Ask Rob – What’s the Fastest Way to Gain Your Employees’ Trust?
Can you reduce the amount of time it takes to build trust with your employees?
This is a question that regularly comes up in my workshops. And in this new installment of our ‘Ask Rob’ series, that’s precisely what I’m discussing.
I share a few techniques I use to reduce the timeline of building trust with my employees. I also examine some of the reasons the journey of building trust can be elusive.
Read on to learn more about the art of building trust with your employees – the fast way!
Why the Journey of Building Trust With Your Employees Can Be Elusive
First off, let’s take a look at the message I got from Doug, who is from Texas:
“Hi, Rob, I just moved into my first management role. I’ve heard you talk about the importance of building trust and that it takes time to gain the trust of your employees – which I completely understand.
However, I would love to hear your thoughts on any techniques or best practices to help reduce the amount of time it takes to build trust with your employees.”
Doug poses an excellent question. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a question I frequently get on my leadership workshops.
The short answer is ‘yes.’ You can reduce the amount of time it takes to build trust with your employees.
However, the process of building trust sometimes can be tricky to get right. First of all, the amount of time it takes to build trust will vary from one employee to another.
Secondly, your approach when building trust is probably very different from mine. So, you need to take that into account as well.
Fortunately, there’s a strategy that has worked wonders for me, and I’m confident it will work for you too. Why? Because it’s about developing a particular mindset around how you address your employee’s needs.
Let me elaborate a bit further. When you take over a new team as a manager, there’s always a question your employees will have.
‘Does my new manager have my best interest at heart?’
As a manager, I know I must find opportunities to prove that I do whenever I’m in this situation. Not with words, but with actions.
However, the challenge lies in finding those opportunities. So, here is an example from my own experience on how to spot and leverage those opportunities.
How I Approach Building Trust with My Employees
One time, I hired an employee who was already working for the organization. She lived on the West Coast, but she was willing to relocate to New Jersey to work for me.
On her first day, I had a conversation with her during her onboarding. She told me her family had a boat; she wanted to know if the relocation expenses the organization paid for also covered the boat.
I wanted to check with my HR partner if there was a chance of getting the boat’s expenses covered. It turns out it wasn’t. She would have to pay those expenses out of her pocket.
Later, I made some phone calls. My HR partner referred me to the person in HR who handled the relocation. She told me that it wasn’t part of the policy, but it could get approved. It would just need to come out of my budget.
For me, it was a no-brainer. I said yes, and it got quickly approved. When I called my employee back to tell her, she was stunned. She was grateful she wouldn’t have to pay for those expenses herself.
I wanted her to know that we, as an organization, valued her. We also understood and appreciated the sacrifice she had to make when moving with her family to New Jersey.
Needless to say, that one act undoubtedly helped reduce the amount of time it took to build that trust.
I’m not saying that was the only single act that pushed me over the edge. I was looking for those small wins to prove that I did have her best interest at heart.
How to Reduce the Timeline of Building Trust With Your Employees
In short, the fastest way to gain your employees’ trust is to show them you have their best interest at heart.
You need to invest the time to look for the opportunities; that’s the challenging part. Fortunately, these opportunities are everywhere.
They’re all around you; you need to be observant and disciplined enough to find them. They may come up in a simple conversation, but the trick here is to be attentive.
Listening and picking up on specific triggers will help you unveil an area of opportunity to show positive intent. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you can build trust using this strategy.
Once you have that trust, you can genuinely embark on an incredible and successful journey with your employees.
Do you have a challenging scenario or some advice you want me to weigh in?
Just go to https://sartoleadershipgroup.com/leadership-jam-session-podcast/. Click on ‘Ask Rob,’ and you’ll be able to send your request. You’ll hear back directly from me!
Key Takeaways
– How to gain your employees’ trust quickly (00:00)
– The one question all employees have (03:11)
– How I approach building trust as a manager (05:04)
– What is the most significant challenge managers face? (09:39)
– The key to reducing the timeline of building trust (14:05)
Leadership Resources
How are the leaders at all levels of management tackling the toughest challenges each day? Learn more at: https://sartoleadershipgroup.com
About the host, Rob Fonte
Rob Fonte is the founder and President of Sarto Leadership Group, whose reputation has been built on being a transformational leader and inspirational coach with a passion for developing others. His twenty-year career spans across multiple disciplines including leading award-winning sales teams. Rob is an academically trained Executive Coach certified by The University of Texas and the International Coach Federation.