Introduction
Trust is a fundamental aspect of organizational efficiency as it forms the foundation upon which all tenets of work relationships are built. Achieving the objectives of the firm may be challenging if employees feel excluded from the organization’s bigger vision (Tschannen-Moran & Gareis, 2015). A breakdown of how leaders have leveraged impressions of honesty, authenticity, and consistency to build and maintain trust with their staff forms the basis of this paper.
Discussion
Honesty entails having both a sense of credibility and being truthful. Workers who have certainty in their management have faith in the latter’s perception of justice and do not worry that the leader would favor certain members of the organization. Managers should always be honest with their staff, especially when addressing the promises made to them, such as salary increments (Tschannen-Moran & Gareis, 2015). Credible leaders facilitate the corroboration between management and employees, thus creating and maintaining trust. The section below highlights how managers use authenticity to build and maintain trust with their employees.
Authenticity involves being true to oneself, articulating one’s thoughts and feelings honestly, and accepting one’s faults. Workers may be less inclined to put themselves in a vulnerable position before a leader if they perceive them to be overly defensive or if they are withholding information about their personalities. Therefore, genuinely involving them in major activities such as decision-making is encouraged as a means to build trust. Managers should be willing to accept blame and criticism when raised by employees and act accordingly.
Lastly, the degree to which the leader consistently demonstrates the virtues of honesty and authenticity will determine the staff’s level of trust in him or her. From a conventional perspective, previous behavior is usually the best indicator of future behavior. Therefore, managers who consistently act in ways that foster trust across different contexts are more likely, than those who do not, to win and maintain the trust of their employees (Tschannen-Moran & Gareis, 2015). When this happens, employees can confidently rely on their leader for directions, knowing that all previous commitments will be honored as usual.
Conclusion
The three dimensions of trust discussed above operate in tandem to create healthy working relationships between managers and staff. The study of different trust tenets highlighted throughout this paper can help readers appreciate the role of honest, authentic, and consistent leaders in fostering trust between employees and management.
Reference
Tschannen-Moran, M., & Gareis, C. R. (2015). Faculty trust in the principal: An essential ingredient in high-performing schools. Journal of Educational Administration, 53(1), 66-92.