“Without trust, words become the hollow sound of a wooden gong. With trust, words become life itself.”
~John Harold
Why is Trust is Important
Although anyone who says this might sound like a naggy mum, the fact is: Trust is really important. In order to increase your value to the company and eventually gain the flexibility of working from home, you must first gain the trust of the company.
It makes sense doesn’t it? If the company does not trust you, it does not matter what kind of technique you apply, there is no way the manager will allow you to manage your own work and time.
Many people fall into the trap of trying too hard to convince everyone that “I am a trustworthy, productive employee!” In reality, real trust cannot be achieved through manipulation or brilliant acting skills!
The problem with trying to pretend to be trustworthy is that you are lying 2 fold; lying to yourself and to your manager. Pretending is a really tiring game and wastes not only your time, but alot of your energy as well.
You also need to remember that your manager is a living breathing person who has instincts. If they even suspect that you are being dishonest about work, your odds of asking for their trust when wanting to work from home fall through the floor.
If you think about it, most manager’s will not mind if you take a sickie just because you feel like it IF they have 100% confidence that you will get the job done and that it will be done well.
The key to really getting your employers trust (at least the one that I have found) is simply to honest desire to bring benefit the company. By doing this, all your actions and speech and work will reflect an employee they want to trust.
Even if your job is really boring or whether you always make mistakes, having this intention will gain you the power to improve your working life.
Action plan!
- Sit down and actually list the reasons why the tasks you are completing day after day are important to the company and then try to feel proud of it! I used to be a waiter in my university days and I felt absolutely fantastically proud that the toilet that I clean in the restaurant is ‘fit to sleep in’ clean.
- Find innovative ways to enjoy and improve your workflow. Every human being in this world is creative! That’s our nature. It is up to us to manifest it. I use to make up martial arts training regime while I was cleaning that toilet (with an mp3 player plugged into my ears). I loved every second of it.
- For a week, try not to think about the pay or recognition you are getting for your job. Do it just to enjoy it. Think about the company and the customers that will benefit what you do. This kind of satisfaction will be the key of driving you to mutate into the new generation of happy employee who enjoy the flexibility of working from home.
Like most things, breaking in a new habit is going to take some discipline and effort. Try the action plan for 2 weeks and observe the difference in how you approach your work. You may find that when your heart is honestly into your work, work becomes almost effortless.
Final word
Working honestly is the easiest and most stress free way of developing trust with your company. The reason for this is because it takes no effort on your part to be honest and companies in general love employees who are transparent.
As naturally as it feels to reach for food when you are hungry, you will perform your work to best of your ability simply because that feels like the natural thing to do. Truly honest employees are rare, so when your company gets wind of how you approach work, they are going to want to hang on to you.
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Yasuo Long believes that all employees should have the right to design their lifestyle according to their needs in order to maintain their health, their relationships and their happiness. In pursuit of this, he quit the 9-to-5 and became a telecommuter to give himself the time and mental freedom to discover what it really means to live with direction and purpose.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
i mistakenly came across your blog while searching for something else.but found this post useful hence decided to drop a line.very well done.i dont completely agree with you but still a good agrument.