex?

Within Essex, in any capacity you should care about safety because of the concepts of injury causation and prevention, we need to know about as many near misses as possible; this extensively helps us when working proactively.  In promoting this approach we can possibly prevent an incident from occurring rather than reacting when too late, after the actual event has happened.

Let's look at some facts:

·    A mathematical relationship exists between the numbers of accidents of   similar types and their severity

·    The most common cause of workplace accidents is unsafe acts of colleagues

·    Reducing the overall frequency of workplace injuries will produce an equivalent reduction in the number of severe injuries. 

SO WITH THIS IN MIND, HOW DO WE CAPTURE NEAR MISS REPORTING?

1.          Reward and recognize every opportunity when a colleague reports something, thank them and use a touch point
2.          Use the feedback forms (Hadleigh/Colchester as examples) then create your own or just have a conversation with your supervisor or manager and make them aware
3.          Encourage feedback from everyone on all road conditions in all seasons

4.      Start a 'Near miss reporting saves lives’ campaign.

·   Firstly, talk to colleagues, ask if they have experienced a NEAR MISS or HAZARD; welcome any news, challenging news gives us all the opportunity to be aware and alter our actions if need be, especially if it keeps everyone safe. Positive news means we are doing something right.  We are, after all, striving to be a generative company.

    Secondly, using PIC/NIC analysis proactively means we can look at near misses and carry an idea forward, preventing injuries. We learn from situations and experiences.

     If anybody wants support in actioning a local PIC/NIC, for  a behaviour that they would like to resolve, then please contact myself through the normal channels and I am more than happy to support.

 

    Next week, I will be in Hadleigh depot on the afternoon of Tuesday 11th April to answer any questions you may have and discuss any concerns.