Building trust: small outlay, big returns

Building trust in the workplace can be as complicated or as simple as you wish to make it. Why not start with simple?

Over the first quarter of this year I’ve noticed a spike in requests for assistance from clients struggling with what some describe as “low morale” in their workplace.

Low workplace morale can result from:

• lack of trust: in organisation, management or co-workers
• chronic understaffing
• poor leadership
• a feeling of having to do more with less…all the time
• job insecurity
• lack of communication or clear instruction
• the influence of a toxic team member (or members)

One solution to improving morale…either at individual or group level? Building trust.

A Harvard Business Review article claims:

Employees in high-trust organizations are more productive, have more energy at work, collaborate better with their colleagues, and stay with their employers longer than people working at low-trust companies. They also suffer less chronic stress and are happier with their lives, and these factors fuel stronger performance.

Building trust can start with something as simple as being proactive in two things:

1. talking to your people
2. listening to them (no, really.)

While talking to your people sounds like something you do every day, conversations to build trust are more around a planned approach in what you speak with team members about, including the scheduled frequency of these proactive discussions. A simple starting point can be a conversation with an individual about:

• their job: what’s working, what isn’t, what they feel they need to be more productive, who they feel adds value to the business and why
• them: how they feel about coming to work each day, what do they need from you as their manager, whether they can identify anything holding them back from being satisfied at work.  

The second component? Listening. In my opinion, possibly the most underrated component of getting the best from people. Why? Because listening is often viewed as a passive instinctive action, rather than an active, strategic management tool. When a manager actively listens to a team member, the employee feels seen, that what they say is important to the manager and that the manager cares about their contribution.

A study of over 4,000 leaders conducted by professional development consulting firm Zenger Folkman uncovered a critical insight: the two behaviours most strongly correlated with employee trust were related to a leader’s listening effectiveness. According to the results of the study, the impact of listening is profound:

• leaders rated as poor listeners ranked at the 15th percentile in trust
• those excelling in listening skills reached the 86th percentile in trust.

Talking with and listening to your people not only builds trust but offers you the opportunity to:

• build a personal connection
• identify what’s important to the individual (and this can differ between people)
• ensure clear communication: of everything
• hear their suggestions on process improvements 
• identify and resolve issues early
• thank your individuals in person for their contribution

The intention to build trust through proactive conversations is one thing. The other? Keeping up the frequency of these conversations. What will derail your progress straightaway is falling into common traps of:

• not continuing to hold these conversations
• rushing the discussions
• not listening enough
• failing to follow through on anything you promise.

Proactive management isn’t for everyone. Occasionally when I offer the suggestion around these conversations to managers, I’ll hear responses of “I’m too busy” or “my people trust me”. But if you’re willing to give something new a shot…and persevere with it, I guarantee you’ll see positive return. And the cost? Just your time. 

At Bare Bones Consulting, we only do two things:

1. ensure you comply with your employment obligations
2. help get the best from your people.

To tell you the truth, while the first is super important, it’s not the most exciting part of HR.  The second is way more interesting…and often because it’s what will bring in dollars to you. Like to know more? Give Bare Bones Consulting a call. While we may only do two things, we think we’re really good at those two. And we can show you how you can be as well.