Eight Things Managers Can Do To Build Trusting Relationships With Employees

There are a great many things that can go into whether a business functions in a profitable and successful way or not. Many of these things involve the company’s employees in one way or another. Employees are hugely important to the health and well being of a business, no matter what type of business it is. One of the things that a manager can concentrate on putting in place that may head off a great deal of potential employee issues is an environment that is strong on trust. When an employee feels that they are a trusted and valued member of the team, they are more willing to the extra mile when needed and they are also more able to understand certain hardships or inconveniences that may come up from time to time from the company side of things.

It is one thing for a manager to say that they would like to create a trusting environment that both they and their employees will operate in together, and quite another to actually do so. It isn’t as easy as simply stating the intent to create an environment of trust, there are different steps that a manager can actually take that show the employees under them that they take the idea of trust very seriously.

Here are eight things that managers can do to build a trusting relationship with their employees.

#1 - Maintain Two-Way Communication

Employees who feel that their thoughts and ideas are welcome by management will feel free to express themselves more comfortably. Employees are a great source for ideas that increase productivity and eliminate waste, but when they feel that they won’t be taken seriously or that what they say may be used against them at a later date, they may not speak nearly as freely as managers would hope. Typically in most businesses employees also deal with customers more than management does, because of this they may have access to information that comes straight from the customer that could have an impact on what the company is doing as far as pricing, marketing, or many other business strategies. If the employees do not feel that communication is open, free and welcome, they may not pass this or other vital information on to the employer.

#2 - Place An Emphasis On Strong Business Ethics

Employees who know that the rules in the workplace are there not for just some arbitrary reason, but because the employer and manager value doing things the right way will feel as if they are more secure if they also focus on doing things the right way. Running an ethical company or department is one of the best ways to establish a quality reputation not only within the company structure, but also outwardly towards customers and vendors alike.

#3 - Always Keep Their Word

When managers focus on keeping their word, employees learn that they can trust what their bosses tell them. This is very important and somewhat common sense, but many managers try to play things they said earlier off with statements like “well, I tried” or “I didn’t promise”. Behaving like this makes employees view any information coming from management as unreliable.

#4 - Consistency Is Key

In every dealing between management and employees there should be an element of consistency adhered to. Employees are quick to notice when one worker is treated differently than another. This type of discrepancy in management-employee relations can lead to an environment of distrust rather quickly. Consistency goes beyond employee treatment though, positive results should be rewarded consistently similarly to how negative rewards should be penalized or reprimanded consistently.

#5 - Speak Professionally And In Terms Of The Team

When it comes to speaking to employees, a manager looking to establish trust should go out of their way to speak as clearly and plainly as possible so there is no gray area and everyone is able to understand them in the same way. When speaking to the team as a whole, words like “we” and “us” should be used. This not only brings everyone together more, but also avoids the confusion that someone might get if they were to hear words like “you” and not if it was intended to refer to just one person on the team or not. Managers should also make an effort to always speak in clean language so as not to offend any employees.

#6 - Show Trust In Others

One of the best ways to establish a trusting workplace is for a manager to show trust in the employees as well. Give better performing employees more responsibility and decision making opportunities. In this way, employees see the value of being trusted and participating in a trusting environment.

#7 - Confidentiality Is Important

An employee needs to know that when they approach a manager with sensitive information about either themselves or a co-worker that the manager will not share that information with others, or if there is no way to avoid doing so will make every effort to protect the identity o the employee who originally shared the information. When an employee feels like anything they say could be shared with anyone else, some vital information that the manager should know about may never come to light because of this air of distrust.

#8 - Honesty First, Last, And Always

The best way to cultivate a trusting workplace is simply to always focus on being honest. This means that a manager needs to make an effort to be honest when the news they are giving is good as well as when the news they are giving is bad. Employees who know that their boss will communicate any issue they should know about to them regardless of how it affects them will trust their manager more and in the end function as a better employee.

The benefits of having a trusting relationship between management and employees, and even between co-workers themselves, are immense. When employees trust management, they are more willing to go the extra mile, more willing to come up with ideas and feel free to share them, and more willing to share criticism that may negatively affect either a customer’s experience or the performance of the company as a whole. There are so many beneficial things that can come from having a trusting relationship between management and employees that it just makes sense that this should be one of the primary goals that any manager has for the workplace they are in charge of.

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