How to Build Trust in the Workplace

Employees should feel confident in the company they work for and the team that surrounds them. They spend the majority of the week at their job, so it’s natural to expect a certain level of comfort in the environment they visit nearly every day. Trust plays a huge part in making employees feel happy, productive, and comfortable at work. That’s why you need to know how to build trust in the workplace.

HRDQ offers a library of online assessments that can help you gauge an employee’s attitudes, strengths, and outlooks. Discover what your team thinks with the HRDQ Online Assessment Center.

Why Is Trust Important?

Trust is important to have within and between all positions:

• As a superior, your employees should be able to look to you for guidance and know that your decisions keep their best interests in mind. Trust is a key tool that allows you to effectively lead your team. Without it, your employees may not listen, believe, or respect your authority and decisions. This can lead to poor quality of work, decreased morale, and inefficiency. In turn, you should also trust that your team has the skills and capabilities to deliver great results.
• As a team member, you should trust that your coworkers are willing to assist you if you need help and that they’re able to do their part in contributing to the team. You should also feel comfortable enough to talk with your supervisor, whether it be to discuss problems or successes.

Ways to Build Trust

As you can see, trust is imperative in creating a positive and productive work environment. Below are a few ways that you can start building trust within your company:

Give Praise

Trust is often formed when people create authentic relationships with one another. The simplest way to do this is by giving your fellow team members praise when praise due. Something as small as “I loved your idea” or “Your presentation was really well-done” can go a long way in building relationships and trust, so long as you are being genuine and meaningful with your praise.

Hold People Accountable

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to lose someone’s trust is by not doing what you said you would do. For instance, you’re sure to be wary of asking help from a coworker who does not dependably turn their work in on time.

That said, you need to encourage your team to hold people accountable for their actions, explaining the negative effects of not following through on a task. In doing so, your team can begin to feel confident that each coworker will support them and complete items when needed. Teaching your team to be dependable, reliable employees is imperative to cultivating a strong trust system.

Share Knowledge

Sharing valuable knowledge is another way to build relationships and trust. If you discover something that significantly improves the way a procedure works, an upcoming industry trend, or a useful new tool, don’t harbor it to yourself just to get credit for the discovery. Instead, start sharing your newfound knowledge with your team. If it’s something that makes the job of the entire team easier, they’ll certainly appreciate being able to benefit from what you share.

Practice Active Listening

Everyone likes to feel heard. If an employee knows that their supervisor or another team member won’t accept their opinions and statements as valid, they’ll simply quit reaching out—hence, you’ll lose their trust.

Active listening is the practice of fully concentrating on, engaging with, and responding to the person who is speaking. This form of listening helps confirm that you understand what the other person is saying and that you’re interested in their dialogue. Cultivating this skill will help employees feel that their thoughts have been heard—it’s then up to you, the listener, to take action based upon the discussion. They’ll hold you accountable to do something with the information presented to you.

Train Them for Growth

Finally, investing in the growth of your employees is a great way to show that you trust their abilities and see a great future for them within the company. Giving them the skills to continue to improve in their position—and eventually beyond it—can instill a sense of worth and security, knowing that time is being dedicated to helping them succeed in many aspects of their career.

Get Started with HRDQ

We hope you better understand how to build trust in the workplace and why it’s important for the success of your organization. If you need a place to start, HRDQ is here to help:

• Gauge your team’s attitude towards trust using the HRDQ Online Assessment Center.
• Train your leaders and team members with customizable workshops from the HRDQ Reproducible Training Library. Providing your employees with quality soft skills training programs will show your commitment to their growth and provide tools to further cultivate trust in the workplace.

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