When an employee does not trust their manager, the company suffers. When an employee doesn’t trust their manager, they do the bare minimum at their job. They may want to do more however the uncertainty and lack of connection to the company discourages their efforts.
A good leader acts as a bridge between the company and staff. Hence the quality of this relationship largely determines the experience of the employee while with the company.
A strong sense of trust in the employee-manager relationship encourages loyalty. This loyalty, a result of mutual trust, improves a company’s productivity and encourages employee retention. Therefore, conscious leaders understand the impact a trusting relationship with employees especially in solving challenges facing their companies today.
How can managers build trust with employees in order to create sustainable performance?
1. Make your expectations clear
Without goals, we are in the dark about what is expected of us. Provide your team with clear, achievable and measurable goals and the standards on which you will evaluate their performance. According to the expectancy theory by Victor Vroom, employees must know what action they are expected to take so that it will yield the desired performance
2. Offer your trust first
Lead with integrity. Become the model of what you aspire them to be. Teach them trust practically in your words and actions to create the desired effect. Coach your employees, empower them to make decisions and learn through them. A vote of confidence goes a long way in letting them know they don’t have to look over their shoulder while they work. Instead they carry out tasks diligently and confidently.
3. Listen effectively
Part of being a good communicator is being a good listener. Get rid of one-way conversations where you drill information into employees. In place of that, encourage meaningful dialogues where you allow their ideas, comments and concerns to be aired, listened to and received for you as a manager to work on.
4. Provide continuous feedback
Appraisals conducted annually are ineffective and unreliable because useful feedback is delayed and employees are penalized for the resulting poor performance. A more effective practice is to give continuous and timely feedback they can use to improve their performance. It has been proven that employees are motivated by having goals and knowing the progress they are making in attaining them.
5. Be honest and transparent
Being truthful and transparent will garner you respect, trust and better results with your team. When you make promises, fulfill them. Share the bigger picture and in doing so get your employees to be invested in reaching their targets by knowing how their current actions factor into achieving overall company goals. The more they sync your leadership goals with their personal goals, the more trust they will have in you.
6. Value them as individuals and people
“People buy from people” and “people leave managers, not jobs” are widely known realities of the workplace. Employees may work for companies but they also are people and must be treated as such. This includes encouraging a work-life balance, embracing and incentivizing individual autonomy, enquiring on their well-being, providing time to sort out personal matters etc.
7. Make time to connect
Avoid getting wrapped up in the ‘busy executive’ lifestyle of most leaders. Get out of the boss title and become a colleague within and outside of the work environment. Grab coffee, go to happy hour or dancing etc. and connect with them in less formal environments. Titles can be intimidating, thus hindering effective communications. Activities after work help colleagues bond and become more cohesive.
