Do your employees trust one another? Trust is essential to success when working in a team environment, and without it, you could face slow progress and disappointing work. But, with trust, your employees will be stronger and better for it – their group will be more cohesive and able to achieve goals together.
So how can you build trust with employees? We’ve outlined six of best ways for leaders to build trust among employees.
Encourage team building and emphasize commonalities
Seeing a co-worker as another person, rather than just another worker, is essential to building trust. Encourage your employees to bond with one another. While this may sound difficult, it can be accomplished with a few simple activities such as sharing personal stories, socializing after work, or scheduling a meet and greet with new team members. Your overall company culture should be conducive to these types of activities, and if not, there are many ways to build company culture.
Build trust during the recruitment process
It has certainly become a candidate’s market – so beginning the recruitment process with trust and honesty is important. Most candidates feel the way they’re treated during the recruitment process is how they’ll be treated during employment.
- Make sure that you’re writing an accurate job description. Candidates will feel slighted if their job duties don’t match what was in the ad they answered.
- Be transparent. Outline what communications the candidates will receive throughout the recruitment process: Confirmation their resume was received, resume feedback, interview feedback, etc.
- Actively show that you’re protecting their data. A candidate wants to feel valued, and proper handling of their data will show that you’re looking out for them.
An easy way to communicate with candidates, protect their data and provide them with accurate job information is to use applicant tracking software (ATS). An ATS can help source talent by analyzing resumes and can monitor the applicant’s progress in the hiring process. It also makes the job of onboarding easier for HR if a candidate does get hired.
Open Door
Listen to your employees and take any trust concerns seriously. Many workers today suffer from a loss of trust because they’ve been burned by other employers. Be upfront with your employees, letting them know about any changes in organization or management – because even a seat move can be scary and create a simmering mistrust. You may want to schedule time each week or biweekly for your employees to sit down with you and discuss anything going on, or just let them know that your door is always open and you’re happy to hear their concerns as they may arise.
Accepting blame and giving credit
Think about how you would feel if your boss took credit for all your hard work and never rewarded you. And then consider how you may start to distrust them and their judgments. Keep that in mind with blame as well – if your team fails at a task, you should be ready to accept part of the blame and put yourself on the level with your employees. On the other hand, if your team succeeds – be sure to reward them for a job well done.
Demonstrate your trust in the employees
One of the most effective means of building trust with employees is to be trustworthy yourself. Let your employees know that they can rely on your character by example. Your employees are constantly watching you, so make sure that you’re a good role model.
- Show that you trust in your employees’ competency by allowing them to do their work without micromanaging.
- Instead of giving orders at work, allow employees to work with you in setting realistic goals for themselves and their teams.
- It doesn’t matter what juicy detail you have, gossiping about a person behind their backs will make you seem untrustworthy.
Keep your word
There is nothing surer to destroy trust than a broken promise. Don’t make promises to your employees that you know will be hard to keep. The same goes with deadlines. You want to be seen as accountable and trustworthy. Again, your employees are looking to you for guidance – letting them down will only cause them to lose trust in you.
Takeaways
Trust is the foundation of the success of your team. Building it up from the beginning will set the tone. Be open and honest with your employees, allow them to share their experiences and encourage socializing outside of the office. And always be sure to accept responsibility for their performance, good or bad, so that they feel you’re one of the team. Most importantly, have faith in your employees, and they’ll respond with trust in your leadership and trust in their teammates.
About the Author: Mandy Richardson is a content editor with Better Buys, helping companies to find and select the right software solutions for their organizations.
