"For example, when I turn up for my first day in a new job, I have a set of expectations about what that job is going to be like, what the company is going to be like to work for, what the team dynamics might be, and so on.

"These expectations come from a range of different places, including what was outlined in the job ad, what I was told in the interview, what the company website said and my own previous experiences.

"We also all have a set of needs, which actually drive us into the relationship or interaction in the first place.

"In the example above, I would have a need for basic things like a salary, but also for things like recognition and reward, a sense of belonging, a sense of security - we use Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs when we talk about the type of needs we all have.

"The third component of a trusted relationship is the promises that are made to us by the other party. These could be implicit, such as promises embedded in a brand, and explicit promises, such as those written into contracts.

"In our example above, the company has made promises to me about remuneration, the actual position and what support I will get, the other benefits available to me, and the company has made promises via its website about its values, what it stands for, what its customers say about it, and so on.

"Our decision to trust people, companies, products and services is based on these three core things:

• Expectations
• Needs
• Promises

"We call them ENPs™.

"The interaction of these three things is critical to our ability to trust."

Does that ring a bell for you? Vanessa goes on to point that:

"In a study by Watson Wyatt in 2002, it was found that companies with HIGH TRUST levels generated total returns to shareholders at almost THREE TIMES that of companies with LOW LEVELS of trust."

Labels: Communication, Morale, Trust