Measuring Trust And Commitment

If you’re after a laugh, turn to the social sciences.
They quickly realised they have a real problem in measuring stuff going on inside minds.
Take happiness, for example. Early social scientists asked people to self-report. Something like on a scale of 1 to 10, how happy would you say your life is overall?
Some would say five, others seven.
And none of those numbers meant anything.
My favourite test of this was when they asked this question near a payphone. (Why no, this study wasn’t recent, how did you know?)
For the test group, they planted a small amount of change in the coin return. I’m talking 20c or something. For the control group, nothing.
It turns out that finding an irrelevantly small amount of money is enough to boost your reported happiness score by, on average, a whole point.
The test group averaged something like 7.5 out of ten, compared to 6.5 for the control.
So there’s the solution for unhappiness, right? Hide coins in unexpected places.
Try it with your people and see!
Well… maybe not…
People, as we now know, are awful at self-reporting. We pick a number that feels right and go with it.
That means asking your employees how much they trust your organisation… well, you might as well ask them to pick a random number.
But that’s not to say you can’t measure trust and commitment.
You just have to be cunning.
You have to trap it like a hunter.
Here’s how:
You start with a survey. Yes, I know, I just spend hundreds of words mocking self-reporting. Roll with it for a second.
A standard Likert-style questionnaire is fine – you know, the ones with a series of statements that ask you whether you strongly disagree or agree with each.
In it, you list specific statements that reflect some aspect of trust. For example:
“I often feel energised at work.”
“My boss often micromanages me.”
“I am proud to work for this organisation.”
You gather these responses before the change initiative begins.
Why?
Because while the responses might tell you little, comparing them tells you a lot.
If you chuckled about the 20c story above, this is what I mean. A lone happiness rating told you nothing about human nature. But comparing two happiness ratings tells you a lot.
Maybe the first round of the survey will tell you something, like if your employees are enthusiastic but exhausted.
Maybe it’ll just be a bunch of noise.
Either way, when you repeat the survey in six or 12 months, it gives you something to compare it to.
I trust the swing will be in your favour.

The best way to enhance your organisation is with the ultimate advantage: trust.
But how do you measure something like that, let alone improve it?
Especially if your workforce is stretched thin, cynical and burned out on change?
There are simple, effective and proven strategies you can begin implementing today. I know you can unlock the creativity, productivity and joy of your employees.
Learn how today with my free white paper and all the resources you need to launch your own trust-based change initiative:
https://battenandking.com/advantage

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