9 Ways to Build Trust With Your Employees

A lack of trust is often at the heart of most workplace issues, so building trust with employees could prove critical to your company’s success. But trust doesn’t happen overnight, you have to put in the time and effort with each interaction. Overtime your employees trust will increase, improving communication, satisfactions, and performance.

Here are 9 ways you can start building trust with your employees.

1. Show them the big picture

Understanding the company goals, culture, and expectations of employees allows them to communicate more openly, ask questions to gain even more clarity, and unite around the organization’s mission.

2. Set clear expectations

If you are not clear about what you expect from an employee, you can create a lot of confusion and frustration which can erode trust. How is an employee suppose to excel in their role if they don’t know what is expected of them? And if they’re not performing how you’d like because you haven’t clearly articulated the expectations, then guess what, you’re the one to blame, not them.

3. Listen Actively

Active listening builds trust and credibility. To show your employees you are actively listening, repeat back what they said. For example, “So what I heard you say is…” Ask open ended questions as well, like “how is the project going?” Or “what do you need from me?”

4. Delegate

To earn trust from employees, you need to show that you trust them as well. Delegating projects does 2 things. First, it shows your employees that you trust them to handle projects. Second, it builds confidence with the employee because you believe they are capable of handling projects.

5. Schedule weekly catch-up meetings

Feedback that is given sporadically or only once a year is often unproductive. By having regular meetings, to only do you build trust, but employees also begin to feel more comfortable giving and receiving feedback.

6. Be honest

Being open and honest, even when it’s uncomfortable is the only way to build deep trust and have healthy conflict. To do this, you can create a space for healthy and honest feedback in your weekly catch ups.

7. Stick to your work

If you said you were going to do something, follow through with it. Trust depends on integrity and predictability is seen as more trustworthy. You can make it easier to stick to your word by only committing to the things you feel you can do and want to do. If, for some reason, you are unable to stick to your word, don’t ignore it. Acknowledge your mistake and figure out how to fix it.

8. Recognize excellent work

Neuroscience shows that recognition has the largest effect on trust when it occurs immediately after a goal has been met.

9. Let employees work on projects they enjoy.

When you trust your employees to choose the kind of work they do, they’ll focus their energies on what they care about most.

Trust is essential to business success, and is obtainable if you consistently work at it. Once you develop trust among your team you will start to see more success.