4 Ways To Build Trust During Times of Change

Trust is essential in a team, especially in times of change. People commonly resist change for a variety of reasons.  Although you intend for the change to result in a positive outcome, change is often viewed as negative.

If the people in an organization don’t trust their leaders, they won’t buy-in to the change. They will question their motives, drag their feet, or actively work against the change. Trust is key to both managing and leading change. We cannot afford to take trust for granted.

Trust is needed in every aspect of performance in an organization and affects many aspects ranging from increased productivity, efficient management, job satisfaction, employee engagement and staff development. However, when there is organizational change trust becomes the most important aspect of a company to ensure the change succeeds.

To build trust in times of change, consider these three steps:

1. Overcommunicate the outcome.

There’s no such thing as communicating too much in times of change. For communication that builds trust, paint a picture of the outcome. Instead of endlessly tweaking the messaging, focus on providing clear and succinct communication about what is being done, why it’s being done that way and what the results should look like.

2. Focus on the work and build small wins.

The point of overcommunicating is to ensure that employees know what is happening and why, even if they haven’t fully bought into the change itself. But there has to be a balance between communication and actually doing the work. People will put real trust in the plan when they see the wins coming from putting the change into action.

Your read on the situation will determine the timeline. Once you gain some initial buy-in, focus on what people need to do right now to see those small wins start to build up. Employees seeing the benefits for themselves will translate into increased trust in the process—and in the executive team.

3. Be a role model

Building trust takes time. It’s not something you earn in a week, and certainly not in the period of crisis. You have to think about a pivotal point in your company long before it’s even on the horizon, and the best way to gain employees’ trust is by making it a part of the company culture. Treat your team members like you want to be treated and show them a model of behavior in difficult situations that they could copy. At the same time, be transparent and super honest at all times. If things go wrong, look for the solution first, not for the one who messed it up.

4. Seek feedback from frontline employees.

Change strategies are built with input from a lot of people: executives, the board, outside consultants. But often, you have to put the plan into action to find the gaps in it. At this point, the people closest to the work will be able to provide the most actionable insights. Listening to their feedback and adapting the process will further build trust in your leadership and buy-in to the change.

You build and maintain trusting relationships and a culture of trust in your workplace one step at a time through every action you take and every interaction you have with your coworkers and employees. Trust may be fragile, but it has the capacity to grow strong over time with the deliberate efforts above.

Without trust in the workplace, communication and teamwork will erode. Additionally, morale will decrease while turnover will rise. However, by using these strategies, you can build your employees’ trust in management, thereby making their workplace an environment filled with innovation, creativity and ultimately higher profits for all.