The key to a healthy, thriving culture in a company, is trust. But although trust sets the bedrock of a company’s success, it often gets overlooked with employees rarely admitting to managers that they don’t trust them. However, the lack of trust undermines employee engagement, satisfaction, and productivity.
Smart leaders know that engaged employees will bring creativity and passion to their work. Therefore, building trust as a manager is crucial to beating out the competition. Moreover, trust improves employee retention, since good employees won’t stay at a dissatisfactory job unless they lack options.
So how can managers establish a relationship of trust with their employees? To help you build and maintain trust in the workplace, we’ve put together 5 top tips.
Tip 1: Building Trust As A Manager Means Leading By Example
Leading by example, means there is no excuse for your team not to work hard. Without following your own rules, your team will slowly lose trust in you. When managers lead by example, they create a picture of what’s possible. Employees can look at them and say, “If they can do it, I can do it.” In doing so, you make it easy for others to follow you. Once employees realise that you walk the walk, you will start earning their trust. On the contrary, a habit of not following through tells your employees that you can’t be trusted.
Tip 2: Building Trust As A Manager Means Taking Responsibility For Your Mistakes
You will build far more trust with your team when you acknowledge your own mistakes and make amends for them, especially during times of change. Although taking responsibility is always the best leadership choice, the hard part of the job to accept and step into is the part where everything that happens with the team is on you. It may be tempting to blame your employees when things go wrong, but that is a complete abdication of the manager’s role.
That’s why when building trust as a manager you should remember that a successful boss is in fact an effective leader. Someone who inspires those beneath them. If you pass blame and take credit, if your team clocks in at nine and checks out at five, then congratulations, you’re a manager. But not a leader. After all, a leader is nothing without their team.
Tip 3: Ask Your Team For Feedback
By asking your team for feedback, you’ll show your employees that you are not above criticism and are still willing to learn from them. Most of the times employees feel uncomfortable with sharing constructive feedback, especially when it comes to their manager. But if managers are open to it, they can grow a culture of feedback within their team, while also increasing trust.
Tip 4: Give Employees Responsibility
Trust is reciprocal. If you want your employees to trust you, you need to put your trust in them first, by giving them more responsibility. Delegation is another thing that’s often easier said than done. Yet with some planning, you can give your employees more responsibility in a way that works for both parties.
Tip 5: Building Trust As A Manager Means Saying Thank You
Praise in public, criticize in private! Let everyone know out loud when someone’s doing well, but talk to them in private when they’ve made a mistake. Aside from helping to building trust as a manager, expressing your gratitude at work can also make you a more effective leader. Moreover, praising and recognising your employees is essential to retaining and growing your team. It is well known that employees who feel appreciated and recognised are more likely to work harder, be more productive and to stick around.
Your team knows that you can’t control every decision by corporate executives. Yet there are a lot of ways to achieve building trust with your employees and it is crucial for the team’s and company’s success as a whole. If you accept responsibility, build people up by showing a genuine interest and have their back even when doing so is inconvenient, will help you not only get your team’s trust but also their respect.