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Want your people to trust you? Put your trust in them.

10/05/2018

Trust is an important aspect of our everyday lives that we often take for granted. I remember being asked in school, did I trust my parents; although I noted that I did, some didn't agree. Our teacher asked how we had gotten to school that day, noting that if we had been driven, we had put our trust in that person; to drive safely and take care of us. That lesson always stuck with me, because it outlined a clear difference between surface level and deep trust.

It's important to consider trust in terms of our working environment also; when the sense of trust is strong between team members, managers and employees there's a better sense of productivity and efficiency. Sure, some people choose to rule through fear, but trust is the real key to creating an engaged and passionate workforce that will streamline processes and actively seek solutions to problems.

But how do we build this level of trust? It's not something that just happens overnight and requires active work on your part, but the results I'm sure you'll agree, are worth it. So here are my tips for helping you establish trust with your employees:

 

1.      Earn it with integrity - it may sound simple, but actions often speak louder than words. If you say you have an open-door policy, mean it. If you promise to keep people in the loop during a period of change, ensure they're informed. So what you'll do and then do what you'll say. 

2.      Remember you're people - you're a person first and a manager second; the same is true of your employees, so act accordingly. Focus on the person and provide for them accordingly so that they can be successful.

3.      Offer them your trust - this doesn't have to be anything monumental but allowing your employees or team to complete a task on their own shows the faith you have in them (as long as they're aware you care about the outcome!)

 

There are plenty of other ways to help develop trust; if you have any you've found work well get in touch to let us know, but hopefully these few will get you thinking about the actions you're taking at work and the impact they have. If you're interested in reading more about trust in the workplace, we'd recommend The Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey; it's an incredibly informative book.

Until next time.


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