Building trust should be the foundation of every business
relationship. When you sign up a new customer, you set expectations for the
service and treatment they will receive. The same is true when you hire an
employee. In both relationships, trust begins with what you say will happen,
but it is built by whether the actual experience matches what you promised.
Most companies understand the importance of earning a
customer’s trust. They may be less deliberate about earning the trust of their
employees, even though the two are closely connected. Employees learn what the
organization truly values by watching how leaders treat them, how decisions are
made, and whether commitments are honored. They then carry those lessons into
their interactions with customers.
Trust Begins Before the
First Day
The beginning of an employee relationship is not the first
day of work. It begins in the interview. That is when leaders should start
setting expectations and explaining the ground rules for what working for the
company will entail. This includes more than job duties, schedules, and
performance standards. Candidates also need to understand how they are expected
to interact with others, how decisions are communicated, how disagreements are
handled, and how they can expect to be treated by their leaders.
Leaders naturally want strong candidates to accept an offer,
but presenting an idealized version of the workplace creates a promise the
organization may not be able to keep. If a position occasionally requires
evening work, say so. If priorities change quickly, explain that. If the
employee will have authority in some areas but must seek approval in others,
make those boundaries clear. A candidate who accepts the position with accurate
information is choosing the actual job, not the version created during the
interview.
The same standard applies after the employee is hired. If
you tell someone they will never be expected to work outside their regular
hours and then begin asking them to do exactly that, you have taught them
something important. You have shown them that just because a leader says
something, it does not mean the leader will follow through. Now the issue isn’t
their work schedule, it is trusting what they are told by leadership.
The Experience Has to Match
the Expectation
An employee or customer who clearly understands what to
expect is more likely to remain loyal than someone who hears one thing and
receives something else. People can often accept limits, delays, or
inconvenient requirements when those conditions are explained honestly. What
damages trust is the gap between the promise and the experience.
Imagine taking a color sample to a paint store and asking
for a gallon of paint in that exact shade. The employee assures you the color
can be matched, so you buy the paint and take it home. When you open the can,
you find a completely different color. At that point, the problem is not only
that the paint is wrong. You planned your time and made a decision based on
information the store gave you. Now you have to return, explain the problem,
and hope the next can is correct. Why should you trust that it will be?
Employees experience the same frustration when leaders make
clear promises and later behave as if those promises were only suggestions. A
leader may see a single exception or a minor change in circumstances. The
employee sees evidence that expectations can change without an honest
conversation. When this happens repeatedly, employees stop relying on what they
are told and begin protecting themselves against what might actually happen.
Honesty Integrity and
Respect
The key characteristics of trust are honesty, integrity, and
respect. Honesty means giving people accurate information, including
information that may be inconvenient. Integrity means doing what you said you
would do, or addressing it directly when circumstances make that impossible.
Respect means allowing employees and customers to make informed decisions
rather than withholding information because it may affect the answer they give
you.
Return to the paint store. A trustworthy employee might say,
“Yes, I understand how to mix paint to the requested color, and I will verify
the match before I sell it to you.” If the employee has not been trained on the
new mixing machine, the honest answer is different: “I have not been fully
trained on this machine yet. I can try to match the color, or you can return
when our trained employee is available.” The customer may decide to wait, or
may accept the risk because the project cannot be delayed. Either way, the
customer is making that decision with accurate information.
That is what respect looks like in practice. Set
expectations, offer reasonable options, and deliver the agreed-upon result. If
the result cannot be delivered, communicate that as soon as possible and
explain what can be done next. Customers do not expect every person or company
to be perfect, and employees do not expect leaders to control every
circumstance. They do expect honesty about what is happening and accountability
for what happens next.
Employees Deliver the
Standard Leaders Create
Leaders cannot build one kind of culture for employees and
expect employees to create a different experience for customers. If employees
regularly receive incomplete information, shifting expectations, or promises
that are not kept, they learn that this is how the company operates. Some will
repeat that behavior with customers. Others will try to protect customers from
it, but doing so requires them to work around the organization rather than with
it.
On the other hand, employees who are treated honestly and
respectfully are more likely to communicate the same way with customers. They
understand that admitting a limitation is better than making a promise they
cannot keep. They know that raising a problem early is responsible, not
disloyal. They are also more willing to take ownership of a customer issue
because they trust that leadership will support an honest effort to resolve it.
This is why employee trust is not separate from customer
experience. It is part of the system that produces it. Policies, training, and
customer-service standards matter, but employees also follow the example set by
their leaders. What leaders tolerate internally will eventually become visible
externally.
Trust Is Maintained in the
Small Decisions
Trust is rarely lost through one dramatic event. More often,
it is weakened through small inconsistencies: a policy that applies differently
depending on who asks, a promised response that never comes, a schedule change
presented as voluntary when it is not, or a customer commitment made without
confirming that the company can meet it. Each instance may seem minor on its
own, but together they establish a pattern.
Leaders should pay attention to those small decisions
because employees and customers do. Before making a commitment, be sure the
organization can honor it. When something changes, address the change openly
rather than pretending the original expectation never existed. When a mistake
is made, correct it and acknowledge the inconvenience it caused.
Trust is built when words and actions continue to match over
time. For employees, that creates a workplace where expectations are clear and
leadership is credible. For customers, it creates confidence that the company
will deliver what it promises and respond honestly when it cannot. The path
from one to the other begins with leadership. Employees will carry the standard
they experience, and customers will recognize it when they do.