Trust – In Employer Branding And 10 Simple Ways To Build It

Author, Karunjit Kumar Dhir

Remember how you learnt to walk the first baby steps, how you started with your cycling, how did you learn to swim, how did you start riding a motor-bike or driving your first car, how you fell in love and how have you seen your kids do the same again; taking the journey of life ahead and helping you relive your good times?

The foundation & ignition behind all these real milestones in our lives was TRUST. Trust in our parents, siblings, coaches, trainers or perhaps just in our feelings(in case of first love..:)

All these people at different stages in our life, made us believe in a very strong way that they won’t let us fall down or get hurt; come what may. And, that TRUST helped us assimilate the required courage to take the first step or the first plunge; which became the beginning of every momentous journey or stage of our lives. Would we take that first step, if we did not have this trust in them? The answer is a clear No. This Trust is the foundation of every relationship and the beginning of every memorable journey.

Now that this is clearly established and we have all grown to be professionals, it is important we remember to base every business dealing and all professional relationships on Trust. It is vital to attract the right talent for your organisation and it is a must to retain that talent. Unless the job seekers perceive of you as an employer of high trust, they won’t be attracted to be a part of your story. And, only when you build trust internally within the organisation, it gets communicated or perceived by the external world by the way of how your own people(employees) talk about your brand. 

So how do we build trust at our workplace, with our colleagues, teams, managers or leadership? Some of the best practices that help in fostering Trust at the workplace are –

1. Be authentic – walk the talk. Act with integrity & honour commitments.
2. Be transparent – communicate openly. Do not manipulate.
3. Be empathetic – only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches and every coin has two sides.
4. Be respectful – treat all with due respect or at least treat all the way you would expect them to treat you.
5. Be consistent – people get confused with inconsistent & irrational behaviour or communication, especially when it comes from the organisation or the leaders representing it.
6. Share – remember “sharing is caring”, from your school days? Share information. Share positive developments. Do share the “not so good news” too openly. This fuels strong mutual bonding. 
7. Acknowledge and praise – praise openly. Acknowledge the contribution & intent; however big or small. Acknowledge the right actions and desired behaviour, so set the right expectations & culture. 
8. Learn to listen (and more importantly, observe) – not everything that’s communicated is verbal(there is something called as body language too). Try to keep your eyes & ears open. There is a lot that goes on the floor.
9. Invest in your teams and employees development – loyalty is won this way. People need to feel important & being invested in.
10. Welcome and avoid – welcome people, new hires, ideas, feedback and avoid office gossip. What “A” says of “B” speaks a lot about “A” than “B”.

Building trust is absolutely necessary to establish your reputation as an employer. It significantly helps in not only attracting but also retaining the right talent for your organisation and both of these if put together shall define the “brand” you are – your employer brand equity.