When it comes to building a healthy working relationship with your employees, trust is essential. However, building trust takes time, and for new employees, it can be even more challenging. As a manager, you want to establish trust with your new hires as quickly as possible to set the stage for a positive and productive working relationship.
Fortunately, there are practical steps you can take to build trust with your new employees from day one. From establishing clear expectations to showing empathy and support, these strategies can help you create a culture of trust and respect that can benefit your team and your organization. To help, Young Entrepreneur Council members share their best tips for quickly establishing trust.
1. Create A Documented Onboarding Plan
Providing a documented onboarding plan and reviewing with employees what expectations are can help build trust. When employees and managers have numbers to measure their progress by, such as KPIs, working becomes objective and it’s easy to identify what to improve. Trust grows with clear expectations and qualifications so staff knows where they stand. – Libby Rothschild, Dietitian Boss
2. Demonstrate Interest In Their Lives
Spend time with your employees throughout the workday. Get out of your beautiful corner office and do some work in the common areas where employees can approach you and hang out sans appointments. Greet your team and catch up on their weekends. Showing you care about them outside of work is a great way to emphasize their importance to the company and create a stronger relationship. – Kaitleen Shee, GROW
3. Establish That Every Voice Is Valued
The best managers don’t talk at employees, they talk with them. Emphasizing early on in the onboarding process that every voice is valued is a great way to set the tone for a collaborative, productive and trusting relationship. Setting up regular times to touch base and keeping an open-door policy demonstrates your accessibility and helps to cultivate an authentic one-on-one relationship with employees. – Samuel Saxton, ConsumerRating.org
4. Communicate Well And Have Empathy
Here are two important things for building manager-employee trust: communication and empathy. Have one-on-ones where employees can express concerns and ideas freely and ask questions. Empathize with them, offer non-judgmental advice, provide feedback, recognize and reward their efforts and build rapport with informal talks and team activities. Value their opinions and help them resolve concerns. – Bryce Welker, Big 4 Accounting Firms
5. Make Yourself Available
I think that a manager can build confidence quickly by just being present. This means being available to answer questions, reaching out from time to time or offering support. The more a manager communicates, the more a new employee will feel comfortable. Soon enough, this will build the foundation for lasting trust. So, just be present and talk to your new hire. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
6. Celebrate Their Accomplishments
Managers can quickly build trust with new employees by celebrating their successes. Acknowledge their accomplishments, give them praise and recognition for their hard work and show that you value their contributions to the team. This will help to build a positive rapport and create a sense of mutual respect and appreciation. – Sujay Pawar, CartFlows
7. Follow Through On Promises And Policies
Make sure the promises, policies and culture discussed before hiring follow through once they’re hired. It should never feel like a two-part experience—the interview versus the job. The first should naturally flow right into the other. Boost the culture through your example, be available for training and questions and make sure necessary tools and resources are readily available. – Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker
8. Allow Mistakes And Learn From Them
In my company, I make it a point to show my employees that I too am human. No one wants to work in a place where they cannot make mistakes. Being constantly afraid of making a mistake breeds fear and distrust. I “sunshine” my mistakes and those of others to show that our team cares more about learning from mistakes than being punished for them. This has built immense trust within our team. – Alexis Austin, Right Law Group
9. Provide Frequent Feedback
Clear expectations and frequent feedback can help managers create confidence and trust with new hires. This starts with a comprehensive onboarding process outlining the company’s mission and values. Consider frequent check-ins down the road. Lastly, demonstrating transparency and respect for the employee’s contributions will also help build trust. – John Hall, Calendar
10. Lead By Example
One action managers can take to immediately establish trust with new hires is to set a good example, demonstrate a strong work ethic and show dedication to the team’s success. This may entail being actively involved in projects, being receptive to staff needs and concerns and being prepared to make challenging choices when called upon. – Maksym Babych, SpdLoad
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