Trust is one of the most important values for the proper running of an organization and to strengthen a pleasant, harmonious and efficient working environment. It helps not only to retain and gain the employees’ loyalty, but also to attract successful partnerships. However, trust is just one of the elements needed to build a powerful and durable relationship, being hard to win and to maintain, and easy to lose. So, how to create trust and where does it all begin? A role model always starts from the top, from top management, from those who must cultivate this spirit through examples.
Gradually, this behavior must spread to all departments and teams and turn into a vision cultivated at an organizational level, a bond that strengthens relationships between employees, and the relationship between the company and business partners. Building an environment of trust is not something that you do from one day to another, but it comes with time, following strategic actions directed to this end. Also, beyond the practical things, leaders must inspire, above all, a positive and proactive attitude, oriented both to the customer and the people. As we already said, trust is easy to lose, and some things need to be avoided to prevent this.
One of the things that will lead to building a trustworthy environment is integrity. A healthy environment is based on truth and keeping promises, no matter how difficult it may sometimes be. A harder to accept truth could be better in the long term, for the entire organization, rather than presenting a distorted a reality born out of fear of facing possible negative reactions. Thus, being always used to have truthful information, employees will not live with the fear that there are hidden things, being aware that the organization they belong to, applies and promotes a culture of truth.
Integrity, Communication and Equal Treatment
Internal communication is a major factor, given that this is the way through which information reaches people. Thus, leaders communicate their vision and direction of business, culture, and the values promoted at an organizational level. However, no matter how beneficial things such as communication could be, there are also some limitations, especially when it comes to confidential information, whether talking about employees information, or details regarding competition or clients. All these must be accompanied by perseverance, and the attitude through which you succeeded in building a trust-based relationship must become a road without deviation.
Beyond this, keep in mind, that confidence is built and based on equal treatment for all employees, by recognizing merit and rewarding performance. However, emphasis must among the shared goals of the teams, so there will be a spirit of collective struggle. Teamwork is imperative, and when its members are united, and they trust each other, the results will be good. Also, respect is a major component, and leaders must show that they can listen the discontent that others have and maybe find solutions that are favorable both individually and collectively.
At the opposite pole, we can find the enemies of trust, like a constant confusion caused by lack of internal communication or reluctance to new. These things will make employees feel unsafe, avoid to express their thoughts or to take creative decisions, fearing not to deviate from the norm. In conclusion, building a healthy work environment based on trust has behind it several elements, and all of them are closely related to fairness and good intentions.
BIA HR TEAM