5.4.1 Communicating to develop trust and confidence
It is rare that organisations today do not identify the importance of behaviours and the frontline manager's role as a model and reinforcer of positive behaviours. The concept of treating people with integrity, respect and empathy is innate to people, and as such often has to be reinforced through deliberate communication strategies. Integrity, respect and empathy all involve one person acting and communicating in relation to another person's values, beliefs and expectations. To instil trust and confidence managers have to communicate in empathetically with their own staff and peers.
Praise
It is easy to criticise and find examples of work that individuals have done incorrectly. Equally, it is easy to set your own standard and impose that on others without finding out if there is a better way to complete tasks, or even if the staff member knows a better way to complete a task.
Often the hardest thing to do is to offer praise for those things that an individual does well. While some may see this as 'soft', it is important that we recognise the achievements of others.
The ability to communicate in a positive manner, to encourage people to improve, to actively seek feedback from others, and to avoid conflict often relates to how well we recognise that all people have some common needs.
Physical survival
We work to earn money. We seek job security. We make investments and buy houses that have to be paid for from our wages and salaries. Conflict inevitably occurs when our physical survival is threatened.
Recognition
We need to feel worthwhile, to feel valued and be recognised for our value. We need to have a reason for our existence. In our encounters in the workplace, we put a price on our worth. Conflict inevitably arises when others view us as being of less value than the value we put on ourselves.
Independent capability
We need to feel capable. We need to feel adequate, strong and, in that sense, independently able to achieve what we want. This involves being accountable and some individuals find this difficult to accept. They want independence without accountability. Our independence is threatened when we are asked to undertake tasks that we do not understand. When independence is threatened, cooperation breaks down and conflict results.
Affiliation
Affiliation refers to a connection, a 'belonging' in a community where we are accepted. While we seek independence, we also seek a reference for that independence. Our needs are meaningful only in a communal context of relationships. The organisation and our work teams need to provide affiliation with a meaningful frame of reference (the corporate culture) in which we can contribute. The affiliation need is very strong. When people are denied a community culture they often form a counterculture. Conflict results when affiliation is threatened: that is, people are excluded.
Purpose
We need a purpose for our existence, a reason to get up every morning, a reason to continue. Some people sustain a belief system by which they interpret their life experiences. Others find a purpose in the fulfilment of goals which they set and try to accomplish at work. Conflict often occurs in the workplace because people are asked to do things without understanding the purpose. If purpose is clear then we make it easy for the other person to understand why we are asking them to do one thing and not another.
© Graham 1993
Figure 4 A hierarchy of workplace needs
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