Unique Ways to Establish Trust Among the Subordinates

Trust. One word which we expect in others but are perennially short of ourselves! How does one define trust in the first place? It’s one’s innate ability of certain people to have faith in others. In the matters which could potentially destroy or maim the latter badly if others were to know about it. If you think faith only exists in the world of humans on a one-to-one basis, you are partly correct.

In its corporate avatar, trust doesn’t come about on its own and has to be built. We give you some tips below.

1. Give yourself time

Trust is a subject that takes time. Like a cat that never befriends a human instantly so too human nature which takes its own time to come to conclusions and acts accordingly. Additionally, in the corporate set-up, it’s doubly difficult to trust people given that everyone has an agenda here. In such instances, people do not trust anyone, much less a superior immediately. In fact, rather than getting worried that things aren’t falling in place, it would make sense to do acts than endear one to one’s subordinates, and wait for the opportune moment when the light finally dawns on the subordinate to believe in the senior.

2. Keep your doors open & be truthful even if the outcome shows you in a bad light

Trust happens to the one who talks. Bolt up and no-one will come a mile near you. So, keep your doors wide, wide open. Doors here can also mean ears which ought to be kept open so that one knows what is going on in the organization and take steps accordingly. By keeping ears open, one can easily make out who is trustworthy and who is not. At times, a patient hearing is all that it takes to make the biggest skeptic, one’s most trust-worthy supporter. Forget humans, even animals desire that they are heard and acknowledged because that is one way of asserting one’s existence in the world. For that reason, a caring senior ought to be one who keeps doors and ears wide open even if the outcome shows the listener in a bad light.

3. Talk to them at every opportunity but back it up with requisite and promised action

Once a level of trust is built by giving subordinates a patient hearing, the senior ought to talk. And talk sense with facts that do not belittle his/ her concerns. In today’s world, lies get caught rather fast and one’s trust goes straight out of the window! Avoid lies and half-truths. Better still, stand straight, be polite and speak the truth- even if it hurts initially (which it will) because later when things are discovered, the same one who hurt you shall start to admire your audacity. They will also trust you because an honest person is taken to be dependable by all.

4. Support them in their hour of crisis

Trust builds for those who come to the assistance of the fallen. The boldest of humans are most vulnerable in times of crisis. To stand by in such times is reason enough for the fallen to remain loyal and faithful. For a senior, it then makes sense to keep gauging the horizon to identify the best time to intervene. One should NEVER manufacture situations of crisis to gain trust. When discovered, it leads to the biggest fall-out with the senior being labeled “untrustworthy” and an outright “liar”.

5. Support them to grow

Trust in any organization builds for those who support even the lowliest to grow. Stories abound of seniors acting as mentors to even peons and office boys who come back to pay their respects when the senior goes through trying times. These besides, in the normal office scenario, the best way to gain trust for any senior is to entrust subordinates with activities that ensure growth for the latter. In doing so, the senior also builds a loyal second-line of officers who he can expect to hold grounds where such a senior is given additional responsibilities.

6. Show respect even if the efforts have failed

Failure, they say, is the first sign of trying, and if the person is persistent, he/ she can become a winner in time with plenty of experiences to light the way. And it is in these failures that a senior can show his/ her true spirit by not berating the junior. Once berated, the subordinate may stop trying completely and slink into the shadow, a broken, maimed spirit. Such a subordinate may also stand up and announce to everyone that the senior is not trustworthy, in which case, the senior’s credibility is worth dirt! Instead, the senior ought to show empathy and guide the subordinate. In doing so, the senior is sowing the seeds towards a bright future for himself in the presence of a committed subordinate.

7. Don’t let gossip float around in the grapevine

A senior in the habit of gossiping gets discovered pretty fast. Because the digital grapevine travels at the speed of light and doesn’t take things lightly! In order to gain the trust of subordinate, a senior thus should avoid the one thing we all enjoy, a healthy round of gossip. Constructive criticism, even behind one’s back is still acceptable and may be taken in the right spirit but not the gossip that maligns. For a senior looking for approval and building trust, this is one habit better left at the earliest.

8. Don’t help them all the time and all the way. Let them fall and help them in getting up

A senior who believes in spoon-feeding will be left with the bath-water after the baby has gone! People outgrow motherly treatment pretty fast, and move on without respecting such ‘mothers.’ In fact, disrespect is what such seniors invariably get. Far from forming a great team where trust and empathy rules, mothering does just the opposite. It makes subordinates unusually suspicious of such a senior’s role and responsibility. Such seniors cannot build a responsible team ever and their productivity would invariably be very low. Instead, seniors should delegate responsibility down to the juniors with clear ideas of what is expected of them. In doing so, the subordinate feels he/ she is trustworthy in the eyes of the senior which is a major morale booster guaranteed to bring positive results.