Top Tools to Communicate to Build Trust
Successful managers and companies use these tools religiously to build employee trust and motivate their teams to set their sights even higher.
Repeat important messages—Find every opportunity to repeat the company goals and direction. Be doubly redundant. Being consistent and repetitive will dramatically enhance effectiveness. Repetition results in retention and then action.
Request stakeholder input on your values—Start with your employees and use the Values Identification Tool. Sort the results to reach a consensus about the company’s core values.
Continually communicate about your values—Wall plaques of values are a start but not enough. Put your values on your website and incorporate them in the email signature blocks for all employees. Find different and unusual ways to communicate your values.
Use symbolism and themes—Use themes like Q1 = $1. Broadcast the message and help others achieve it. Make your symbolism visible and frequent.
Write a monthly CEO/manager letter—Get your message out to everyone in your company to build trust, teamwork, and results. People like to know how what they do is affecting the bottom line, so tell them what’s going on.
Hold meetings with direct reports—Schedule an individual, uninterruptible, weekly meeting with each direct report to create trust and develop the relationship—not for accountability purposes. Talk mainly about nonbusiness matters.
Issue a weekly employee update—This communication shares information about customers and employee performance. Each week, relate what an employee did to live up to a company value.
Send personal notes home—A personal note is an amazingly powerful tool. Send handwritten notes to cheer on employees and congratulate them for results.
Feed everyone’s efforts—Volunteer your personal support to each employee’s effort to beat the goal. Exhibit a servant attitude when it comes to the efforts and success of your team members.
By implementing these tools into your leadership role, then you will be able to better communicate with your employees and in return build trust.