How to Build Trust in the Workplace to Boost Solidarity

Let’s start at the beginning…. What is workplace culture? 

We use the term often, but what is workplace culture?

Many different elements make up your workplace culture, including:

• The character and personality of your organisation, defined somewhat by your brand identity.
• Your core values.
• The behaviours the company encourages.
• The people within the business.

People… this is a trickier one. 

Part of the recruitment process should be assessing whether the job candidates are a good cultural fit, which goes beyond the credentials on their CV. Get to know the people you’re interviewing and ask questions that reveal their values. It’s just as much in their interest as yours that you’re aligned and in tune. 

When workplace culture and personal values blend well, it contributes to a harmonious working environment, improving engagement and retention.

A cultural shake-up… How to change workplace culture

Can you change or improve a workplace culture, and if so, how?

Authenticity is essential.

Leadership must do more than present a new cultural plan on paper and expect to see change or improvement. Actions speak louder than words, and change is only effective when embraced from the top down.

Tips on how to change workplace culture:

• Hold an event: Get everyone in the business together to share the new vision. Make a quiz so they can share what they’ve learned.
• Community: If you’re enhancing your culture by embedding it within your community, choose a local charity to support and offer employees paid volunteering days. It’s an impactful way to shape your values, and your employees will love giving back.
• Values Rewards: One of the best ways to successfully change your workplace culture is to recognise and reward employees who adopt those values and desired behaviours.

We could add much more to this list, like being a family-friendly organisation and embracing flexibility. The one thing that will make or break your cultural ambitions is authenticity. It's essential to have buy-in across the business - top to bottom and bottom to top.

Explore how to get reward and recognition right:

• Inclusive employee rewards for all generations
• Affordable and inclusive ways to harness the power of employee appreciation
• Revolutionise your reward and recognition strategy... 9 reasons why

Select the employee rewards that align with your culture and reward with purpose with our inclusive and eco-friendly employee rewards.

Wondering how to build trust in the workplace?

First, let’s address why trust matters.

Employees in a ‘high trust’ business report:

• 74% less stress
• 50% higher productivity
• 13% fewer sick days
• 76% more engagement
• 40% less burnout.

Employees in high-trust organisations are more productive, have more energy at work, collaborate better with their colleagues, and stay with their employers longer than people working at low-trust companies. They also suffer less chronic stress and are happier with their lives, and these factors fuel stronger performance. Harvard Business Review

How can you tell if your business needs a trust boost?

There are a few common signs that your employees will display in a low-trust organisation, including: 

• Working in siloes.
• Lack of cross-departmental collaboration.
• High levels of conflict.
• Low employee engagement.
• Higher than usual levels of stress.
• High levels of absenteeism.
• High employee turnover.
• Low levels of employee engagement.

Everything on this list negatively impacts your bottom line.

Now, to tackle how to build trust in the workplace.

Start with your people. An anonymised survey will reveal how your employees feel about your culture and whether they display feelings of trust.

Areas to explore include:

• How your people rate your leadership.
• Can employees confidently raise concerns?
• Do employees discuss personal matters with their managers?
• Do your employees feel valued and recognised?

Trust and workplace culture are connected at the authenticity level. If you’re trying to improve workplace culture and build trust, your leaders must be believable and practise what they preach.

Here are a few ways you can improve your culture and build trust in the workplace:

• Invest in training empathetic managers.
• Adopt an inclusive and personalised reward and recognition strategy.
• Embed a robust Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policy.
• Share information on pay equality.
• Publish a whistleblowing policy.
• Hold regular business reviews,
• Act on employee feedback,
• Create a solid CSR strategy.
• Be flexible.
• Become a part of your local community.

It may seem like a long list, but it will help solidify a culture of trust and put you in the best position to enhance employee engagement and retention.

The Importance of Employee Wellbeing

A robust employee wellbeing strategy is essential when considering how to improve workplace culture and build trust. What better way to create an environment employees want to remain in than by putting their health and happiness first?

Discover why employee wellbeing matters and how to get it right:

• The Evolution and Growing Importance of Employee Wellbeing
• Workplace Wellbeing Made Simple: Part One
• Workplace Wellbeing Made Simple: Part Two

At Pluxee UK, we take pride in being a trusted partner and have been helping businesses like yours create an employee experience that helps people and businesses thrive for over 60 years.

Let’s build an employee-retaining workplace culture. Arrange a call today.