Do Your Employees Trust You? It Might Be Time to Find Out

By Stefania Viscusi
Assignment Desk, Content Management

Would you work for an employer who lied to you, shorted you on your paycheck or took away vacation days without you knowing it? Some of the things I just listed are probably illegal, but the point is, without trust, how much is your job really worth to you?

Sure, fair pay and due praise are always welcomed, but what really keeps a workforce strong and the culture growing is trust. Trust between employers and staff is so important, in fact, that HR leaders and supervisors are on a constant hunt for solutions that will ease the burden of management and control of their workforce.

Customer care expert, author and speaker, Barbara Burke, recently wrote an important post about this topic and how important it is for managers and supervisors to take care to treat other employees well.

If employees start feeling ill treated, like they are working at a place where no one listens to them and respect is never given, the value of the workforce can rapidly decline.

And what’s on the other side of the coin isn’t pretty. Employees who cannot trust their managers, who are no longer engaged in the work they are doing, can waste time, money and even look for ways to cheat. Getting into that kind of situation is dangerous, and easily avoidable.

According to Burke, leaders need to do just that – lead. And provide employees with the guidance and reliance they seek. Things like responding to messages on your mobile device when an employee is trying to talk to you, not following through with commands, engaging in gossip or being too busy to talk are all thing to avoid if you want your employees to trust you.

Managers who take the time to acknowledge their team members – particularly those putting forth great efforts each day and who are not afraid to roll up their sleeves and get into the trenches when it’s needed— are far more respected and trusted than those who occasionally send an email about missed opportunities or who promise to help and never follow through.

For anyone who is in a position to manage people, what it comes down to is being a real person and treating others how you would expect to be treated – worldly advice that spans generations and that can really help make a difference in your workplace.