What are the key indicators or metrics of trust in your field or industry?

As a psychologist, one of the most profound indicators of trust I see is authentic vulnerability in session. When clients freely share deeply personal struggles, choices and feelings, it shows their willingness to be truly known and understood without judgment. Over time, satisfaction also emerges through success in working through difficult issues, enhancing well-being and achievement of therapeutic goals. Feedback too helps gauge the caring support provided. Most importantly, follow through on recommendations and a continued willingness to face challenges with courage shows the trust we've built empowers lasting change.

Here are two indicators to watch when you’re focused on employee engagement: 1) Employee referrals When people like working for you, they will encourage their friends to work for you also. If employee referrals don’t make up a good portion of your new hires, either the referral process is too difficult or your employees choose not to spread the word. 2) Internal transfers and promotions Promotions used to be baked into full-time jobs, but it’s harder to get promoted now. The existence of advancement opportunities is a huge plus for your culture and for retention and engagement. If you have a steady flow of internal transfers & promotions, you’re doing something right. If not, it’s likely you’ve got some frustrated people on your team.

Your CEO’s words and actions are the most important indicator of the health of your culture. Their actions, of course, are more important than their words. If there’s a lot of internal debate, the trust level is high. People aren’t afraid to share opposing viewpoints. If it’s normal and fine to go to your boss’s boss to talk about something, there’s a high level of trust. When the trust level is low, employees are forbidden to go over their manager’s head. Employee engagement surveys are not the best way to gauge trust. Employees often report that they feel pressure to give their manager a positive review. In the best case, your CEO and other execs talk about and role model trust every day.

The best way to build trust is not through a program, policy or system. It’s in the daily conversations and decisions every manager makes. You build trust by asking your teammates how you can help them and then delivering. It’s a slow, patient process. An employee’s direct manager is the most important person in their life on the job. Their relationship with their manager can be as important as their relationship with their significant other. A huge part of any manager’s job is to build trust with their teammates. It takes a lot of listening. It takes consistent one-on-one discussion. You build trust when your ask your teammates for their input on department matters. Building trust takes time, but the payoff is enormous.

Turnover rates can be a huge indicator of trust at a workplace. High voluntary turnover rates can indicate a lack of trust in the organization, while low turnover rates suggest that employees feel valued and trusted.

As a mental health professional, cultivating client trust requires considerations from many dimensions. Upholding privacy and confidentiality is essential, as is maintaining openness to feedback on how one can improve cultural awareness over time. Documentation of informed consent processes and consistent availability for appointments or in emergencies aids reliability too. But ultimately, trust stems from perceiving one's counselor as truly present and empathetic - observing their ability to understand each individual's experiences non-judgmentally provides a less quantifiable yet powerful measure of the foundation on which an effective therapeutic alliance rests.