Emma Hull is the PR Manager at Balance, a financial-focussed digital marketing agency. Emma has worked in PR for the past six years, and is now currently managing the PR team, ensuring they’re hitting their KPIs and ensuring that all team members are happy.
Unlocking Team Unity
Having trust in employees is vital for succession. As well as succession for the business, trusted employees are likely to have a higher boost of morale, and also increased productivity.
A recent stat has shown that 25% of employers don’t trust their employers, which, although isn’t majority, is still a high amount.
Emma, PR Manager, has taken the time below to discuss five ways at how we ensure she gains trust from her team at Balance, a digital marketing agency focussed towards financial brands, currently with 40 employees.
Flexibility
Most businesses were forced to trust employees over the pandemic when work-from-home kicked in for most. However, even then, some screens were being watched, the amount of ‘clicks’ made were recorded and more frequent check-ins were made for staff.
Balance is still focussed on hybrid working, although with a requirement to come in at least one day a week, whichever day suits that person. They also offer full flexitime, as they appreciate not everyone can focus fully between the hours of 9-5; some may prefer early starts, some may prefer to work late in the evenings.
Balance trusts staff members to complete their work, when they do that work is up to them. By trusting employees to do their work in whatever time suits them, will not only increase trust but also increases productivity as they’re working at the time when they’re feeling most active.
Honest communication
It’s easy to tell team members what they want to hear, but sometimes this isn’t always appreciated as it shows that the business may be hiding something. Also, if something comes out that you’ve not told your team, then this will break down the trust that you’ve spent time creating.
Clients leaving, people leaving, reasons why these are happening – communicating these well will increase the trust between the employer and employee as it shows that the business doesn’t keep things to the senior leaders and wants everyone to be aware of what’s happening.
Managers and HR professionals have a care of duty to communicate in a transparent manner.
Show appreciation
You don’t need to wait for weekly or monthly 121s to tell an employee that they’re doing a good job. Try and find the time to give staff members the appreciation as the month goes on. Whether this is a small gesture such as just saying well done, or submitting them for a win-of-the-week or employee of the month. Showing that you’re taking the time to recognise achievements can help build a sense of trust and helps them feel as part of the community.
Off-site training
For most businesses and companies, attending training, events and talks is often vital. However, having the privilege to get away from the office and do these will show that you’re trusting your employee to represent your company away from the office and allow them to use a working day to do something productive, that will benefit the business.
Asking an employee if they want to take part in some off-site training, or a networking event, will show that you trust that person to set a good example on behalf of the company.
Listen and act
Ensure that you listen to your team members and do more than just take it in. If they’re facing a problem in work, make sure that you act on it straight away.
By acting on someone’s problems instantly, you’re showing that you care and that you’re there to help them. This will mean that hopefully, they’ll be able to come to you in future no matter how big or small the issue is.
