What is the value of trust in a team?

Trust is an important element in employer-employee relationships. High trust levels suggest mutual respect between a team and its leader, allowing each side to put their confidence in the other. 

The result is a working environment more conducive to productivity and creativity, where employees feel comfortable expressing themselves and engaging with their work. At its core, trust is a tool for employee empowerment that can help you bring out the best in each team member. Here are a few effects you can expect from a trustworthy workplace. 

Improved sense of security 

A company culture built on trust can help employees feel more secure in their roles. Job security is a key concern among professionals, particularly for new hires not yet integrated into the team. Improving job security can encourage employees to be more productive and increase employee retention.

Cultivating transparency and trust can also boost a team’s sense of security, allowing employees to take creative risks and facilitating a positive work environment. Plus, it may help new hires settle into their roles more quickly, which helps you get the best out of them sooner.

Positive collaboration

Trust creates a sense of shared responsibility among employees, an important factor in effective team building. Knowing they can rely on their manager and other team members for guidance can empower employees to use their voices in the workplace. This can result in a higher level of engagement with the work, which can drive cooperation and cohesion during group work. 

Increased employee loyalty 

Employee loyalty is a broad term, encompassing both an employee’s connection to company values and their dedication to the team. Trust is key when cultivating employee loyalty, as it can help team members feel valued and motivated to contribute to the company’s success. An increase in loyalty can contribute to a rise in satisfaction, which may reduce employee turnover. 

Higher employee morale

As a leader, the relationships you cultivate with employees can significantly affect their sense of confidence. Employees who trust you are more likely to feel comfortable performing their duties and engaging with the work.

A high-trust workplace can boost employee morale, making them happier and more eager to participate. This can create a more positive work environment in general and may even increase productivity. 

How to determine if your employees trust you

Observation can be the best way to determine if your employees trust you. The following signs may indicate a team that has confidence in you as an employer: 

• They feel comfortable asking questions and expressing their opinions.
• Conflict is minimal and healthily resolved when it does arise.
• They eagerly embrace your company’s values.
• They regularly exhibit pride in the company and the team.
• They seem engaged with both independent and collaborative work.
• They take accountability for their actions and avoid blaming others.
• They operate confidently within their roles.

How to build trust in the workplace 

Trust is an essential component of professional team success. With the right strategies, you can cultivate confidence between yourself and your team members, no matter how long they’ve been with the company. Here are a few ways you can build trust with employees. 

1. Lead by example

Building trust as a leader begins by using your own influence. Employees look to you as an example, and demonstrating trust can prompt others to follow your lead. This can mean acting in a trustworthy manner, following through on your promises, admitting your own mistakes or holding yourself to the same standards you expect from your team.

These actions offer you trust without expecting employees to prove themselves first, which establishes the groundwork for a high-trust workplace. 

Leading with trust also means trusting your employees to do their jobs free of doubt or micromanagement. This shows your confidence in their skills and suggests that trustworthiness is an inherent part of the professional environment. As a result, the dynamic becomes similar to that between a coach and their team. While mistakes may happen, everyone can be counted on to do their part for the good of the whole. 

2. Set expectations

Being upfront with your team makes expectations clear, especially when it comes to new hires. Setting standards right away gives employees the chance to meet them, without the confusion of wondering whether they’re doing the right thing.

Clearly outlining performance and conduct expectations also reinforces your company culture while holding everyone—including yourself—to the same standards can preserve trust. 

Once you’ve established expectations, make sure you’re staying consistent. Develop a thorough, clear employee handbook that highlights your company’s philosophies and goals as well as your policies and procedures. Clear policies that you apply consistently show that everyone is held to the same benchmark. Additionally, consider setting employee expectations from the first interview to start building trust before the first day. 

3. Be transparent

Being honest about your company’s mission, projects and other information can increase transparency. Employees value openness when it comes to the company they work for, and being transparent can be a good way to establish lines of trust.

This can be as simple as communicating thoroughly or honestly answering an employee’s questions about company practices. This can demonstrate your willingness to trust your team with important information, letting them know how valuable they are to the workforce.

Keeping your team in the loop, discussing challenges openly and creating space for feedback are all ways to improve your transparency. 

There’s always room for more effective communication. Focus on improving your communication, and your team might be inspired to do the same. Try setting up specific communication channels that allow you to be transparent. That might mean using a collaboration tool to communicate with a team or sending out weekly emails with updates on projects. Get consistent with these communications to improve transparency over time.

4. Build real connections

It can be easier to trust someone once you get to know them. Building authentic connections can strengthen the employer-employee relationship on a deeper level, paving the way toward higher trust levels. Showing genuine interest in an employee’s goals, taking the time to listen to them and acknowledging their emotions can help you move connections beyond surface level. 

Planning bonding activities can also help you get to know your employees, and it helps them learn more about each other. Taking some time out of the workday for a bonding exercise makes for a fun, unexpected break that happens to help you build trust. You might also consider scheduling an optional team-building activity once per month that doesn’t revolve around work. Use this time to understand your employees’ lives outside of the office. 

5. Support your team

A big part of trust is letting your employees know you have their backs. Support can take many shapes, including providing employees with the resources they need to be successful, helping them work toward their goals and listening actively to their ideas and concerns.

Recognizing employees for their accomplishments can also create a supportive, trusting environment while showing that the team’s hard work is appreciated. It might also be useful to regularly schedule one-on-one check-ins with each team member to talk about their goals and how to make them feel supported.

6. Resolve conflict carefully 

Even high-trust teams experience the occasional conflict. When this happens, careful management of the situation can help you overcome it with all of your trust intact. Developing healthy conflict resolution strategies in advance of workplace conflict means you’ll be ready to address the issue quickly and effectively. 

For conflicts between two team members, allow each person to explain themselves and remain a neutral listener. From there, you can attempt to find an agreement that aligns each party toward a common aim, identifying points of agreement and positioning the situation as the challenge rather than the opposing person.

Ensuring all parties move on from the situation as a team is key to maintaining trust during conflict. It can help each employee see you as an honest, reliable leader and reinforces the expectations you’ve set for your team. Plus, it helps preserve trust among employees themselves. 

FAQs about building trust at work

How do you build trust in a remote team?

The tips above are suitable for all types of teams. But because you don’t see remote team members in the office each day, they might benefit from a few extra trust-building strategies. Here are some ways you can build trust with remote employees: 

• Use communication tools to maintain contact and encourage daily communication.
• Keep employees in the loop with news and project developments.
• Facilitate virtual trust exercises to get to know one another better.
• Participate in virtual team meetings and one-on-ones.
• Conduct regular check-ins to make sure staff members have the support they need.

What is psychological safety, and how does it help build trust? 

Psychological safety gives employees a sense of security at work. In psychologically safe environments, team members feel comfortable expressing their opinions, sharing ideas and voicing concerns without fear of negative reactions from their teammates. They may also be more inclined to ask for help and to take creative risks with their work. Increased risk-taking can improve productivity and encourage innovative approaches to normal business activities.

Because openness and honesty are characteristics of high-trust companies, psychological safety can make it much easier to build trust with employees. Fortunately, there are numerous ways to develop psychological safety in the workplace. Being transparent, accepting feedback and expressing gratitude toward your employees can help increase your team’s sense of psychological safety. 

What are some obstacles to building trust with employees? 

It takes time to build trust at work, but you might be able to speed the process along by minimizing barriers to trustworthiness. Some common barriers to trust at work include: 

• Lack of clarity 
• Inconsistency 
• Poor communication 
• Unresolved conflict 
• Low engagement 

If you notice any of these barriers in your team, addressing them first can make your trust-building efforts more effective. Communicating clearly and openly, creating a safe space for employees to voice concerns and addressing conflict as soon as it arises are simple ways to target trust obstacles. Plus, they’re likely to strengthen your workplace culture overall. 

As you implement new trust-friendly practices, take care to be consistent. Making time for engagement-boosting activities can revive an employee’s motivation and boost morale. Whatever strategies you choose, being transparent about your efforts shows your team just how dedicated you are to building trust at work.