Trust is one of these difficult concepts that takes forever to build and just a second to destroy. So what's trust? In simple words, trust is confidence. The opposite of trust is, therefore, suspicion.
When you trust your employees, you feel confident that they will do the right thing, even if you are not there all the time to supervise them or monitor them. On the other hand, if you don't trust them, you are always suspicious that they will slack, or even worse, steal from you, so you need to watch them all the time.
Trust has therefore many advantages, not only you will sleep better if you trust your employees (or if you employ trusted people), but your business will run smoother and you'll feel happier knowing that you can leave on vacation or just get sick and relax at home versus having to spend all your waking hours in your restaurant double-checking every single step that your employees take.
When you trust your employees, you have confidence in them, in their abilities and in their integrity. You can rely on them and be confident that even if you are not present in your restaurant, they will have your best interests in mind and run the business as if it was theirs.
Now, I've been in the business myself so I can tell you that total trust is almost utopia. Unfortunately, in the restaurant industry, trust is often lacking. Employee turnaround is common and this means that people don't have time to build the necessary trust that long time relationships bring to the table.
The other side of the coin is that also the employees distrust the restaurant owners (and/or managers) and they take any opportunity to get back to them; either by slacking when they should be working (cleaning, organizing or just taking care of their customers), or even worse, by blatantly stealing cash and/or food or beverages.
This is a lose-lose situation where employers and employees must watch one another and nobody wins. The time and effort that takes to mistrust people could be put to a better use by improving the business and taking care of the customers.
So what can you do to create trust?
To start with, you must hire reliable employees. Having mediocre employees is not an excuse, specially in these times of abundant supply of skillful and experienced employees. If this economic crisis is good for anything, it is to find great people to work for you. Honesty should be at the to of your list for hiring employees and lack of it, should be an immediate reason for letting people go.
You must empower your employees with your trust, but you also must let them know that trust is your most valuable asset and if they break it, they lose their jobs immediately. Honesty is not negotiable.
Only by creating a working environment where trust is placed at the highest level you will be able to relax and improve your business exponentially.
I will now leave you with a quote from Jim Burke, a former Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson that talks about trust:
You can't have success without trust. The word trust embodies almost everything you can strive for that will help you to succeed. You tell me any human relationship that works without trust, whether it is a marriage or a friendship or a social interaction; in the long run, the same thing is true about business, especially businesses that deal with the public.
Jim Burke
Johnson & Johnson Former CEO
Happy meals,
Jose L Riesco
