How-to Earn Your Employees' Trust

The best way to increase your team's performance is to earn your employees' trust.

  Winning the customer's trust, in your products and services, is as important as getting employees to trust each other. Trust is essential to boost employee engagement, motivation, and honesty.

  Managers able to earn their team's trust make better decisions. Having open communication with their teams allows them to identify obstacles for the organization and overcome them by relying on their employees' feedback and knowledge of the situation. In other words, they count on the support of their teams in order to achieve compliance with the company's goals.

Here are some proven ways you can earn your employees' trust:

Build a connection

  One of the most effective trust-building strategies is to create a personal connection. Employees do not trust their managers as they perceive they rely less on others. Get to know your team and let them know you. Talk about your dreams, goals, and families. Listen to them carefully so that you find common ground, and empathize with your conversation on what you got in common. It will help your employees to think about you as part of the team rather than just their boss.

Related Post: Are You Listening To Your Employees?

Ask more, and delegate

  Employees know the difference between receiving an order and being motivated to accomplish a goal. When you ask people, you learn about a situation before expressing an opinion or making a decision. It allows you to capture the exact information you need to perform your job without making unfortunate mistakes. Moreover, if you can guide your team on how to approach a situation based on your experience, and then give them the responsibility to carry out the task, you are telling them "I trust you." This behavior builds employees' innovation, morale, and satisfaction while allowing them to feel that they are growing within the company. The more often you assign responsibilities to the right people, the more competent they become.

Related Post: How To Delegate Successfully?

Lead by example

  The best managers earn respect through performance. They constantly drive business results and teach their teams to do the same. Therefore, even if everyone likes you, you have to be competent to be trusted. Moreover, great leaders won't hesitate either to be accountable for their team's failure or to give credit to those that deserve it. This allows your employees to realize that instead of working for a boss, they are working toward common goals as a team. When an obstacle comes up empower others to make suggestions and recommendations, to find out a quick and effective solution. Likewise, address your team's immediate needs and requirements to help them be more successful.

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Be a strong and trustworthy communicator

  According to Lane4, 78% of staff feel their company does not communicate with them effectively, leaving them wanting to know more about the organization they work for. 

  Uncertainty creates mistrust. Avoid it by sharing as much as you can about the current health and future goals of the company with your team. Share both good and bad news. After all, will you trust someone who is not willing to tell you what's going on? It will not only boost your credibility and build mutual trust, but it will also allow your employees to get the big picture and how they fit into it. Consequently, they will be able to communicate with people around the organization more effectively and keep their efforts on track with the company's goals.

Related Post: How to Make Your Employees Care About Your Company