If employees don’t trust that managers have worker’s best
interest in mind, they will build a wall of resistance and defensiveness that
is difficult to penetrate. If that happens, it’s difficult for employees to accept
a manager’s feedback. You can work towards building trust. Here are some
suggestions:
Respect confidentiality. Don’t discuss one employee’s
performance while talking to another employee, unless you have the permission
of the employee to do so. Protect the interests of employees who aren’t there.
If you don’t, no one will share their vulnerabilities and concerns with you.
Even the employee you’re talking to will worry that you might ultimately talk
about them too. You can discuss a positive performance in public. Employees
hearing this will want you to do the same about them and will perform well for
you.
Establish credibility. You don’t have to brag about your
experience and skills, but do share your competence. You were put in a position
of leadership because of your knowledge and experience. This gives you the
authority on any subject you are discussing. Unless employees think you know
what you’re talking about and value your opinions, they can easily brush off
your feedback.
At the same time, don’t act as if you have all the answers.
Show that it’s ok for everyone not to be perfect and want to improve by
revealing your own limits. You’re not perfect in everything. By showing your
employees this, you set the example that it’s ok for them not to be perfect.
Show compassion. Implement decisions with sensitivity,
especially those with negative consequences. This includes letting employees
know what’s coming, to the extent that you can, and acting as though
information is not proprietary. An atmosphere of hidden agendas is not
conducive to feedback.
Don’t stockpile feedback. Doing so creates an atmosphere in
which employees feel blindsided. They’ll be continually on edge, waiting for
the other shoe to drop. Instead, talk openly about what employees need to work
on and how they are doing day in and day out. You notice I said talk to the employee. In this day with all the technology we have with texting and social media it's easy to get caught up with hiding behind that rather than a one on one with your employee. This way you can be sure your message is being received correctly.
Care about employees’ successes. If you show that you
genuinely care about employees’ successes, then you create a lot of room to
discuss performance issues—even difficult ones. People link success with
learning. If on the other hand, employees perceive your goal has a punishing
edge of nailing them for incorrect behavior, then the feedback experience will
be painful for everyone. Employees begin to trust managers when they believe
that you understand their desires and concerns and see what you are trying to
accomplish on their behalf.
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