Canadian HR Reporter

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014 CANADIAN HR REPORTER & STRATEGIC CAPABILITY NETWORK Centuries-old hierarchical ranking systems within organizations continue to breed trust issues and cynicism amongst employees, according to two Ontario professors. Speaking at a recent SCNetwork event in Toronto, Catherine Con- nelly and Kristyn Scott said both knowledge hiding and organiza- tional cynicism remain prevalent in today's workplaces. e two issues deal with mis- trust, said the academics, noting potential remedies lie within the scope of human resources. Knowledge hiding Hiring workers for their knowl- edge — only to have them hide it — is a "crucial problem" for employ- ers, according to Connelly, associ- ate professor of human resources and management at McMaster University's DeGroote School of Business in Hamilton, Ont. Workers use various methods to hide knowledge — from ratio- nalizing their refusal to share in- formation, to using evasive tactics to avoid a response, or just "play- ing dumb," she said. Refusing to share knowledge results in lower productivity and hurt relationships amongst col- leagues, said Connelly. "ey have to either go find somebody else to ask, or they have to figure it out themselves from first principles… and it's just such a distraction from what they're trying to do. It'd be so much easier if someone just gave them the an- swer," she said. "(And) when you hide knowl- edge from somebody, they take it personally, even if it's not sup- posed to be personal. ey will take it that way, and distrust people who hide knowledge from them… ese behaviours often have long consequences." Knowledge hiders typically do not trust the colleague making the query, said Connelly. Colleagues are known to eval- uate each others' ability, compe- tence, benevolence and integrity, seeking out perceived similarities in hopes of building up trust, she said. And while employees will be forthcoming with task-based, non-personal information, they often tend to keep their innova- tive ideas under lock and key. e rise of gig employees has added another layer to this issue, with many contract workers complet- ing critical work without neces- sary tools or information. The hierarchical framework on which many organizations are founded is partially to blame, said Connelly. "It's baked into us," she said. "It's just assumed that this is the way it should be. Some of these issues are so fundamental. I don't see any quick fixes for them." But there are ways for employ- ers to begin eradicating knowl- edge hiding issues, said Connelly. Recognizing staffers who natu- rally go out of their way to help others is a start. Additionally, it is possible to recruit "pro-social" employees by teasing out their demeanour through pointed questions and reference checks at the job appli- cation stage, she said. "It's not how nice they are. I mean, people can be agreeable and really friendly — and still hide." Technological solutions such as knowledge repositories or forums also exist, but are often "compli- cated and sticky," and therefore not recommended, said Connelly. "e most important thing is for employees to actually trust each other. is is not something that will happen overnight… If, for some reason, there are groups within your organizations that just do not interact informally with each other, then there will be information asymmetries and just no opportunity to exchange information." Trust is built through informal interactions found via opportuni- ties such as a company softball team, she said. Organizational cynicism Defined as a negative attitude, be- haviour or belief towards a group, organizational cynicism is born out of broken promises — per- ceived or otherwise, according to Scott, associate professor of hu- man resource management and organizational behaviour at Ryer- son University in Toronto. "People who view themselves more negatively are likely to be cynical," she said. "So, individu- als who have lower self-esteem, individuals who have an exter- nal locus of control — meaning that they see that things happen to them, rather than being an in- dividual who believes that they make things happen." "When we look at the broad outcomes of organizational cyni- cism, we see that, by and large, they are negative. People are less happy with their jobs. ey are less committed to their organiza- tions. Specifically, it's less of that good commitment that we want." And despite the negative at- titude, many cynical workers re- main with their employer out of obligation or a lack of options, said Scott. A worker's cynical attitude has a larger effect on a manager than vice-versa, according to her research. Both supervisor and employee can perceive a negative relationship even if only the sub- ordinate is cynical. Interestingly, when both man- ager and employee share an atti- tude of cynicism, the relationship is generally viewed as positive, said Scott. "It's only when one person in that relationship is cynical do we see the impact on relationship quality." High-quality relationships are often fuelled by a manager's de- sire to reach out to subordinates in an effort to get to know them on a deeper level, she said. "When a supervisor gives opportunities for skill develop- ment, when they give helpful performance feedback (or) rec- ognize accomplishments, when they give these individuals posi- tive attention, we found that that mitigated some of the effects of this predisposition to be cynical," said Scott. "In some respects, the onus is on the leader because the leader is the one who usually sets the tone for those relationships. e onus is really on the leader to make sure that they are really trying to actively engage with all subordi- nates, regardless of whether or not they are similar to them." Giving all employees a voice is a critical method towards estab- lishing a more positive workplace, she said. "Listening to people who are high in organizational cynicism may actually provide new in- sights, because these people tend to be really good at spotting flaws. ey tend to be very critical and sometimes that's really helpful," said Scott. "ere needs to be a mecha- nism where everybody is heard and where people feel comfort- able being the dissenting voice." Media coverage of corporate misdeeds also fuels cynicism within the workforce and amongst jobseekers, she said. "at does pose an additional challenge for organizations in terms of trying to sort of mitigate, but also harness that." Tackling trust issues Knowledge hiding, organizational cynicism prevalent within organizations: Professors BY MARCEL VANDER WIER Credit: REDPIXEL.PL (Shutterstock)

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