“When people honor each other, there is trust established that leads to synergy, interdependence and deep respect. Both parties make decisions and choices based on what is right, what is best, what is valued most highly.”
– Blaine Lee
Trust is an important part of every successful business. Building trust with employees is an ongoing process that requires to be a reliable and confident leader. Trust can inspire employees, increase motivation levels, boost productivity, and encourage engagement.
Trust is not a benefit that comes packaged with the nameplate; it must be earned, and it takes time. Trust is like a forest. It takes a long time to grow and can burn down with just a touch of carelessness. Trust is requisite in the workplace so that everyone feels they are there for the right reasons, working toward common goals that are made transparent. Here are some reasons why trust is important in the workplace.
- Trust helps avoid hostility on your team, which likewise helps avoid unproductive traits such as passive aggression.
- Trust helps employees be more accepting of change, an inevitability in all companies.
- Trust helps employees be more receptive to negative feedback. If they know you have their best interest at heart, they’re more likely to take your negative feedback in a positive manner.
- Trust helps motivate your team.
- Trust increases employees’ loyalty to their company, and therefore their ambassadorship, which subsequently functions as an exceptional recruitment tool.
- Trust helps employees feel comfortable sharing their ideas, which is key in the forward movement of any organization.
- Trust boosts morale and nurtures a positive company culture.
- Trust increases productivity and therefore quality work, leading to happier customers.
You can’t always control the level of trust in your organization as a whole; trust is lacking, so is happiness, and when employees lack enthusiasm for their jobs, their work suffers. But you can act in ways that promote trust in your immediate work environment. When it comes to leadership, few things are as important as your employees’ trust in you. As a leader, it’s up to you to build and maintain trust in your workplace. In building trust, there are 10 strategies.
Be Consistent
Consistency eliminates the unexpected and puts your team at ease in the workplace. They know what to expect and helps them to do their job in a stable environment.
Stay true to your word
It will build respect and trust when you follow through with what you say you will do.
Accept Responsibility
Leaders should take responsibility for whatever happens in the workplace. Learn from your mistakes and fix them.
Connect with your Employees
Strike up a conversation to create a genuine relationship that goes beyond the workplace environment.
Give Credit where Credit is Due
As a boss, you need to make sure that your employees get the spotlight when they do something great.
Treat Everyone Equally
NEVER play favorites. Treat your team the same so that they feel like they are an active part of the team.
Encourage Team Building Exercises
Join your team in team-building exercises and extracurricular activities so that you get to know them in different situations.
Open and Honest Communication
Share the company’s visions and goals so that everyone can work together to achieve the same thing.
Do the Right Thing
Be an example to your team so that they will follow in your footsteps. This should go without saying, but no matter what the circumstances are, you need to do the right thing.
Be Passionate
Show your team that you care about them, you care about the company, and you care about your job.
“Without trust, we don’t truly collaborate; we merely coordinate or, at best, cooperate. It is trust that transforms a group of people into a team.”
– Stephen M.R. Covey
If you are an HR professional of line manager you have the special role of coaching managers and supervisors in how to build trust at work. Trust affects a leader’s impact and the company’s bottom line more than any other single thing. Here are some tips to help you to get employees to trust you.
Demonstrate Passion
When you demonstrate passion, you align yourself with the company mission and values, which is a truthful expression of your intentions within the organization. If you want your employees to be passionate about what they do and produce great work, you need to do the same.
They need to trust that you are there for the right reasons and that you care about the company at large.
Share your Knowledge
Being knowledgeable instills trust in your team because it suggests that you know what you’re talking about. Once they know that you know what you’re talking about, they’ll be more comfortable turning to you for questions, and more open to accepting your decisions, feedback, and constructive criticism.
Sharing knowledge and demonstrating expertise is a great way to build trust in the team.
Keep Your Promises
The truth is that admiration comes from trust and respect more than anything. Making false promises, even just once, is hard to recover from, for as we said, trust has to be earned, not bought.
Think before you speak, and keep in mind that your words resonate with your employees.
Trust them
Showing that you have trust and faith in your employees’ abilities, decision-making skills and judgment is a great way to open them up to trust you.
Offer them the opportunity to work remotely, demonstrating that you trust their intentions within the company, whether they are in or out of the office.
Many employees wish they had more constant communication with their managers, and one of the telltale signs of great leadership is constant communication.
The point is to ABC – Always be communicating – in order to leave nothing vague. Clarity and honesty are crucial to nurturing trust.
Get to know Employees Personally
Trust is all about relationships, and putting in the time and effort to getting to know your employees on a more human and personal level is a great way to build this trust.
Take some time to have face to face meetings, and check in with your employees often throughout the day.
Be Transparent
One of the most powerful ways to build trust is by simply being open and transparent in all of your communications. Transparency is important always, but particularly important during the tough times.
Transparency is key to building trust on your team because it makes employees feel they are part of the larger picture.
Admit Mistakes, and Share Credit
Many managers have a hard time taking the blame and accepting responsibility when a mistake is made. Good leaders understand the power of owning up to mistakes and rectifying them. Taking responsibility shows that you are just as human as the rest of the team and that there is always room for improvement.
Ask for feedback from your employees on how you have been doing and if they have any advice for you to improve upon. Letting them know that you are aware of your own shortcomings and hope to improve shows that you are trustworthy.
“The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say “I”. And that’s not because they have trained themselves not to say “I”. They don’t think “I,” They think “we”, they think “team”. They understand their job is to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don’t sidestep it, but “we” gets the credit. This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done.”
– Peter Drucker
Trust is a critical element for a healthy workgroup and organization. Without it, morale and productivity suffer, good employees, leave and the rumor mill works overtime. Aligning your words and actions is a key pillar for building trust with employees and, ultimately, for an organization’s success. Actions matter most if you want to earn employees are less likely to become engaged and committed to the organization.
