Effective working relationships do not come easy. Instead, they take a considerable amount of time and effort to nurture.
HR departments are supposed to be the friendliest faces within a firm. However, some workers have trepidations about approaching these figures too, even though the very purpose of their role is to help them.
Of course, colleagues mustn’t stay uncertain of one another for long. Rapports need to be built steadily, and confidence in each other must be in plentiful supply at the earliest opportunity. Here are some ways to build trust with employees.
Prioritise Honesty
Employees favour honest communication. These values are particularly resonant after the recent periods of bad news and uncertainty with the coronavirus pandemic.
Try to be as straight as possible with your workers. Offer up all the information you can regarding the firm’s prospects, even if difficult decisions might soon need to be made. Employees may appreciate this, as it will give them enough time to have contingency plans of their own and prepare for the worst. Any bad news won’t come as much of a shock, either.
Of course, the hope is that if you’re truthful with your workers, they might be equally as transparent with you. If they’re being overworked to the point of struggling to meet deadlines or have any other type of problem with the business that hinders their progress, they may be more likely to come to you. The feedback is important because it can help you improve your business, and it all starts with honest exchanges.
Defining Rules Clearly
Some businesses have very vague definitions of what behaviours are acceptable or not. In these situations, lapses in judgement can occur, which were entirely preventable to begin with.
For instance, you could offer workers a virtual credit card, enabling them to pay for the things they need more easily. These digital cards only exist online, so neither you nor your employee needs to worry about losing them. Moreover, they can cover expenses like business travel while ensuring that employees spend only within the limited funds assigned to the virtual card.
Everybody in the firm must know what they can expect from themselves and each other. After that, trust in one another is much more easily established. Create robust rules that are easily enforceable, and unify your workforce around them.
Meeting Workers Halfway
Today, people want different things out of their professional lives. Work conditions have changed drastically.
You may find that your employees regularly approach you with certain requests. They may push for more flexible hours or seek remote working opportunities to complement their lifestyles. Where possible, you should do your best to accommodate these evolving needs.
When workers are happy, the work they produce should be better in both quality and quantity. You may also find that staff turnover rates go down due to job satisfaction rates going up. Moreover, flexitime and remote working are becoming more commonplace in companies today. These work conditions are more than just perks now, and to not offer them is a huge oversight.