Trust is one thing that’s so difficult to earn. And it becomes even harder to earn the trust of your employees. Trust between boss-employee is essential to achieve and maintain productivity and efficiency. Boost your team’s performance by gaining your employees’ trust.

Be a boss. Being the boss means you take the leadership in the team–you spearhead projects and you lead in finding solutions to problems.

Be a friend, be reliable. Your employees need a boss who takes care of his team. There is a way of showing you care without compromising professionalism.

Be honest. It’s important that you are transparent so that your employees know there’s nothing to hide from them. Being secretive about your work gives them the feeling that you are against them.

Be fair with your judgment. Employees are very sensitive to praises and criticisms. Having a favorite employee is a good way to break trust in the team.

Fight for them and make sure they know it. Employees become grateful if they know you fight for them when it comes to inter-department conflicts. You can reprimand during closed door meetings. Actually, one idea is to reprimand privately but praise loudly—this is also believed to boost employee confidence.