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Toronto, Sept. 3, 2009 — At a time when declining trust in business is accelerating, one Canadian company has made earning the trust of its stakeholders the cornerstone of its business. A Conference Board of Canada profile, The Dalton Company Ltd.: Building on a Foundation of Trust, describes how this professional building services firm has created a culture of trust and implemented systems to ensure that its values are translated into actions for its stakeholders. 

“Trust is not an intangible, ‘soft’ concept, but a key issue in business today,” said Andrew Dalton, CEO of The Dalton Company Ltd.  “In a challenging economy, a corporate culture of earning, predicting, and measuring trust will prove critical to any organization’s sustainability. If you don’t have clear standards, you can’t hold people accountable.” 

“Dalton has put in place systems and processes that have made the company a model for restoring trust in the construction industry as a whole,” said Michael Bassett, Senior Research Associate, The Conference Board of Canada.  

This trust model is based on accountability and leadership. The company becomes involved early to understand clients’ needs and remains involved throughout the building process. 

One key factor for Dalton in building trust is the way in which issues are resolved. The company devised a weekly issue resolution mechanism that identifies potential solutions for problems as they arise within each project. The process begins with the responsible lead for the project. Known as the “Yellow”, this person reports on the project  to the leadership team at Dalton each week. With this process, there is no finger-pointing; instead, the team works together to find solutions. 

In their Alternative Approach to Building, Dalton positions customers as the priority and focuses on their needs –  or their Definition of Success (DOS). The development of the DOS at the start of a project is an important trust building exercise, as it creates accountability between customers and employees. While success is typically defined as having the project delivered well, on time and on budget, Dalton delves deeper to understand all the underlying motivations. Once the DOS is established, Dalton measures the performance of its project team based on the client’s feedback in relation to the DOS. 

While demonstrating trust externally is integral, the company also believes strongly in showing and rewarding trust internally: Trust is integrated into hiring practices and Dalton’s bonus system. The organization’s recruiting process focuses on whether potential employees will fit within the culture of the organization and employees are rewarded for demonstrating trustworthy behaviour. 

“You can train skills; I don’t think you can train trust,” says Andrew Dalton. 

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