How to Build Trust

Share on email
Share on linkedin
Share on twitter
Share on facebook
Share on pinterest
CM Learning - how to build trust

When we think about how to build trust, so many organisations fail to develop this essential quality. With openness being one of the top five drivers of trust, is it really rocket science, or actually quite simple?

CM Learning - how to build trust

Openness is considered to be a philosophy or theory that encompasses being accessible and receptive to ideas, opinions and knowledge, whilst being transparent and collaborative in management style and decision-making. Doesn’t sound too difficult, does it? Yet so many employees feel that openness is not practiced, with issues in the workplace ranging from low confidence, lack of ability or understanding and even the misconception that being open gives the perception of being less authoritative.

However, employees become frustrated with this apparent lack of openness and are under no illusions when it comes to organisational challenges and issues; and management appearing closed simply serves to escalate the frustration. Without the transparency or collaboration required for openness, employees will replace these missing elements and fill in the gaps for themselves.

There's just some magic in truth, honesty and openness.

Frank Ocean
With this in mind, what can you do to develop your openness?

1. Be visible and engaged

Don’t hide behind a hierarchical management structure or bland generalised emails. Get out there with your teams, let them see you and feel your presence and become more personally engaged in them as people. Learn about your people, move away from ‘safe’ banal chit chat and discover them as individuals rather than the tasks or role that they do.

2. Be accountable and committed

Never underestimate how important it is to take ownership of your messages and decisions. Employees may not always agree with you, however they will more often than not respect you for owning a message or action. It demonstrates commitment and transparency which helps employees to understand issues and challenges. Most importantly it is a fundamental part in helping people to manage and cope with change.

3. Be consistent

Build confidence and trust by ensuring your actions and behaviours are consistent. Employees waste too much time trying to gauge the mood of their manager or which way they will be behave, so take ownership and be consistent.

4. Listen and encourage feedback

Your people don’t just want you to hear them but to actually listen and take note of their opinions and feedback. It’s a full time job really listening and understanding exactly what is being said, especially if you consider the amount of change and uncertainty that may be taking place in the current climate. Your employee’s feedback will tell you so much more than any report or survey; after all, they are seeing the business from the front line and their observations can be critical to resolving issues early on or recognising when things are or aren’t working.

5. Express your opinion

Whilst it is great that you ask your employees for their feedback, don’t be afraid of giving yours as well. As mentioned earlier, they may not agree but by understanding your thinking process and the bigger picture they can start to appreciate situations a lot more. Be confident in your opinions but not overtly authoritative – remember you’re encouraging a participative style of leadership by asking for opinions and feedback of others so strike a healthy balance of assertiveness.

Trust is the underpinning value in creating effective working relationships and has a direct impact in increasing employee engagement and satisfaction. Therefore it is critical that leaders and managers are able to demonstrate trust to their employees, customers and shareholders alike. Hopefully, this shows that it isn’t rocket science, however that doesn’t necessarily make it easy enough for everyone to do!

CM Learning Blog | The Power of Reframing

The Power of Reframing

Challenges come at us from all angles. It’s easier sometimes to accept that ‘that’s the way it is’ and carry on allowing our negative mindset to compromise our feelings, thoughts, and actions…or is it? Enter, the power of reframing.

Read More »
CM Learning - The Dark Side of Mindfulness

The Dark Side of Mindfulness

Mindfulness has been heralded as one of the wonders of the wellbeing world. It’s widely proven to promote calmness, helping us be more present and encouraging reflective, introspective moments. Yet what is the dark side of mindfulness where we risk it being mis-used and therefore abused?

Read More »
Mental Health Awareness Week 2023 | Anxiety

Managing Anxiety at Work

Next month (15-21 May), is Mental Health Awareness Week and this year’s theme is…drumroll please and a not-so-warm welcome for…ANXIETY. A week of highlighting anxiety-related issues can only help to de-stigmatise talking about our own and others’ mental health, and I say bring it on.

Read More »
CM Learning Blog: Me and My Auto-pilot the origin story

Me and My Auto-Pilot: the origin story

I’ve never really talked at length about my emotional baggage and why I’m so passionate about helping people to switch off their internal auto-pilot to get to a stronger and more resilient mindset, yet like all of us, there is an origin story to be told.

Read More »
CM Learning Blog | Learning from Failure

Learning from Failure

Our auto-pilot mode makes it so natural to kick ourselves when we make a mistake, rather than consciously considering the growth that exists in learning from failure.

Read More »