By Harvard Business Review Editorial Staff

How to Build Trust Among Your Employees

It’s no surprise that trust is at the core of high-performing teams. But conversations about cultivating trust at work often focus on the relationship between managers and employees. As important—if not more so—is establishing trust between teammates. Here’s how to promote trust on your team.

• Don’t leave collaboration to chance. At the beginning of every project, first discuss how the team will work together, paving the way for fewer misunderstandings and smoother collaboration down the road. Colleagues should take turns sharing the tasks at which they excel, their communication preferences, and unsuccessful collaborations they’ve experienced in the past.
• Build a culture that keeps everyone in the loop. Encourage everyone to proactively and inclusively share relevant information. Greater transparency doesn’t just foster trust—it can also fuel creativity, performance, and profitability.
• Share credit. Build an environment in which teammates recognize, acknowledge, and thank those who played a role in their success. In doing so, you’ll promote a habit of mutual appreciation and reciprocity, both of which contribute to team-wide trust.
• Don’t shy away from disagreements, and proactively address tension. Remind your team that disagreements often lead to better decisions—so long as everyone remains respectful and humble. And if (or when) tensions do arise, establish the norm of taking initiative to resolve it.

This tip is adapted from “How High-Performing Teams Build Trust,” by Ron Friedman.

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Misconceptions That Undermine Psychological Safety

Psychological safety is essential for learning, innovation, and performance, but it’s often misunderstood. Here are the common misconceptions that can stall progress and erode trust—and what to focus on instead.

It means being nice. Politeness shouldn’t come at the cost of honesty. When teams avoid hard truths to stay comfortable, they miss opportunities to learn and improve. Psychological safety is about permission for candor—not the absence of tension.

It means getting your way. Being heard doesn’t mean being agreed with. Psychological safety ensures everyone’s ideas are welcome—not automatically accepted. The goal is better collective outcomes, not individual wins.

It guarantees job security. Being able to speak up freely is a sign that psychological safety exists, but it doesn’t shield anyone from layoffs or organizational change. It simply means people can raise concerns without fear of retaliation.

It requires a trade-off with performance. You don’t have to choose between excellence and openness; high standards and psychological safety are both essential. Without honest input, teams fall into groupthink and fail to adapt.

It can be mandated only from the top. Policies and leadership alone can’t create psychological safety. It must be built interaction by interaction. Leaders set the tone, but every team member plays a role. Asking questions, showing interest, and responding supportively helps make it a reality.

This tip is adapted from “What People Get Wrong About Psychological Safety,” by Amy C. Edmondson and Michaela J. Kerrissey.

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Make Trust Measurable

You know that trust is essential to good leadership, but do you have a reliable way to measure it? Instead of relying on gut instinct or vague proxies like engagement scores, you need to start measuring, tracking, and managing trust in your organization the same way you do other key metrics like financial performance or customer satisfaction. Here’s how.

Choose the right tool. Start by selecting a measurement model that fits your context. There are many out there; some focus on leadership behavior, others on organizational culture. The key is using a proven tool that ties specific behaviors to trust outcomes. This transforms trust from an abstract value into actionable insight.

Monitor consistently. Trust isn’t static. It rises and falls based on leadership decisions, cultural dynamics, and external pressures. Just as you track performance metrics over time, you should track these trust metrics to detect early warning signs—and intervene before damage is done.

Act on the data. Measurement is meaningless unless it drives action. Use trust scores to identify gaps between perception and reality, then train, coach, and adjust leadership behaviors accordingly.

Benchmark externally. Finally, compare your trust metrics with other organizations in your sector. This helps you understand where you lead—or lag—and gives you a competitive edge in talent and reputation.

This tip is adapted from “If Trust Is So Important, Why Aren’t We Measuring It?” by John Blakey.

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