Gaining Trust and Loyalty in the Workplace - The 7 Levels of Trust

Introduction

We’ve recently been talking a lot about the importance of the people in our work environments and how they make or break our business.

This discussion will focus on building the trust and ultimately the loyalty needed in order to have a strong and long-lasting relationship, what we refer to as having a sustainable relationship over time.

Remember, building the proper levels of trust that will ultimately gain the type of loyalty that will be beneficial to your organization will take time, and will require a great deal of effort and energy, but in the long run will save you a great deal of headache, heartache, and money. 

One last thing before we dive into these 7 levels of trust, we would like to preface that no one ever reaches 100% in each of these levels of trust, after all, we are human. However, it is important to do your best to implement as much of each of these levels as you possibly can, the more you implement, the more trust and loyalty you will gain over time. 

Now that we got through all that, let’s dive right in. 

The 7 Levels of trust: 

1. Empathy - Love, Compassion

Working through empathy helps mitigate the risks of contentions that will arise within the organization. People are complex and thus contentions and life events will come up over time. Showing understanding, growing our deep listening skills, showing compassion, and dealing with situations from a place of love rather than ego and anger - will go a long way. The person will feel that the leader feels for them and there is a true human connection.  

2. Attentiveness

We do not ignore the person that we are dealing with and we are fully present at the moment to pay attention to their needs. We make ourselves available at the right time and place and focus entirely on the needs of our people. 

3. Dedication

Have a strong resolve to be entirely there for our people no matter what. Nothing can come in between you and the people. You are not paying attention to anything else other than the people themselves. 

4. Candor

Always having the best interest in mind even when things don’t seem that way. When we are able to be candid with our people and tell them things openly and in an upfront way, it may at first come across as not caring, but upon deeper introspection, the people realize that by the leader being candid, it’s actually them being honest and straightforward. 

5. Consistency

The leader is the one that began the company or took over the company and thus is planning on being around for the long term (remember 100% of businesses fail because the founder quit!). By being consistent and always showing up or living by the set core values, core vision, mission, and focus of the company, over time the people will learn to trust that things are going to be sustainable around the company - this forms long-term trust.  

6. Devotion

A leader wishes the best for their people and company and would protect their business with all they got. The leader will go into “super-mode” to protect their business from any harm, enemy, evil, or anything that can harm their people. 

7. Generosity

The leader loves their people and business and has their best interest in mind, whether the people deserve it or not. No matter what, the leader is there for their people through thick and thin. Nothing the people ever do can change that. 

Conclusion 

When we consistently work on each area of this trust building, over time our people will learn to trust us and when we have a deeply rooted trust, that is when loyalty flourishes. Remember, this is an ongoing process and trust and loyalty can be lost relatively easily if not nurtured and grown. We do recognize that you are not here to “babysit” the people that make up your company and you are not here to put 100% of your time and energy into them (as you read in the introduction, there is no way that you’ll ever be 100% on each of these levels) but, we do encourage you to be as much as possible there and focused on your people. The more you are, the more your overall business will succeed - this will play a massive role in the longevity of your business and its sustainability. 

In this article, we took a very high-level look and approach to these 7 levels of trust, but we do encourage you to explore these levels further and feel free to reach out to us to learn more about how we can potentially help you implement these in your organization in a beneficial and sustainable way. 

Note: The 7 Levels of Trust have been adapted from the 7 Levels of Trust that are discussed in the book “The Gate of Trust” - By Bahya Ibn Paquda

Yermi Kurkus - is the co-founder of the Yermi Kurkus Consulting Group. With a family background in Entrepreneurship, a heart for community and philanthropy, and his love for psychology, Yermi dedicated his life to helping businesses thrive. Earned an MA in Organizational and Industrial Psychology and is in the process of attaining his Doctorate in that same field. Today, Yermi creatively partners up with businesses to help them increase their value, productivity, and profit by focusing on their operations and talent. The results of this help facilitate the buying or selling of businesses as well as assist in the overall well-being of the workplace and workforce.

To learn more about Yermi Kurkus feel free to follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. Or you can book your first 30-minute FREE consultation here.