TRUST - DEMONSTRATING COMPETENCY
Relationships matter
Trust – Demonstrating competency
People want to work with, and for, people they trust.
Competency, as discussed in our first blog, is commonly described as key to building trust. But what does it mean to be competent? Competency is often described as knowing what to do (technical/professional knowledge) and how to do it (practical knowledge/skills). Trust can be built when an individual or organisation is judged as being technically competent in their actions.
Dairy farmer Roy* had to choose a Nutrient Management Consultant to help him complete a regional council consent for water quality purposes. Roy heard from other farmers about ‘a pretty renowned consultancy firm’ and he chose one of their advisors. Roy described their consultant:
He's a really nice guy to deal with, personality-wise. I found him practically very reassuring. He’s milked cows, he's done the hard graft and put the cups on, you can tell that as soon as you meet him. I think that's very important. He just knows the finer things really about feed budgets and all that. He knew the language and he gave us good advice and I felt he was working for us actually, working for the farmer.
Let’s unpack that a bit more. Roy talks about the consultant’s practical knowledge/skills (‘He’s milked cows’, ‘put the cups on’) AND his technical/professional knowledge (‘finer things really about feed budgets’). Roy believes this consultant knows what to do and how to do it. And - Roy likes him (‘really nice guy to deal with, personality-wise’).
What was the result of their first interaction around getting a consent? Roy and business partner hadn’t used a farm consultant before. After working with this individual to complete their consent, they employed this consultant as their farm consultant. Roy trusts their consultant and based on his advice, made a number of farm system changes for water quality and farm management reasons. Roy has recommended this consultant to other farmers.
Do you want to be the one that others recommend? That others talk about as being technically and practically competent?
Interested to learn more about the dynamics of trust? Interested in rural social science research? I can help you.
Please get in touch with me at Heather Collins Consulting.
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*Roy was a dairy farmer participant in an in-depth social science study about farmers’ responses to environmental policy interventions. Roy is a pseudonym.
