It is crucial for all businesses to build a foundation of trust with their customers. But just as important as mutual trust with customers is trust among employees. So, how do business leaders establish and maintain trust among team members?
Communication is key.
Ensuring that you communicate well with team members and that they communicate well with one another is critical to the success of a company. When a positive rapport exists, things like constructive feedback are less likely to come off as criticism. There are no misconceptions about the intent, only understanding and mutual respect.
Remember the two C’s.
Culture and communication – at Stratos, we call these words the “two C’s.” You may have the tools in place to facilitate communication between employees, but it is the culture of the entire team that is vital to its success. Effective internal communication cannot be achieved without first having a healthy company culture – the two go hand-in-hand. Fantastic team communication is shaped by a positive company culture where team members are valued, understood and involved.
Lead with transparency.
Internal trust starts and ends with business leaders. As top members of your organization, you are responsible for building the culture, fostering relationships and communicating goals. Leaders must be approachable and make it easy for their employees to trust them. To do this, you can start with transparency. Leading with transparency means, “what you see is what you get.” It means allowing yourself and team members to drop the ball at times, holding yourself accountable and owning your mistakes. A transparent leader inspires confidence, creates loyalty and builds trust.
Trust is multi-faceted. Trust between customers and company, trust between team members and leaders – the list goes on. Whichever area you’re involved in, trust is important. Stay focused on leading with honesty, encourage open communication and work on company culture every day. You’ll be surprised at how those aspects impact trust positively day in and day out.
