• Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • Mail
Culture Works
  • What We Do
    • Our Services
    • Fractional HR: Culture Operations
      • Basic
      • Full Integration
    • Recruiting
    • Consulting
      • Learning & Development
      • B2B Coaching
      • Assessments
  • Who We Are
    • Our Awesome Team
    • Our Purpose
    • Our Values
  • Connect With Us
    • Applicants
    • Partners
  • Free Sh*t
    • Blog
    • Wellness Resources
    • Educational Videos
    • Infographics
  • Menu Menu

How to Build Trust with Your Employees

News, Personal
Woman giving a high five to her colleague

Did you know that employees in high-trust organizations are consistently more productive, energetic, and collaborative than employees in organizations with a lack of trust? In fact, employees in high-trust companies report 74% less stress, 40% less burnout, and 50% higher productivity. Wowza!

However, building trust with employees isn’t always as easy as throwing monthly pizza parties or implementing casual Fridays. While these perks can temporarily boost morale, they aren’t likely to have lasting effects on employees’ happiness.

The good news is that business owners have many options to try and build a culture of trust in their organization. But before we get to that, let’s review what trust means in a workplace and how it can improve a business.

What Does Trust Mean in the Workplace?

In a workplace, trust means that employees:

  • Can connect to their colleagues
  • Contribute to the company, and
  • Are offered opportunities to learn, improve and grow

In a strong culture of trust, employees should trust their leadership and colleagues; and vice versa.

How Does Trust Improve the Workplace?

When leadership focuses on building trust with employees, there are several subsequent benefits–that’s why 96% of CEOs rate trust with employees a high priority.

These benefits can range from increased quality of work to employee retention. In fact, Harvard Business Review found that compared to employees in a low-trust company, employees in a high-trust organization report:

  • 106% more energy at work
  • 13% fewer sick days
  • 76% more engagement, and
  • 29% more satisfaction in their life

Sound good to you? Let’s review a few strategies that leaders can use to build trust with their employees. 

Recognize Successes and Wins

According to neuroscience research, recognition has the strongest effect on trust. Leaders can recognize excellence in a variety of ways. For starters, when providing recognition, positive feedback is the most impactful when it is:

  • Personal
  • Tangible
  • Specific, or
  • Comes from peers

For instance, employees may find a specific comment on their contribution to a particular project more meaningful than a vague “you’ve been doing great!”

Further, leaders publicly addressing successes not only celebrates the employees and their accomplishments but also can inspire other team members to pursue their own successes. In addition, the public discussion of a win gives the excelling employee a platform and opportunity to share their strategies, helping the team to learn and improve even more.

Provide Flexibility With How Employees Complete Their Work

Employees value flexibility and discretion with how they complete their work. In fact, a survey conducted by Citigroup and LinkedIn found that nearly half of employees would give up a 20% raise for greater control over how they work. 

By trusting their employees to manage their work, leaders display their confidence in their employees as well as provide a space for innovation.

Share Information Throughout the Organization

Did you know only 40% of employees report that they feel well informed about their company’s current goals and strategies? By widely sharing this information throughout the organization, leaders can help their employees to feel confident, stable, and part of the company’s future.

Prioritize Consistency

Business owners can reduce stress and improve productivity by creating a stable workplace for their employees. Leaders can create consistency through clear performance expectations and positive feedback practices. 

Encourage Coaching and Guidance

Research shows that leadership plays a crucial role in creating trust in a workplace through guidance and coaching. If business owners opt for a coaching approach over traditional management, employee performance and retention are more likely to improve on a long-term basis.

For example, a leader may choose to guide employees through mistakes and find solutions instead of disciplining them. This approach may lead to the employee feeling more comfortable asking questions and performing high-quality work in the future.

For more examples, read on in our article “What’s the Difference Between a Manager and a Leader?”

Facilitate Purposeful Conversations

When management regularly engages in safe, open dialogue with employees, employee retention can improve. Why? Because challenges are addressed, discussed, and resolved early on.

Value Soft Skills

Nonverbal communication can help leaders further connect with their employees. For example, positive body language can create a welcoming environment—eye contact and nodding can imply interest and attentiveness. 

In combination with purposeful conversations and active listening, nonverbal communication can make leaders approachable and help to develop trust with employees.

Try Active Listening

Active listening builds trust among team members and encourages employees to voice their concerns, find answers to their questions, and communicate their ideas. Employees who feel heard are 4.6 times more likely to feel empowered to perform better at work.

Read on to learn more about unique ways to support your company culture through human connection.

Tags: build trust, build trust in the workplace, build trust with employees, company culture, Culture Works, employee engagement, employee retention, human resources, Leadership, teamwork, trust
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://www.cultureworkshr.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/iStock-1347652268-1-2.jpg 1326 2260 Amanda Rogers https://www.cultureworkshr.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Cultureworks_Brand-Identity_Logo-RGB_Signature_Horizontal-1030x276.png Amanda Rogers2022-07-03 07:00:002022-10-27 14:10:20How to Build Trust with Your Employees
You might also like
COVID-19 Vaccine- What Employers Need to Know COVID-19 Vaccine- What Employers Need to Know
How Learning and Development Can Transform Your Company Culture How Learning and Development Can Transform Your Company Culture
The difference between Human Capital and Human Resources Human Capital vs. Human Resources: What’s the Difference?
upskilling What is Upskilling and Why Should I Care?
5 steps to ensure your new hire turns into a rockstar 5 Steps to Ensure Your New Hire Turns into a Rockstar
work celebration party with confetti pink company culture Happy Anniversary To Us: Culture Works is Two!
fostering innovation Fostering Innovation Within Your Company
Signs Your Corporate Culture is a Liability Signs Your Corporate Culture is a Liability

Search

Categories

Latest News

  • stay awake in zoom meetingsYOUR GUIDE TO STAYING AWAKE DURING ZOOM MEETINGS (and all meetings!)September 5, 2021 - 7:00 am
  • A Letter from our CEOA Letter from our CEO, Kristi PastoreSeptember 2, 2021 - 12:01 pm
  • The World's Opening Up — What Are Our Employees Going to Do?The World’s Opening Up — What Are Our Employees Going to Do?June 27, 2021 - 1:39 pm

Facebook

Count me in!

Practical steps you can take to make your company culture (and yourself) even better.

Signup for our newsletter below to stay up-to-date on our latest HR news & insights!

LINKS

Privacy Policy

FAQs

CONTACT

(760) 334-4094

info@cultureworkshr.com

24630 Washington Ave Suite 202
Murrieta, CA 92562

HOURS

Mon-Fri: 8:00-6:00
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed

CONNECT WITH US!

© 2021 Culture Works – all rights reserved

site design by digitalstoryteller.io

© 2021 Culture Works – all rights reserved
site design by digitalstoryteller.io

How to Manage Wellness in the WorkplaceEmployee Managing Their Wellness in the WorkplaceEmployee Managing Self with time management tool onlineHow to Manage Self Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Accept settings

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Other cookies

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Accept settings