How should the leadership team build a sense of trust that will support the vision of becoming a top 10 HSC?

One of the strategies, which the leadership team should employ to build a sense of trust, is being with the employee or appearing as frequent as possible and especially in informal settings. Leaders have a culture of keeping away from employees and show up during formal meetings or when discussing mistakes done. Having frequent informal interactions will make workers have a feeling of connectedness and eliminate the fear they have of the position held by leaders. The workers become free to talk issues with the leadership because they have built a relationship. The freedom and connectedness can motivate the staffs to do what the leaders direct and therefore support the organization’s vision.

The leadership team should also value the staff as human other than production machines or units. The strategy relies on how leaders make decisions and create a list of expectations from the employees. Leaders should feel the staff when they are making decisions and think of the effect of their decisions on employees. For example, when deciding the reporting time, they should consider the conditions of mothers with children below six months. Staffs feel respected and that the leadership is caring. In return, the workers will maximize their efforts to offer the best results to the leaders as a way of appreciating them. They will support all projects, which the leaders come up with including the company goals.

The leadership team should also become a role model for the staff to build a culture of trust. There are some policies, which the leadership team set which they can also follow. Examples include reporting time and being timely in presenting reports. Leaders can also come early with shifts and ensure that they are timely with issues like paying workers or attending meetings. The culture makes the staff feel supported and that the policies are not set for themselves only. They will trust the targets set and policies because they have learned that leaders are conscious of making rules which they can also follow. The staff will, therefore, work towards the attainment of organization goals and support the leadership by following directions given.

Leadership can also open up to the employees and talk about different topics of fear and trust taking the lead. Opening up, in this case, is not necessarily sharing secrets or personal profile but showing that leaders are ordinary people. The strategy will make employees stop fearing and therefore trust the leadership. Fear makes employees follow the rules strictly without being creative in the best way to do the same task but produce better results beyond expectations. Also, talking openly about fear and trust will create a sense of support towards the staff. The workers will feel valued and supported in their duties and therefore put effort.

What activities could the executive team initiate that would empower more faculty and staff to act on the strategy?

One of the activities, which can empower staff to build trust on the leadership team, is having a frequent outing together. Although outings are common in most organizations, they occur once per year, and the leadership team does not involve itself. Also, the outings are rewards to employees but not meant to foster trust. With leaders present, the outings should be frequent and well strategized in ways that they will not turn into individual enjoyment but group interaction. The leaders should allow the workers to plan and organize all the activities but oversee the plan. Such an activity allows the staff to see leaders as ordinary people who have the same needs as theirs. They will see the sense of supporting them in their organization mission by carrying out their duties as required without follow-ups.

Another activity is planning and visiting staffs at their place of residence with the support of different projects. The activity will make staff see the leaders as humble, supportive and caring. In turn, the trust will develop in all targets and missions set by the leaders. Employees will know that the leaders do not make policies to which creates stress on them and therefore remain focused towards the set targets. Also, as a way of paying back the support from leaders, the staff will become more concerned with their tasks to give the best. The move will see the organization produce goods results from motivated staff.

The executive team can also initiate environment maintenance activities, which they also join to plant trees or collect litters regularly. The activity is an interactive forum where the leaders can expose themselves to the staff as they move around. The strategy will help to eliminate the fear of leadership positions employees have. Also, since it is an unofficial forum, workers will be able to ask questions and propose areas which they would like adjustments. Giving workers a chance to talk, comment and ask their leaders questions fosters a sense of trust. They realize that the leaders are willing to support them as they carry out their duties and therefore get .motivation to produce the best results.