Have a Little Faith

The Hewitt Best Employers and the BRW Great Places to Work studies have generated many media appearances featuring companies with high engagement scores and office perks.

To some, these companies represent best practice and innovation in culture and people management, but to others these articles attract a rolling of the eyes along the lines of “it’s easy for some”.

The truth is any organisation, no matter the number of people or the size of the budget can be a great place to work if they accept that what they need to have first is trust. Trust underpins the belief in the organisations purpose.

At RedBalloon we believe Trust is the foundation of a Great Place to Work it stabilises relationships when times are tough, when important decisions need to be made and enables us to remain focused on the future.

Here are three elements that form the reason why RedBalloon has been ranked as the ninth Best Place to Work in Australia (for the second year running).

Do you trust who you work for? (Do you believe in what the business is doing and how it is run?)

When employees trust leaders to make the right decisions and look out for their interests, then they gain respect for them too. Here are some things that contribute to that trust:

• When management recognises honest mistakes are part of doing business
• When management authentically seeks and responds to suggestions and ideas.
• When management shows a sincere interest in me as a person, not just an employee.
• When managers show appreciation for good work and extra effort.
• When we are given the resources and equipment to get our jobs done

Do you trust your colleagues?(Do you believe in what the business is doing and how it is run?)

Manager’s aren’t always the bad guys, camaraderie between co-workers is equally important as trusting the boss.

• Is there a sense of “family” or “team” feeling in your organisation
• When people join the company they are made to feel welcome
• People feel at home when they change jobs or units
• There’s a sense of fun and celebration at times
• Can you express yourself freely

Does the business trust you?

When we have trust we also to a certain extent predict what other people will do and what situations will occur. Does your business surround itself with employees it can trust? That it can count on. This is where a shared set of values are so important.

This is also about empowering employees to make decisions so they don’t have to ask or waste time decision making due to mistrusting one another and not wanting to take the blame.

We practice what we preach, so if your business could benefit from our employee engagement and reward and recognition strategies please don’t hesitate to contact our Corporate Team

We practice what we preach, so if your business could benefit from our employee engagement and reward and recognition strategies please don’t hesitate to contact our Corporate Team

Author: Kate Rolfe, RedBalloon

Date: 13/07/2010

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