Great workplaces aren’t defined
by eye-popping perks, pay and
benefits. Rather, what these
workplaces have in common is a cul-ture
of trust. Great Place to Work Insti-tute
(GPTW) has set the standard for
defining and measuring what it means
to be a high-trust workplace. A key
insight from GPTW’s research is that
trust-based cultures not only drive
superior business performance, they
also foster employee well-being.
This connection between trust and
well-being deserves closer scrutiny,
given that more employers are trying
to move beyond traditional occupa-tional
health, safety and wellness by
embracing the more holistic concept of
employee well-being.
Linking trust and well-being
According to the International Labour
Organization, well-being includes, “all
aspects of working life, from the quality
and safety of the physical environment,
to how workers feel about their work,
their working environment, the climate
at work and work organization.”
Employers can improve employee
well-being by taking an integrated and
comprehensive approach to promot-ing
physical, psychological and emo-tional
health and safety. Most critical is
demonstrated commitment from lead-ers
to improve employee well-being and
embedding this goal into the organiza-tion’s
culture.
GPTW’s research shows how this
happens. Employees trust managers
who are concerned about their well-being.
Trustworthy managers listen
and respond to employee input and
are open and honest about change.
Strong core values – such as fair-ness,
respect and integrity – positively
guide day-to-day interactions among
co-workers, between managers and
employees, and between employees
and their customers or clients, suppli-ers,
business partners and the larger
community. Employees take pride in
their work and feel a true sense of
camaraderie with co-workers. The syn-ergy
between trust, pride and camara-derie
inspires collaboration, creativity
and innovation. As a result, employees
flourish and their overall work experi-ences
are positive.
Assessing well-being
That’s because a high-trust culture
promotes psychological well-being,
which is a central goal of the National
Standard of Canada for Psychological
Health and Safety in the Workplace
(the Standard). Launched in 2013 as
a joint initiative of the Mental Health
Commission of Canada, Canadian
Standards Association and the Bureau
L E A D E R S H I P
High-trust Workplaces
Promote Employee Well-being
Demonstrated commitment from leaders is needed
make this a part of an organization’s culture
By Graham Lowe, PhD
ammentorp/123RF
Trustworthy
managers
listen and
respond to
employee
input and
are open and
honest about
change.
de normalization du Québec, the vol-untary
Standard has encouraged more
Canadian employers to address work-place
mental health issues.
A better understanding of the con-nection
between trust and psycho-logical
well-being can be obtained by
analyzing GPTW survey data using the
Standard’s framework of workplace
psychological health and safety.
At the core of GPTW’s methodology
is its Trust Model. The model is the basis
for its Trust Index Survey, an assess-ment
tool used annually by thousands
of organizations in over 90 countries.
Survey results are used to produce
the U.S. list of 100 Best Companies
to Work For, published in Fortune and
the Canadian list of Best Workplaces,
published in the Globe and Mail. Great
workplaces invest in their people know-ing
this creates competitive advantage.
Great Place to Work Institute Canada
provided data from 48,281 respondents
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