The importance of trust in effective people management
One of the most hotly debated topics in 2021 was whether to continue to allow people to work from home or not. We dealt with this in many different contexts and found the common theme at the heart of each one ultimately came down to trust.
Managers have been asking themselves if they feel they can trust their employees to deliver when they can’t physically see and monitor them doing their job.
Employees have been hoping they can trust their employers to treat them fairly in the wake of huge personal and professional upheaval.
Trust between employers and their employees has always been important. However, the working from home situation that was thrust unexpectedly onto businesses and employees in lockdown, created a context where trust was brought sharply into focus and was tested in practice.
This experience and the pandemic in general changed the trust dynamic for both parties. We have seen a changing relationship between employees and line managers as a result.
Employees’ expectations of their employers has increased in terms of support with their well-being and work life balance. Managers have realised the importance of being able to trust their employees. Some have realised that they can, in a way they didn’t previously realise was possible.
Being trusted to get work done is empowering. The tricky piece is how do you get the work done in a way that the employer and employee both agree is effective and successful.
The very real and costly result of a lack of trust within the workplace culture is high staff turnover.
We recommend businesses focus on creating an environment where managers hire employees who they can give autonomy to and trust. This automatically creates a degree of respect which in turn fuels motivation and belonging.
Regardless of whether your employees work from home or not, you can take steps toward creating an environment of trust in the following ways:
Ensure your staff know how to plan, priorities and organise their day so when the pressure is on, they are able to cope. Focusing on that rather than checking and monitoring is much more effective.
The importance of communication cannot be overemphasised. Building trust requires a continuous cycle of communication, so both parties feel they have control and trust. Discussing and agreeing clear outcomes and expectations is essential.
Measure employee wellbeing and engagement. You don’t need a complex system to measure this, especially for small to medium size businesses; listening and asking the right questions is often the most effective way.
Support managers with the development of new skills. Train and develop your people managers to manage, with a focus on agreeing outputs rather than monitoring.
As a result of the pandemic, employers have seen more than ever before into their employees’ personal lives and literally, their homes. This has created more human connections between managers and employees. The key now is to build on that and make it a foundation for a mutually beneficial relationship, one which is built on trust, empowerment, and mutual respect.
