5 Elements for Building Trust in the Workplace

“Trust is like glass when broken it becomes dangerous”. – Richard Riche

A successful organization depends on trust between the employees and the employer. If the employees of an organization trust each other, it becomes more productive and engaged place. An organization with low employ trust becomes less productive and successful.

Without trust in the workplace is just to be exhausted. When we repeatedly break our promises, it breaks our trust. Promises often involve minor things, but they are important in maintaining an environment of trust. It has been observed that trusting employees, giving them ownership over their work and opportunity to solve problems, improves employee job satisfaction.

Without trust, it is difficult to achieve targets as required. A high trust environment requires these five key components.

Open communication  

Clear communication is the most important element for creating a trust-based environment in workplace. It requires building an environment that encourages the exchange of ideas and relevant information. It requires honest Leaders who do not hide relevant information. Well informed employees show more confidence before their leaders. Employees who are just lectured show a lack of confidence and are unable to decision making. This may make them defensive rather than engaged. Constantly being lectured employees may lose their ability to make decisions. This may decrease their confidence. “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other”. – John F Kennedy  

Build a learning organization

No one is perfect should be realized in workplace. Everyone learns from mistakes. Hidden mistakes increase mistrust. Listening to learn and valuing employee’s feelings and ideas promote effective communication and information sharing. Listening is a skill that can be improved with practice. Therefore, there should be a proper environment for speaking and listening. Interruption in someone’s speech may create negative emotions. We should allow our employee to speak and show our will to listen. In this way, employer can create trust in him. Facing issues directly and contributing to the solution is an important step in making trust.

Demonstrate confidence in others

Trusting the ideas and experiences of the employee can bring fruitful results. Show your employees that you trust their abilities. Trusted employees take more pride in what they do. When employees feel trusted, they may take initiative and work beyond the limits of their job parameters. Encouraging points of view can uncover constructive solutions.

Develop emotional quotient(EQ)

Emotions have a direct impact on trust levels in the workplace. Our eq is made of two elements.They are:personal competencies(pp)and social competencies(sc). PP involves the awareness and management of our emotions. SC is the awareness and management of others’ emotions. Anger and anxiety decrease trust, while gratitude and sense of belonging increase trust. We can increase trust if we make employees feel that they are valued. Highly competitive environments may increase fear and anxiety which leads to a lack of trust. Employees start to focus on what keeps them safe. They do not stand with the right. Such an environment in the workplace is not proper for learning organization as it reduces new ideas and teamwork

Consistency

To build and maintain the trust we must consistently demonstrate honesty and integrity in our speech and actions. The ability to build and maintain trust starts at the top and then must be encouraged and developed through the leadership of the organization. Transparent communication is the foundation for building trust. To build and maintain the trust we must consistently demonstrate honesty in our sayings and actions. Negative moods of boss spread like a virus, infecting every corner of the organization. This may create anxiety and fear among the employees leading to a lack of trust and confidence.