Are you thinking of building better relationships with your employees? Do you want to know how to build trust with employees?
If you have these questions and more in your mind, then you are not alone.
Your company’s culture has a huge percentage of how things will be done in your business.
Hence, as business owners, you need to build a company culture that will work well for your business.
One way of creating a good company culture is by building trust with your employees.
So, ‘how do you build trust with employees?’
In this article, we will share with you essential information on how to build trust with your employees.
To begin, we will look at what trust is…
What is Trust? – How to Build Trust with Employees
Trust is that confidence, security, and belief a person has towards someone.
It is what gives people the knack to predict how a person will act or behave in certain ways and remain dependable.
For example, if you trust someone and another person comes to you with a story of how your trusted person acted unacceptably, there is a high percentage that you won’t believe.
You might find yourself saying ‘They cannot do that, I know them, and I trust them’
This is because you trust that person; you depend on that person’s ability to do what is right by you and probably for others.
In general, trust is the belief that someone will act and behave in a way that will not harm the other person.
Trust cannot be grown when a person does not feel safe, confident, and dependent on someone else’s abilities.
So if you want to grow trust with your employees, you have to be someone they can feel safe and confident with, and someone dependable.
Types of Trust – How to Build Trust with Employees
To build a strong relationship of trust with your employees, you need to understand that there are two types of trust.
They are distinctive and are built differently.
Yet, they work hand-in-hand to gain people’s absolute trust.
So, to get your employees absolute trust, ensure that you work to build the following:
Emotional Trust – How to Build Trust with Employees
Human beings are full of emotions.
You cannot come across a person without emotion.
Yes, some people are good at hiding it, but they are still humans with emotions.
So, emotional trust is when you connect with people emotionally.
In other words, it is when you build bonds and respect people.
It is when you exceed people’s expectations of you.
For instance, your employees might expect you to keep to yourself or act bossy because you are the business owner.
However, instead of acting as they expect, you could reach out to them, connect with them, respect them, and be friendly.
They will be surprised that you are not the way they expected you to be.
As a result of your friendly gestures, it will warm their heart and create trust and loyalty in them for you.
To build emotional trust you have to possess emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence will help you to understand, manage, and use your emotions to empathize with people, communicate effectively, and diffuse conflict.
With emotional intelligence, you will find it easier to connect with your employees.
You can infuse emotional trust in all levels of your organization.
When you do, you will create a positive work environment based on trust.
Practical Trust – How to Build Trust with Employees
Practical trust is a widely known form of trust.
It is the type that usually comes first when people think about trust.
As the name implies it is based on practicality.
In other words, a person can build practical trust when they show their credibility by being competent and reliable.
You have to be someone who says they will do something and do it.
Your employee should know you as someone with integrity, someone who is capable enough to handle their responsibilities and duties.
When you do, you will gain their trust and respect.
As you gain the trust of your employees, make sure that you also trust them.
What is does it Mean to Build Trust with Employees? – How to Build Trust with Employees
To build trust with employees means to develop working relationships based on trust.
In other words, building trust with employees means believing in their abilities and depending on them to do the right things.
When you build trust with your employees, they will trust you back.
They will believe in you and your vision and goals.
As a result, they will depend on your ability to do right by them and feel secure and confident working for you.
There has to be mutual trust between you and your employees, this way you will create a company culture based on trust.
This trust-based culture will help your business become more productive and successful.
Why You Need To Build Trust with Employees – How to Build Trust with Employees
Trust is important for the smooth operation of your business.
Why is this so?
We will answer that question with the following:
For Enhanced Collaboration and Teamwork
When you build trust with your employees it has a great impact on the way your employees will work together and collaborate.
This is especially true when there is trust between your employees.
There will be openness, honesty, and togetherness between you and your employees and between themselves.
Everybody will have a general belief that each person will effectively play their part to ensure that their teamwork gets good results.
As a result, everybody will feel comfortable working with each other and achieve better results.
Reduction of Work Stress – How to Build Trust with Employees
Lack of trust between an employer and employees can cause work stress.
This is because the employees will want to tread carefully to avoid upsetting their employer.
However, when there is trust between the employees and employers, communication will be open.
As a result, the employees will know what to do and act with their employer.
This will help them be comfortable with work as it will reduce the stress of not knowing if they are doing things rightly.
Improved Innovations and Creativity
Employees whose organizational culture is based on trust will be less stressed, and more innovative and creative.
At all times they will be free and comfortable communicating, and expressing their ideas when they have the trust of their employer.
They would be faster and better at generating ideas and innovations.
As a result, work will become more satisfying to them.
Enhanced Decision-making – How to Build Trust with Employees
Another thing trust does in an organization is that it empowers the employees with better decision-making abilities.
This is because they have the trust of their employer to do their best.
They will not want to disappoint that trust, so they will put in their best effort at all times.
Also, they will not have to wait for their employer before making every decision.
They will effectively work without the supervision of their employer.
Improved Organizational Alignment
When all the members of an organization believe in its vision and goals and effectively work together to achieve them, then, you can say that they are aligned.
Every employee has their personal goals and reasons for working in an organization.
This can sometimes make them more focused on actualizing their goals and forgetting the organizations’ goals and vision.
Also, when trust is lacking between the employees and employer, the employer might not effectively communicate the vision and mission to the employees.
As a result, the employees will not know what they are working towards.
However, when there is trust in an organization, there will be open communication and the employees will know the organizations’ vision and mission.
Furthermore, the employee’s trust in their employer will make them buy into the organizations’ vision and mission and they will all be interested in achieving them.
Increased Productivity, Engagement, and Efficiency – How to Build Trust with Employees
With trust in an organization come increased productivity, engagement, and efficiency.
In other words, trust will make everybody in the organization more effective, they will engage more in their duties and even help others when needed.
As a result, productivity will be increased.
What they could not achieve before will be easy for them to achieve.
Qualities You Need To Build Trust with Employees – How to Build Trust with Employees
You cannot fabricate trust and you cannot build trust overnight.
It takes a while for people to trust you.
They need to see that you are trustworthy.
Hence, you need to possess and exhibit qualities that generate trust.
However, these qualities should not be shown once.
You have to continually exhibit these qualities to gain people’s trust.
Therefore, they have to become part of who you are.
Before you can do this, you have to know what they are.
So, below are the qualities you need to build trust with employees:
Transparency – How to Build Trust with Employees
Transparency means being open and without secrets.
To build trust with your employees, you need to be open with them.
This is because people cannot trust others who hide things from them.
They will feel like they are not appreciated or you do not see them worthy enough to know those things that you are keeping from them.
As a result, they would not trust you because you did not trust them with your ‘secrets’.
Reliability
People trust those who they can rely on.
They need to know that a person will come true for them at all times to deem them trustworthy.
Only then will they trust such a person.
So to gain the trust of your employee, you will need to be someone they can easily rely on.
Competency – How to Build Trust with Employees
Competency is the ability to efficiently and successfully do something.
It is when a person makes use of their set of abilities, knowledge and skills to successfully execute their job, duties, or tasks.
As a leader, you need to show your subordinates that you are competent to win their trust.
Nobody wants to work with an incompetent person, so you need to be competent.
This way, your employees will deem you trustworthy and trust you.
Sincerity
Sincerity means to be without deceit, pretense, or hypocrisy.
It means to be true about who you are, what you believe in, and what you do.
When a person is sincere, people find it easier to trust them because they do not lie or hide.
A person’s sincerity becomes whole when the persons’ words match their actions and thoughts.
For example, a person can say they love dogs, but anytime a dog comes close to them they chase it away.
That does not show that such a person is completely sincere.
So, your sincerity needs congruency to be complete.
Fairness – How to Build Trust with Employees
When dealing with people you need to be fair because it will help you win their trust.
Fairness means listening and respecting other people.
People need to know that you are someone who will treat everybody equally to trust you.
When you are fair, you will gain your employees’ respect and trust.
Tips on How to Build Trust with Employees
As we have discussed, trust with your employees is essential for the smooth operation and growth of your business.
So, you need to know the things that will help you build trust with your employee before you can do it.
Hence, we will share with you tips that will help you build trust with your employees:
1. Show Trust to Your Employees
To build trust with your employees, you have to show them that you trust them.
How to show trust to your employees is by putting faith in their abilities.
Do not be overbearing, and breathe down on their necks as they do their jobs.
Allow them to take action and make decisions.
Your employees were employed by you, so you would know their abilities and strengths.
Hence, give them a chance to show their abilities; trust them.
Also, when they make a mistake, do not be fast to punish.
Forgive them, show them kindness, and help them to correct their mistakes.
When you do this, they will learn to do better, appreciate you for your kindness and help, and start trusting you.
2. Avoid Lies – How to Build Trust with Employees
Lies kill trust faster than several things.
So, when building trust with your employees, do not lie to them.
If you do and they later find out, whatever trust they have in you will quickly die off.
Also, your credibility will be damaged if you lie.
Therefore, you have to learn to be honest with your employees.
Even when you are scared to, be honest.
When you trust your employees with the truth, they will appreciate you for it and trust you back.
Your honesty goes as far as accepting when you are wrong, and when you do not know something.
Understand that nobody knows everything and nobody is perfect.
No matter how competent a person is they cannot know everything,
So, when you do not know something, do not lie about it.
Instead, speak up and ask for help.
This makes you vulnerable and open to your employees, but it will help you gain their trust.
Do not blame others for your wrongdoings.
Instead, accept that you made a mistake, and if need be, apologize for it.
However, when you make a mistake, ensure that you come up with a suitable correctional measure.
Check here to discover 5 consequences of dishonesty at the workplace.
3. Keep to Time and Commitments
You need to show your employees that you are worthy of their trust before you can gain it.
One way to do this is by keeping to time and commitments.
For instance, if you were scheduled a meeting to brainstorm ideas with your employees you have to be there in time.
Do not keep them waiting.
When you keep to time people will see that you respect their time.
Let it be seen that you commit and you deliver.
Do not make promises and not see it through.
If you know you cannot keep to a promise do not make it.
Your employees’ trust for you will grow when you respect their time and keep to your commitments.
4. Be Accessible and Communicable – How to Build Trust with Employees
You cannot build trust with your employees when they cannot access or communicate with you.
Open communication helps to build trust.
Being accessible and communicable is the way to go.
To be accessible you need to be personable so that your employees will not be scared to approach you.
Listen to them, connect with them, laugh with them, advise them, encourage and support them.
When you do this, they will see that you care for them and their trust in you will start growing.
5. Respect Your Employees’ Opinion
As you openly communicate with your employees, they will speak and share their opinions, ideas, and thoughts.
You should know that you might not agree with all their opinions.
However, you need to learn to respect and appreciate them.
When you do, they will not be shunned or scared to keep sharing their opinions or ideas.
You can never tell which of your employees will come up with the next big innovation in your business.
Also, when you appreciate their opinions, they will appreciate and respect you.
This will make them start trusting you.
6. Be Consistent – How to Build Trust with Employees
As we earlier pointed out, you cannot build trust with your employees when you do not consistently do those things that build their trust in you.
Therefore, you should not stop trusting or respecting your employees if you want to build trust with them.
Be consistent and keep doing those things that will help you build trust with them.
Conclusion on How to Build Trust with Employees
You can improve your business working conditions and better your business when you build trust with your employees.
The information we shared will help you achieve this.
