A lot of managers want employees to go the extra mile, yet they treat the relationship like a transaction.

That mismatch is where trust starts to crack.

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi talks with award-winning author Hanna Hasl-Kelchner about the workplace social contract: the unwritten agreement that determines whether employees lean in, pull back, or start polishing their résumés.

Hanna breaks down the five “speed bumps” that can block trust: approachability, recognition, bias, workload management, and conflict management.

From overlooked ideas to overloaded high performers, this conversation gives managers a practical way to spot where trust may be getting stuck, and a roadmap to get the relationship back on track.

Episode Highlights

What a workplace social contract really means
Why employees stop going the extra mile
The five trust speed bumps every manager needs to address
The subtle cues that may hurt your approachability as a manager
When recognition can backfire
The boundaries needed to build fairness

About Hanna Hasl-Kelchner:

Hanna's a no-nonsense workplace fairness strategist and the award-winning author of 'Seeking Fairness at Work - Cracking the New Code of Greater Employee Engagement, Retention & Satisfaction.' Her straight talk and practical tools have helped organizations from startups to S&P 500 companies tackle the messy realities beneath the surface of employee engagement and retention.

Connect with Hanna:

Linkedin | Facebook | Blue Sky | Youtube

Watch This Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/09HooWAQ7vM

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Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:

T. Kähkönen, et al., “Employee trust repair: A systematic review of 20 years of empirical research and future research directions,” Journal of Business Research, 130, 98-109 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.03.019
Rousseau, D.M. “Psychological and implied contracts in organizations,” Employ Respons Rights J 2, 121–139 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01384942

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