Leadership And Managing People -
What to Do When You Don’t Trust Your Employee - Sun and Planets Spirituality AYINRIN
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Summary.
Bi-directional
trust is a fundamental aspect of a healthy employee relationship;
without it, the leader, the employee, and the broader team suffer. In
this article, the author outlines five steps to take if you’re in the
uncomfortable position of not trusting one of your employees: 1)
Separate facts from assumptions and focus on specific problematic
behaviors. Which component of trust is lacking here? What exactly did
this person do or not do that has led to your distrust? 2) Identify the
specific situations or assignments where you are willing to trust them.
3) Provide feedback on the specific behaviors that are leading to your
distrust. 4) Reflect on what you might be doing (or not doing) to
contribute to the situation. 5) Ask yourself whether the breach of trust
is irreparable.
Trust is one of the most essential forms of capital a leader can have. When employees trust their leaders, it unleashes higher performance.
Employees are more engaged, productive, and innovative. They experience
lower levels of stress and burnout and are more likely to stay in their
jobs. Good leaders understand these benefits and actively work to earn and develop the trust of their team members and colleagues.
But
sometimes, a lack of trust flows in the opposite direction, and leaders
find themselves in the uncomfortable situation of distrusting someone
on their team.
In
this unique age of remote and hybrid work, it’s perhaps no surprise
that a scarcity of trust among leaders for their employees is now at an
all-time high, a perspective confirmed in the recently published Microsoft Work Trends Index.
Lack of trust in an employee leads to troublesome outcomes. It can
cause leaders to feel anxious and frustrated, hesitant to delegate, and
prone to micromanaging. Unfortunately, the adverse effects of leader
distrust can also extend beyond the specific leader-employee
relationship, stealthily diminishing innovation, morale, and performance of the broader team.
Steps to Take When You Don’t Trust Your Employee
Two-way
trust is paramount to a healthy and productive leader-employee
relationship. If you find yourself in the uncomfortable situation of
distrusting a team member, here are five steps to help you address the
issue and move forward.
1. Pinpoint the source of your distrust.
We
often hear (and make!) comments like “I don’t trust them” or “They
aren’t trustworthy.” We talk about trust in all-or-nothing terms, but
trust is not some global entity — trust is situation specific. Rarely
will you distrust everything about
someone. For example, you may trust your team member’s technical
expertise but not their ability to present their ideas to clients
effectively.
Research shows that trust can be broken down into three components:
- Competency
- Consistency
- Character
Trusting
someone’s competence entails having faith in their ability to do the
job. Consistency is the belief that the person is reliable — they do
what they say they’ll do and perform as expected. Finally, trusting
their character is believing that they have integrity and care about
others and their needs as well as their own. Like the indispensable legs
of a three-legged stool, each component of trust is crucial in a
relationship.
To
move past the black-and-white impasse of “They aren’t trustworthy,” ask
yourself: Which component of trust is lacking here? What exactly did
this person do or not do that has led to my distrust? Separate facts
from assumptions and focus on specific problematic behaviors.
2. Identify the specific situations or assignments where you are willing to trust them.
Make
a list of the areas in which you do trust your employee, and consider
how you might incrementally build on these areas in low-risk ways.
Here’s how this might look like:
- If you trust your employee to communicate effectively within the team, try involving them in cross-functional meetings or broader discussions.
- If you trust your employee’s technical skills, try having them mentor a newer team member or guide them through a complex task.
- If you trust your employee’s problem-solving abilities, try assigning increasingly complex tasks or providing more autonomy in tackling problems and coming up with their own solutions.
Focus
on clear and frequent communication as you delegate and build on their
tasks and responsibilities. Communicate the purpose and desired outcome
of the task, your specific expectations and standards, deadlines, and
their level of authority in making task-related decisions.
It’s
also important to maintain regular one-on-one check-ins to ensure you
remain aligned, offer the right amount of support, and create trust. To reduce hesitation in approaching you between these regularly scheduled meetings, share that you have an “open-door” policy.
When
we feel like we can’t trust someone, we fear what might happen if we
extend our trust, which often leads to more widespread micromanagement.
So it’s critical that you give this person the opportunity to prove
their trustworthiness. Excessive control and scrutiny will likely reduce
their motivation, productivity, and feelings of ownership, which could
result in behaviors that further erode your trust.
3. Provide feedback on the specific behaviors that are leading to your distrust.
Recall
which of the three components of trust is low (competency, consistency,
and character) and specify the behaviors that have degraded your trust.
For example, let’s say you identified that the source of your distrust
is a lack of consistency. What exact behaviors have you observed that
make you feel you can’t rely on them? Missed deadlines, failure to
follow through on a stated commitment, or failure to respond to you in a
reasonable amount of time?
Provide descriptive and specific feedback on
the problematic behaviors, describe the resulting negative impact, and
align on moving forward productively. For example, you might say, “For
the last two weeks, you’ve missed the weekly project status report
deadline. Consequently, I haven’t been able to provide a complete
project update to the executive team. Can we discuss what’s causing the
delay and create a plan to rectify the situation?”
High-quality feedback strengthens relationships with
your team member and builds trust. Remember that no one considers
themselves untrustworthy, so avoid using the “trust” word during your
conversation.
4. Reflect on what you might be doing (or not doing) to contribute to the situation.
Each
person shapes a relationship’s dynamics and outcomes, so it’s essential
to consider your role in the current situation. Trust can erode when
employees don’t have a clear understanding of their roles,
responsibilities, and expectations. Is it possible that you haven’t
provided sufficient clarity or guidance?
Trust is inherently reciprocal.
In other words, the more someone trusts you, the more likely you are to
trust them in return. As such, try boosting trust in this relationship
by shifting your focus away from what this person needs to do to regain
your confidence to how you might signal your own
trustworthiness. Again, recall the three components of trust. How might
you demonstrate your judgment and expertise, integrity and care for
them, and your dependability? For example, could you show your character
by being honest, transparent, and accountable for a recent mistake?
Also,
consider whether a lack of visibility might be contributing to your
distrust. With sparser in-person interactions, there’s more room to make
negative and baseless assumptions about others. Would scheduling more
face-to-face time with this person be helpful? Alternatively, do you
need to let go of “seeing” them work and focus on impact instead?
5. Ask yourself whether the breach of trust is irreparable.
While
trust is a tangible asset you can create in a relationship, sometimes a
situation is severely beyond repair; for example, discovering that your
team member has lied, breached confidentiality, or engaged in deeply
disrespectful behavior. If a team member has crossed certain boundaries,
the right course of action — for the integrity of your leadership and
the health of your team — might be to trigger an immediate investigation
or consider dismissal.
This
unfortunate situation can also develop when the behavior is less
severe, but your dedicated trust-building efforts haven’t led to
improvement. In these cases, consulting with HR and considering parting
ways may also be warranted.
Bi-directional
trust is a fundamental aspect of a healthy-employee relationship;
without it, the leader, the employee, and the broader team suffer.
Create a plan based on the steps outlined above, give it time, and know
that trust can be rebuilt in most cases, leading to a happier, more
productive workplace for all.
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