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Every organization talks about trust being such an important component to keeping everything going, but sometimes we can struggle to feel that our employees are trustworthy in the slightest. This is a very slippery slope, because if you don’t trust your employees, how can you expect them to do any good work for you? We’ll discuss how to build trust with your employees.
But also, if you don’t trust them, do they trust you? It may be an uncomfortable question to ask, especially if you’re trying to create a supportive environment and it’s backfiring, but what do we need to think about if we do not trust our employees in a business sense and learn to work our way through this issue?
how to build trust with your employees
Do You Have an Outdated Leadership Model?
You might think that the role of your employees is to work as hard as possible, and this may have a knock-on effect in terms of the way you set up access to information. While it’s important to ensure employees have access to certain information to do their job properly, if you are keeping things under lock and key, this is hindering their abilities to work.
As beneficial as it is to have a solid security practice in place, such as having access control systems and managed IT systems, if you are not leading in the right way because you believe employees don’t need to know everything, this belies a lack of transparencies, which means a lack of trust.
Do You Trust the Numbers More Than Your Employees?
Yes, we all have targets to hit, but if we think that achieving these involves us pushing our employees beyond the brink of sanity, we need to incorporate the opposite approach. You need to ask them what they think needs to change, which is the first step to realizing that your employees have strong opinions on your business, and not in a bad way.
When you ask people for their input, you are showing them they matter and that you actually want to hear what they have to say. Because if you don’t trust them because you think they are slacking off, now is the time for you to retrain your mindset and ask them their actual opinions about the business. Rather than being a leader, start embodying the role of a mentor and coach.
Do You Think Your Employees Are Trying to Irritate You?
If you can’t trust people because you think they are trying to annoy you by slacking off, this says more about your attitudes to other people than the other way around. If we harbor anger and resentment over our employees thinking they are not working and are only working hard at irritating us, this is going to be a big atmosphere killer. Also, it’s going to make for very poor workplace culture.
Do You Feel at Odds With Your Employees?
Something like an age gap can be massive in terms of sheer attitude. If you feel at odds with your employees because your approach to work is different, this could drive a wedge between you and everyone else. Therefore, you rule with a very segregated approach, so it won’t take long for you to patronize and offer preferential treatment to those that seem to offer a bit more to you than the others.
This is only going to feed into an imbalanced cultural environment. You may feel uncomfortable with your employees because of “a vibe” you get off them. If you had to take over an organization and found it to be a very stressful process, the fact of the matter is that you are the person going into the company, expect that there will be a conflict of sorts.
What Are the Best Ways Around These Issues?
The best solution to this is about remaining open. Showing some key indicators that you are a warmer person is a great way to make things easier. For example, if you do not feel you can show vulnerability, this is a good place to begin. Additionally, including others for decision-making or additional inputs will make a big difference.
how to build trust with your employees conclusion
If you genuinely do not have trust in your employees, you do not have trust in the business process. Now is the ideal time for you to make big changes. Not just for the sake of your current employees and any new employee, but for yourself. Trust is everything, and a lack of it is very detrimental to a business.
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