Workplace Culture: Fostering a Strong Sense of Teamwork with Mutual Trust and Respect

Trust and respect can only be earned and not demanded.

It all stems from the fact that — building a successful team takes more than just finding a great group of people with the right skillset.

From what I’ve seen, trust and respect in the workplace are paramount for building successful, productive teams and above all — for creating a culture of collaboration within your organization.

Before we tread on, here’s something to think about:

According to the Edelman “Trust Barometer” (an exhaustive survey of 33,000 people from 28 countries), one in three people don’t trust their employer.

As appalling as these numbers might be, this is sadly the ground reality of many organizations today.

In a fast-moving environment, where companies across many industries are accelerating their pace of transformation — fundamental values like these may end up falling by the wayside.

So, what’s at stake here? Well, other than the fact that your employees will be marching to a different tune; lack of trust and respect will dial-up stress in the workplace. This will also lead to secret agendas and brewing hostility among employees — which will create an overall unpleasant atmosphere. In situations like these, problems and conflicts are bound to creep in, eventually leading to burnout and attrition.

Source: SHRM

Perks of prioritizing trust and respect in the workplace

Trust and respect are two of the elemental forces that bind teams together — they help in cementing relationships in the workplace. This further cultivates a sense of belonging where people feel safe working together. In fact, employees are bound to respect leaders who create a safe work environment for them.

Moreover, with trust and respect in the backdrop, employees will be more comfortable engaging in open conversations. All this will improve efficiency, enhance job performance, and build a more committed workforce.

When you work towards building trust with your employees, you will not only benefit from an engaged workforce, but you will also notice how your teams are willing to come together and work towards the same organizational goals.

Source: smarp

High-trust workplaces where employees respect one another will reap the greatest rewards. Here are some instances:

• When employees are confident that their leaders have their best interest in mind, they will be more open to receiving and soliciting feedback
• Trust and respect in the workplace will lead to higher levels of employee engagement and productivity
• As per a study, organizations with high trust among their employees outperform their counterparts by 186%

How can you build a culture of trust and respect?

In this tweet by David Burkus, author of LEADING FROM ANYWHERE, he shares that trust and respect in the workplace are one of the top 4 characteristics of high-performing teams.

4 Characteristics Of High Performing Teams:

They have defined roles and responsibilities. They know each others strengths and weaknesses. They trust and respect each other. They know how their work fits the mission.#leadership #teamwork #culture — David Burkus (@davidburkus) December 16, 2021

Here are 3 ways in which you can foster a culture of trust and respect:

1. Support your employees: Be willing to genuinely help one another and create a supportive environment for all. This will help in boosting positivity in the workplace and in turn, employees will be more willing to ask for help.
2. Actively listen and communicate with your employees: One of the most common problems at the workplace is that we do not listen. It’s important to understand that listening is key to effective communication. Get to know your employees and encourage them to know one another. Listening to what they have to say alone is not enough; be approachable and open to communicating and engaging with your employees.

3. Build a strong work ethic: Lead by example and treat others with respect. Work towards creating an environment that is diverse, inclusive, and encouraging in every way.

Over to you

By now you might be sold on the fact that trust and respect are the bedrock on which all winning relationships are built.

It all comes down to creating a workplace culture that is rich in diversity and inclusion, wherein trust and respect will come naturally to your employees. When you set out to achieve this, you will end up with a productive and innovative workforce.

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