Creating Trust
Question: We had a bad situation in our organization recently. Someone in a leadership position, who ultimately left, engaged in behavior that eroded the trust of employees. They were undermining the authority of several of their peers. How can we build or rebuild trust throughout the organization?
Answer: Trust can’t be demanded – it must be earned over time and through consistent behavior and actions. Rebuilding trust is even more difficult but critical to your organization’s success because when trust is broken, productivity usually suffers.
We know that employees want transparency. They want to know what’s happening in your organization and/or department and they want to know the good, bad, and ugly. So, start by being honest with your team. Of course, there will be things you as a manager know about that will not be appropriate to share and you will get more comfortable with these issues as you grow as a manager. For example, if layoffs are being discussed, you would not want to discuss this with your employees until final decisions are made and you’ve been trained in what to say and how to say it.
One of the best ways to build trust is to listen to your people. Spend time getting to know each one of your direct reports and listen carefully to their questions and comments. If your organization does employee surveys or focus groups to measure engagement, pay close attention to the results and take action, when appropriate.
Being consistent is a great trust building strategy. Your employees want to trust you so keep your word and, if there is ever a time when you can’t do what you promised, let your team know why and do it quickly. Sometimes there will be issues out of your control so share why you couldn’t keep a commitment and move on.
Admit when you’re wrong. It is hard to trust someone who isn’t secure enough to admit a mistake. This is a difficult lesson for many managers who don’t want to appear not to know everything. But, no one knows everything and there will be times when you make a mistake so learn how to “own it”. A heartfelt, “I’m sorry” goes a long way to building trust.
Never badmouth one of your employees to another team member! This is a sure-fire way to destroy all you’ve done to build trust.
Never ask an employee to tackle a job you’re not willing to do yourself. In fact, a great way to build trust is to work alongside your employees on a project so that they see your commitment to them and to your work.
Always give credit where credit is due. Recognizing good work done by your team is a great way to not only build their skills and their confidence but their trust in you. And, it probably goes without saying—don’t ever take credit for something you didn’t do!
Building trust is not a one-time event – you will be working on this your entire management career and it is well worth the effort.
Don’t forget that The Decisive Manager is coming March 1 with more answers to your questions about managing people. It’s available for preorder now at https://tinyurl.com/4rh275z7