Getting Past The Handshake: How You Can Get Your Employees To Trust You?
Trust is a valuable commodity in business. And when we have given our employees our word, shaken their hand, and told them that we will nurture and develop them, if we ever lose their trust, it can be one of the biggest challenges to regain it. Part of it is to do with how we are perceived, but if we ever do anything to lose their trust, is there anything that we can do to build that bridge again?
Take The Leap For Them
We’ve got to show our employees that we are willing to lay down in traffic for them. Part of this could be to do with communication, but when our employees are going through an individual crisis, actions speak louder than words. If they are going through something outside of the working environment, we could point them towards the right legal services, proper advice, or give them a helping hand so that they know they can count on us. Trustworthiness is about them knowing we will take the leap for them, and doing what we can when they really need us.
Building Their Trust (And The Hard Work That Goes Into It)
Trust is a long road. You have to put a lot of hard work into building up this trust. We have to remember that it must be earned, and comes from an effort to keep our promises, sticking to our values, and practicing what we preach. We need to provide that blueprint so our customers and clients know that we are trustworthy, but when we don’t bend over backwards for our employees in the same way, is it a surprise that they will start to lose faith in our abilities? If we ever lose someone’s trust it can be difficult to recover. This is why we have to show our employees that we are ready to undertake the hard slog.
Be Consistent
It’s incredibly simple, but consistency is what will build trust. Constantly doing what you say you will do builds trust over time. We have to remember that we have to stick to it like a Swiss watch. And we know that when there is someone we don’t trust, especially if they are intermittent in their good dealings, we just don’t liaise with them. Think about it from their perspective. Consistency is crucial as this builds up so much.
Focus On A Culture Of Trust
It’s about the examples we set, but it’s also about implementing this within the culture of the business. Focusing on a culture of trust is about the way we do things, how we are able to influence our employees and will improve results. But it’s one thing to say that teamwork is important, but actually collaborating and getting involved with other teams is another. Building up a culture of appreciation and trust is a stepping stone to a wonderful business. And when you are looking to bring that trust back into a business, you have to realize that it won’t happen overnight.