You know the story of Humpty Dumpty, right? It’s a good example of how things that were broken will not be the same again—at least not with hard work and commitment.

It’s the same thing with an employee’s trust. You can regain someone’s trust, but it will take some time. Your leadership skills will be tested, and a change of pace in regard to communication skills in the workplace is in order.

Most leaders and entrepreneurs mean well, almost no one starts off with a pure evil intent to hurt or sabotage another person’s career. Unfortunately, the publicity of big corporate scandals and corruption has lead many employees to doubt the honesty and leadership skills of their boss. The unspoken question among many employees is- “Can I really trust my boss to do what he said he will?”

Perhaps you think your business is immune to this. You’ve done nothing wrong and you’re very transparent to your team. Good for you… but that doesn’t mean you haven’t lost your employee’s trust in some other way.

In some cases, it’s the little things that slowly chip away at the foundation of trust. Often, the culprit is poor communication skills in the workplace. Expectations were not set, promises weren’t fulfilled, layoffs and white lies are all detrimental to your employee’s trust.

How do you respond to this?

Allow them to air their emotions, be it grievances, concerns or doubts
The ability to take constructive feedback is one of the most important communication skills in the workplace. As a leader, you may not be used to being told off but this may be necessary if you are to regain your team’s trust. Allow your team to tell you how they feel by giving them a venue to air their fears, questions, needs and doubts. You can do this through private 1-on-1 meetings or through an anonymous survey.

Remember, this is their chance to talk not a time to defend your actions.

Discuss their concerns and grievances AND do something about it!
Isn’t it a bummer when a company sends out a survey, only to ignore the suggestions and complaints they received? Why ask for people’s opinion in the first place? In the same way, your employees will expect a response to whatever issues they brought up with you.

Even if you can’t fulfill the broken promises or act on the complaints they aired, your employees will think better of your leadership skills if you at least acknowledge these issues. However, if circumstances allow you to implement changes, then do it and credit the people who suggested them.

You will regain the trust of your employees once they see that you’re not blind to their problems, and that you are open to making changes for the better. In this process, you’ll have improved your leadership skills and improved your team’s communication skills in the workplace by giving them the confidence to speak out without fear of reprimand.