How Important Is Trust in the Workplace?
While phrases like “I give you my word” may seem antiquated in a world of contracts and dotted lines, the importance of trust-based relationships has never gone out of style. Isn’t it true that we still long to interact with a boss who is not only understanding, but trustworthy and honest as well? Would you share your personal and career goals with anyone less?
A fresh way of thinking about trust in the workplace is to understand that leaders don’t carry the burden of building trust-based partnerships with members of their workforce alone. The leadership principle of trust is based on a mutual influencing relationship between leaders and individual employees, one that requires a true interdependency of values and vision-sharing.
How can your organization get there? What does it take to build trust-based partnerships between leaders and employees? Here are the primary principles for leaders to follow:
Act with Integrity:
- Model the kind of values that employees can identify with and respect.
- Honor commitments and be counted on.
Demonstrate Caring:
- Take a genuine interest in employees’ backgrounds, interests, and motivations.
- Work toward a win-win solution when problems arise.
Deliver on the Shared Vision:
- Establish shared expectations and determine what success will look like.
- Pave the way for employees by making it possible for them to deliver their very best.
The mark of an effective leader is his or her ability to garner the trust and respect of a workforce. Once trust is established, there must be a focused, continual effort made by both parties to sustain it. This is a critical component of achieving and sustaining high performance.
Learn more about trust-based partnerships and Five Star’s “Leading the High-Performance Workforce” program.
Tags: Five Key Drivers of High Performance, Focused and Aligned Leaders, Skilled and Motivated Workforce, Trust
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