Search this Site

Search Term Submit Search

Browse Topics

• COSE Education Programs
  • Member Education Series
  • SBC 2008
  • SBC 2009
  • SBC 2010
• COSE Business Networks
  • COSE Arts Network
  • COSE Home Business Network
  • NEOSA- The COSE Technology Network
• Finance
  • Access to Capital
  • Business Financial Planning
  • Financing Solutions
  • Investment Management
  • Receivables Management
  • Tracking Business Finances
  • Wealth Planning
• Human Resources
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Creating a Positive Culture
  • Diversity Awareness and Education
  • Employee Development
  • Leadership Skills in Employees
  • Recruitment and Safe Hiring Practices
  • Termination of Employees
  • Workers' Compensation
• Legal
  • Bankruptcy and Creditor's Rights
  • Building and Maintaining Your Legal Infrastructure
  • Intellectual Property
  • Liabilities Within the WorkForce
• Marketing
  • Branding
  • Customer Retention
  • E-Marketing Tips and Trends
  • Lead Generation
  • Marketing 101
  • Marketing Plans
  • Public Relations
  • Search Engine Marketing
  • Social Media
• Personal and Professional Development
  • Goals: Setting and Achievement
  • Personal Evolution
  • Professional Advancement
• Sales & Networking
  • Customer Service
  • Networking Strategies
  • Prospecting
  • Relationship Selling Strategies
  • SME Cleveland
• Small Business Advocacy
  • COSE Advocacy Information
  • Health Care Reform
• Small Business Tools
  • A Checklist of Tools for Business
  • Business Insurance
  • Buying and Selling a Business
  • Crisis Communications
  • Growth Strategies
  • Investing in a Franchise
  • Owning a Franchise
  • Peer Advisory Groups
  • Strategic Planning and Execution
  • Succession Planning
• Sustainability
  • Energy
  • Greening Your Business
  • Waste Reduction, Recycling and Composting
• Technology
  • Business Software and Applications
  • Business Technology
  • Developing and Implementing a Website
  • Disasters: Prepare & Recover
  • Document Management Software
  • Innovation in Technology
  • SEO
  • Telecommunications
• Wellness in the Workplace
  • Healthy Lifestyles

• Mindspring
• Topics
• Human Resources
• Leadership Skills in Employees
• Establishing Trust With Your Employees Works Both Ways

Establishing Trust With Your Employees Works Both Ways

written on August 07, 2008 by Michele Ridella

Have you ever thought about what it takes to establish and build trust with your employees? Trust is a cornerstone of employee engagement and retention.  The more you as the leader of your organization focus on building trust, the more likely you are to retain your best employees. But how do you accomplish this objective?  Two behaviors that help you reach that goal are: maintaining open communication and meeting your commitments.

Maintaining open communication:  Keep employees informed of what is going on within your organization. Do you have new clients that are coming on board? Are you considering adding to your staff?  Clearly, some information needs to remain confidential until it is appropriate to be shared with the members of your organization. Use discretion, but do not assume that your employees do not want to know or need to know of events that impact the organization.  Regular update meetings are good, but so are impromptu sessions when you have something new and exciting to share.

Leaders that have strong communication skills:

• openly share ideas
• keep people informed and up-to-date on business issues, and
• demonstrate good listening skills by paying attention to what their people are saying, both verbally and non-verbally

Your business is as important to your team as it is to you. To create an environment of trust and collaboration, keep your employees updated on events that will impact them now and in the future.

Meeting commitments:  How many times have you heard "do not make promises that you cannot keep"?  Over-committing and under-delivering can present problems with your customers.  This rings true with your employees as well. If you commit to a raise or a promotion, do it. If you tell your people they will be involved in activities and events, involve them.

Trustworthy leaders:

• are candid and truthful with their people
• behave according to the rules, even when it may be inconvenient
• call attention to problems and inconsistencies instead of ignoring them

Establishing trust is a two-way street. It is important for your employees to have trust in their leadership team, but you and your leaders also need to have trust and confidence in your employees. According to Salamon and Robinson, when employees are trusted, productivity and performance increase. You can start by communicating expectations and holding your people accountable to meet their commitments to the organization. Set the bar high!  Perfect attendance is good, but engagement and participation in the success of the organization is better.  Translate organizational objectives into specific goals and action plans for your people. Giving your people the opportunity to participate in special projects, projects that tap in to their individual talents, is also a good way to engage them in bringing more value to the organization.

By engaging your people, improving communication and living up to commitments, trusting relationships can flourish - to the benefit of your people and your business.  The ultimate goal is to trust your employees' decisions and give them the latitude to do so.  Trust is contagious and results in a win-win outcome for both your business and your employees.

Trust that binds: The impact of collective felt trust on organizational performance. Salamon, Sabrina Deutsch; Robinson, Sandra L., Journal of Applied Psychology. 2008 May Vol 93(3) 593-601