1 in 3 employees do not trust their boss. This is revealed by a study by Edelman, while another EY report places this statistic at even lower levels. Only 46% have confidence in their company and 49% in their boss or team. Reinforcing the faith of a team in its leader is vital in companies as it impacts on the image that employees project towards customers, future candidates for a job within the company and their brand image, in general. In fact, investing in actions that reinforce the sense of unity between the company and the workers supposes a boost to labor productivity.
Trust is one of the most important things when it comes to working, because without it, the work environment generated in the environment will impede business growth. But how can you help close the trust gap between employees and managers? Eremedia has published in an article the 7 techniques that reinforce interprofessional relationships.
1.- Honesty, the best policy. Being honest, even during difficult times, is something that most trusted leaders must learn to develop. Employees respect bosses who are able to openly explain a complex situation, who know how to answer their questions and offer them the facts that justify them.
2,. Admit mistakes. Admit mistakes about power figures to employees. It humanizes them and generates a close environment that facilitates labor communications. Being able to admit and take responsibility for one’s own mistakes is an important part of being a great leader.
3.- Treat employees as people and not as numbers. When you work under criteria for meeting certain performance benchmarks, managers often get into the habit of seeing their employees in terms of output. Managers who encourage extreme peer competition end up creating a toxic work culture in which employees mistrust each other.
4.- Recognize the merits of employees. Team leaders should appreciate and recognize the achievements of the group as a whole to reinforce the sense of belonging. In fact, a study by Globoforce showed that employees who received recognition from their leaders were significantly more likely to trust them.
5,.- Be one more of the team. Having management duties does not mean being above employees. Leaders are guides and defend the work of their followers who, in this case, is the working group. Assuming mistakes collectively, in the same way as celebrating the successes achieved, must be done in an integrated way to strengthen personal relationships.
6.- Overcoming prejudice. Biases are common to people, but must be blocked in the workplace as they can lead to isolation behaviors, harmful work environments and general malaise.
7.- Ask the opinion. Problems will always arise at work, but closing the trust gap means that employees are more likely to comment and reflect on their bosses’ comments, generating a bottom-up feedback process.