Achieving a 'High-Trust' Culture in Your Restaurant

'No quality or characteristic is more important than trust.'

- Patrick Lencioni, 'The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team'

'Almost everywhere we turn, trust is on the decline. Trust in our culture at large, in our institutions, and in our companies is significantly lower than a generation ago. Research shows that only 49% of employees trust senior management, and only 28% believe CEOs are a credible source of information. Consider the loss of trust and confidence in the financial markets today. Indeed, "trust makes the world go 'round," and right now we're experiencing a crisis of trust.'

- Stephen M. R. Covey

If you've ever worked in an environment in which staff trusted owners, supervisor and/or senior management to be honest and open, and trusted co-workers to have their best interest at heart, you might have experienced a certain "flow" to tasks. Everyone was likely focused on the goals of the organization. It was true teamwork.

And if you've ever worked in an organization in which owners, supervisor and/or senior management lacked transparency in their objectives and staff was suspicious of the motives of their co-worker, you might have found that communication seemed stilted and the culture "political."

People "put their heads down" and simply went through the motions of their duties.

We believe it is safe to assume that you didn't become an independent businessperson in the hospitality industry to run the latter type of organization.

In any organization, lack of trust can create crippling dysfunction, and it can be difficult to recognize and more difficult to repair. In an independent restaurant, which depends on relatively few people to work at a fast pace and requires a steady flow of communication, it can be very costly.