A lot of people think that the company’s success is solely measured by the quality of products or services you provide for your customers. While this is most relevant, this is not entirely true. Among the multiple factors that lead to the success of a business is trust within the organization.
According to a 2013 research headed by Interaction Associates, a company focusing on workplace performance improvement, trust comes from the tone at the top, which means that employers who walk the talk highly improve employee engagement. The study, which involved 290 companies with 399 employees, also showed that employee trust had a significant impact on the performance of the business. With trust being such a critical aspect of running a business, how do employers truly earn it in the workplace?
Let’s talk about trust.
An author and psychology professor at Northeastern University, David DeSteno, defines trust as an “evolving thing that ebbs and flows”, yet it’s a crucial factor in motivating and engaging employees to meet your company’s goal. Employees who trust their managers are more likely to meet the said goal and to take on the challenges that it entails. To maintain trustworthiness, here are some advices experts suggest.
Practice transparency.
Honesty and transparency are essential in gaining trust, but all too often; business executives fail to practice these values in the workplace. This is all too familiar in situations where most employees do not have a clue what their supervisors do, leading them to fill in the gaps with information that are rarely positive. Keeping employees informed in the decision-making process that happens in the company will give them less room for doubt and more trust in their employment.
As an example, disclosing a schedule for a drug test in your company works better than randomly performing the test, as it shows that you trust your employees as well. However, you can also use marijuana hair drug test kits to ensure their confidentiality.
Connect on a personal level.
Building a personal connection is an effective strategy to earn trust among employees, especially for managers. People in authority are often perceived as less reliant on others, which makes them less worthy of trust. However, getting to know every member of your team counteracts this perception, and allows each one to get to know you as well. Doing such will show them that you are still just one of them. Keeping this in mind, inform them of your plans to perform a marijuana drug test within the company and ask them about their thoughts on the procedure.
Show competence.
There’s more to being competent in your job than just actually getting the job done. When you show expert knowledge, it is easy to be earning the trust of your employees. Otherwise, employees will lose their faith in you and your company. However, pretending to know everything will only make matters worse.
Admit your mistakes.
Even the best experts make occasional mistakes, and not admitting to them will only lose your employees’ confidence in you. One way of also being transparent with your team is acknowledging your shortcomings. They will appreciate your honesty more than your arrogance.
Anyone can be a boss, but it takes a trustworthy boss to become a great leader. Working hard to gain trust is just as important as working hard to climb up the corporate ladder. After all, trust is earned, not easily given.
