By Sola Kehinde
Do your employees trust you? According to a 2014 study by the American Psychological Association, 25 percent of employees say they don’t trust their employer. Let’s not forget that any relationship where trust is absent, most likely, commitment will be absent, too. Therefore for you to get the best out of your employees, you need to gain their trust.
Here are five key reasons why you should gain your employee’s trust.
1. High Employee Morale
Employees that trust their employer usually have high morale. They’re happy to come to work, happy about their work and are also happy working in that particular business environment. This makes them ready to go the extra mile in order to achieve the goals and objectives of the business.
Employees with high morale are usually more efficient and productive because they are less likely to make costly mistakes and errors. They will not be absent from work or late to work unnecessarily thereby saving you a lot of money that would have been lost to reworks and lost productivity.
Because they’re happy at work, they’ll share their good feelings with their friends, families and neighbors which will boost the image of the business in the community.
2. High Employee Loyalty
Employees that trust their employers usually become very loyal. A loyal employee is an asset to any employer because they are ready to protect the interest of the business at all times. They’ll not talk negatively about the business in public and are usually proud of the products and or services of the business.
They’ll do everything possible to resolve issues internally so that it doesn’t become obvious to customers. Where this cannot be prevented, they’ll handle customer complaints and difficult customers with tact and wisdom to protect the name and reputation of the business.
Loyal employees will not leave the business easily. Even when they have to leave, they’ll ensure that their leaving has little or no negative impact on the business.
3. High Employee Performance
Once employees trust their employers, they believe the employer has their best interest at heart. This belief pushes them to put in their best, even to the extent of going above and beyond, in some cases. Such employees are willing and ready to work extra and additional hours when required.
Employees that trust their employers are ready to pay greater attention to little details while going out of their way to ensure that operational costs are kept as low as possible in order to maximize profit for the business.
They are not only interested in meeting customer expectations but are also eager to exceed them so as to increase customer satisfaction which ultimately leads to repeat business.
4. Low Employee Turnover
Employees that trust their employer find it very difficult to leave such employers. They don’t see themselves as just employees of the business but as stakeholders which makes them develop a sense of ownership. They see the success of the business as their own success and the failure also as theirs and in addition, they also have a strong belief in the future of that business.
This belief and sense of ownership makes it difficult for employees that trust their employers to leave, resulting in very low employee turnover which saves the employer a lot of money in recruitment fees, onboarding fees, training fees, etc.
5. High Business Profitability
Employees are known to be the greatest asset of any business. A business that can boast of high employee morale, high employee loyalty, high employee performance and low employee turnover will no doubt be able to achieve a high level of profitability.
In an article jointly written by Stephen M. R. Covey and Douglas R. Conant, published in the Harvard Business Review titled, “The Connection between Employee Trust and Financial Performance,” they stated that Trust is truly a hard, economic driver for every organization. In their opinion, without trust, every part of an organization can fall literally into disrepair because a leader’s ability to build trust has a profound effect on measurable and tangible business results in the marketplace.
In summary, achieving your business goals as an employer / business owner becomes much easier simply by gaining the trust of your employees. Don’t you agree? Tell us your opinion by commenting below.
