GHP September 2015

ghp September 2015 | 13 believed other people could be trusted; today it is down to 29%. You have only to look at our major institutions, the banks, MP’s, the police, social media, the Internet – VW! People simply don’t know who to trust any more. Leadership in the NHS has worked hard to build trust as evidenced by the permanent Friends and Family Test that runs across all departments; large or small. Whilst maintaining an understated and hardworking presence, no one is in any doubt of what the NHS stands for and what we can expect. With the rise of social media, public opinion is being given ever greater credence. Of course it’s a complete nonsense to say we “trust the NHS”. The NHS con- sists of thousands of organisations from the largest hospital to the smallest practice. Yet we lump them all together in our decision to trust. And we’re doing the same with pharma. I doubt many people could list 10 companies or explain anything about their values, their beliefs, their top achieve- ments. With pharma off the radar, the nation knows nothing about the crucial ‘other half’ of the NHS. Historically that may not have mattered, but trust is a measure that you are delivering value. Standard sales wisdom states that where value is missing, it’s all down to the cheapest option; which is where we would seem to be with drugs for the NHS. LEADING THE TRUST MOVEMENT In a world of rapid change, some individuals, teams and organisations consistently succeed while others are in a never-ending struggle. The common denominator that separates the two is sustainable trust. When your company is trusted by its customers, it naturally attracts repeat business – often through word of mouth. There are five different factors of trust, and our repu- tation is built around which of these others can trust us the most. These five factors are based around the degree to which the individual, team, or organisation can be consistently relied to do the following: • INNOVATION: come up with creative solutions and plans • COMMUNICATION: share information and listen effectively • SERVICE: look after customers and team mem- bers • MEASUREMENT: measure and refine own performance • RESILIENCE: remain resilient and positive. The most important word in the above is ‘consistently’. As soon as the whole organisation presents a consist- ent approach and behaviour, trust begins to rise. TRUSTED LEADERSHIP Wellbeing Dynamics believe that trust is best imple- mented top-down, inside-out. That is because, when the leadership teams are exhibiting trusted behav- iours, word spreads both down the line and out to cus- tomers and clients. A company takes its identity from its leaders and the first step is to profile the top team. Every profile has a different area of the five in which they are naturally trusted, and specific areas where trust breaks down. For example, a creator [innova- tion] can always be trusted to come up with new ideas but not always to complete on time or to reliably follow through on routine tasks. It just so happens that the area we are most trusted in is also the area we naturally move to because it’s what we love the most. Building teams that enable us to trust each member’s natural strengths, while support- ing each on their challenges, grows trust at the level of the team and further to the company. From there, trust can sweep through the organisation. We have a series of online trust tools that can be implemented at leadership, manager and staff levels to enable you easily to launch and monitor trust. If you are interested to see where you are personally most trusted, here is a link to our staff profiler – The Frequency Test. Click here http://bit.ly/FrequencyTest and we will be delighted to send you a token. LEARNINGS Pharma companies are absolutely crucial for world- wide wellbeing. They are the rock upon which the NHS stands. Without many of the drugs, patient life expectancy would be zero. Things have changed, and I believe it’s time to make people more aware of your presence and the invaluable work you do. We are all being encouraged to see our doctors less and take care of ourselves. By increasing levels of trust, you can unleash the very real prospect of not only enhanc- ing your relationship within the NHS but also of becom- ing the go-to source to support the nation’s health. AUTHOR: This article was written by Caroline Day: Director of Wellbeing Dynamics. Caroline is an influ- ential authority on trust and leadership and a regular contributor in professional publications. She is the inspiration behind the Wellbeing Dynamics range of online business tools: including the Frequency Test and Corporate Trust Audit. If you are interested to see where you are personally most Trusted, here is a link to our staff profiler – The Frequency Test. Click http://bit.ly/FrequencyTest and we will be delighted to send you a Token. For The Frequency Test. Click http://bit.ly/FrequencyTest If you would like to comment on this article or discuss solutions, please contact us: t 020 8213 5898 e info@wellbeing dynamics.com w www.wellbeingdynamics.com industry insight