Trust is best earned rather than simply expected. It is the responsibility of management to cultivate the confidence of their employees. It is impossible to motivate employees and attain their respect without trust. It is a two-way street. High levels of assurance shared between management and employees generate longer employee retention, exceptional morale, strong loyalty, increased productivity and heightened profitability.
“Hotels in San Francisco determined that they could achieve significant improvements if they could remove some of the major work rule restrictions in their labor contracts. They formed a multi-employer bargaining group and entered into a joint study with their unions to discover how the work might be made more productive for the hotels and more satisfying for the employees” according to “Negotiating Trust in the San Francisco Hotel Industry,” U. C. Berkeley Haas School of Business, California Management Review.
Encourage Independence
Expect your employees to excel in their work. If managers offer trust and respect to their employees, they will reciprocate with the same trust and respect for management.
Establish a Collaborative Work Environment
Display a positive attitude and accentuate the strengths of your employees. Help them to achieve personal and professional success. Make it a point to communicate with your employees frequently and be attentive to their questions and concerns.
Be Consistent
Trust is built and maintained by consistent actions over time. Employees need to know they can depend on management to make their expectations clear and to stick to them once they have been agreed upon.
Build Trust Over Time
Trust is not a matter of technique; it is one of character. We are trusted more because of what we do than what we say. Let your employees know they have been heard and act on their requests. When you make a promise, be sure to fulfill it. Ask for feedback frequently.
The steps to creating a construct of trust are explained in the Pacific Crest Group posting “Four Steps to Change Company Culture.” The blog emphasizes that a culture of trust is comprised of envisioning and clearly communicating a new way of being, focusing on people, rewarding employees for the behaviors that move the company forward and reviewing the results until a culture based on trust becomes the foundation of everything the organization does.
Pacific Crest Group (PCG) provides professional services that keep your business focused on your critical objectives. We create custom made financial and Human Resource systems based on creative strategies that are always delivered with exemplary customer service. A PCG professional is happy to meet with you to discuss solutions for your unique requirements designed specifically to maximize all of your business opportunities.