As business leaders, we have a major problem on our hands. A 2016 Globoforce survey of more than 800 employees found that 35 percent of respondents don’t trust the senior leadership in their company. When more than one-third of your workforce doesn’t trust you, it prevents your organization from being the best that it can be.
But trust doesn't just happen. It’s something that has to be earned and nurtured over time. Your actions and how you communicate with your employees need to be genuine and with their best interests in mind. The hard part is figuring out how to incorporate that into your leadership style.
This year, I was lucky enough to be named one of the highest ranked CEO’s by Glassdoor. It’s an honor I’m particularly proud of because it is based completely on the Glassdoor reviews my employees gave on the website. The reviews suggest to me that when it comes to creating a great work environment, my company, GDH Consulting, is on the right track.
Here are four things I’ve found leaders can do to build trust within their organization in order to make the workplace better:
1. Interact with your employees
You can’t lead your company by looking down at it from the boardroom. You have to put in time with individuals so they get to know you and vice versa. Most importantly, be real and honest with them. We all recognize when someone is being fake or self-serving, so show employees that the purpose of your communication isn’t about making you look better, but about giving them a chance to voice their opinions.
By establishing a connection with employees, they begin to see that they don’t just work for the organization, but are also a part of it. For instance, I hold regular “Calls With JJ” where I get on the phone with eight to ten employees from different areas and levels of the company and ask them to just talk.
I don’t lead the calls because that’s not what the time is about. It’s about employees having the chance to ask me questions or vent their concerns so we can work together to make the company better. But know that these interactions mean nothing unless you are open with employees and open to taking action on their comments and suggestions. Even with the hard questions or in cases where you made a bad decision, be honest about your choices and actions.
2. Take the good with the bad
Part of building trust in an organization means hearing things you may not want to hear. Sometimes an employee is going to tell you about an issue or problem they have and it’s going to make you cringe. But being aware of the issue is the first step toward finding a solution.
A growing company is not perfect and neither are you. Mistakes will be made. What matters is what you do when you hear something you don’t want to hear about your company. Are you going to deny or ignore it? Are you going to tell the employee they’re wrong? If that’s your response, you’ll kill the trust between you and your employees.
Instead, take the feedback and use it to make positive changes. Your actions will show employees that you value what they have to say and encourage them to keep communicating honestly with you in the future.
Trust and open communication bring so much good to your organization. For instance, in one of my calls with employees, an employee brought up the stress he was under due to his student debt. GDH did some homework on the national student debt crisis in the U.S. and realized we have many employees struggling with student loan debt. As a result, GDH offers assistance with student loan pay down. And why not? We’re benefiting from their education and we are partnering with them to reduce a little of the burden of carrying that debt. The GDH Student Loan Pay Down Program affected the organization in a positive way and it came about because an employee felt he could voice his concerns.
3. Be vulnerable
Vulnerability is a trait that is vastly underestimated when it comes to leadership. People think it’s better for leaders to be strong than vulnerable. But that’s based on the faulty assumption that vulnerability equates to weakness, which simply isn’t true.
Being vulnerable means being able to admit and show you are human – that you have flaws, just like everyone else, and that you acknowledge them. As a leader, you are the decision-maker, the one who has the final word – but that’s not all you are.
Show your employees who you are, what you’re about and that you’re not infallible. It will help them relate to you and trust you as an individual. It will also help them understand what motivates your actions as a leader.
4. Create a family
Traditionally, we view professional relationships as being very formal with strict boundaries that keep out all non-work related connections. However, this creates a sterile environment where employees feel who they are as individuals doesn’t matter. And it’s hard to trust people who don’t know the full you.
At GDH, we’ve worked to build a family. We celebrate each other’s successes and get invested in personal accomplishments. When a co-worker is expecting her first child or buys a new home, we’re there for them each step of the way. Our personal achievements are just as important as our professional ones.
Having a family environment also allows us to work together more productively. Co-workers might not always agree but just like with our personal families, we find a way to work things out.
Trust is essential to leadership. It’s what gives your employees faith that you have their best interest in mind. It allows you to build a relationship on the kind of open communication that fosters cooperation. It keeps everyone bound together as we work toward your organizational goals.
BIO: JJ Hurley is the President and CEO of GDH Consulting, a staffing firm dedicated to finding dependable talent of the highest quality. You can connect with JJ and the rest of the GDH team on Twitter or LinkedIn.
