Shawnee Love   •  
August 7, 2014

One way to raise morale is to build trust with your people. But trust is a complex thing.  We know when we have lost it, but it is hard to put your finger on exactly what it takes to build it.  In my experience, it isn’t any one thing, but a combination of things like consistency, follow through, and honesty.

Here are some of the things that trusted managers do:

Walk their talk. Their actions are aligned with their words and their values.

Do what they say and say what they do.  Trusted managers telegraph where they are going so that there are no surprises when they get there.

Share the business challenges with staff, hear their input, and incorporate their solutions where possible.  Managers often think that their employees gain confidence if the manager solves all the issues on his or her own.  However, not only is that approach limited by the capabilities of the manager, but it actually leaves people feeling excluded and untrusted.  Better to share problems and receive the wisdom in ideas and solutions from staff not to mention their sense of being involved and respected for what they can offer.

Delegate.  Trusted managers are those who trust their staff.  They hand over important tasks, projects, and responsibilities and then get out of the way, confident that their employees can achieve what was asked.

Get to know their employees and what is going on in their lives and let them get to know their manager. Trusted managers will host social events such as a simple potluck or pizza lunch or beers after work to stay connected with their people.  Not only do managers need to build relationships to trust their employees, but employees need to build relationships with their managers to trust them as well.

Investing in relationships and building trust will pay dividends in the long run, but don’t forget that trust works both ways- You have to trust your people to be trusted by them.