Being a leader is hard—being a leader at a new company where everyone is trying to decipher what to make of you, all while you do your best to build a rapport with employees, is even harder. Whether this is your first time leading or you’ve done it a hundred times before, employee rapport building doesn’t get easier because every time you have to start connecting with someone new, there are layers and layers of preconceived notions you need to break through. Employees, already struggling to decide what they did wrong to catch your attention, are often at a disadvantage due to the natural power imbalance of roles, which puts them on edge when you approach them.
Even if you’ve spent years at a company and the employees all know who you are and how you operate, interacting with you one-on-one can be very hard on them. Knowing how to build rapport with the team and put them at ease is an invaluable skill, both for improving your relationship with them and saving their relationship with the company.
How to Build Rapport With Employees Like a Natural
As leaders, we can sometimes overestimate our ability to build rapport with employees. Sometimes we convince ourselves that the jokes we made at the meeting yesterday landed perfectly, but from the employee’s perspective, it could have come across as intimidating. Employee rapport building requires a lot of tact and a healthy dose of putting yourself in their shoes to understand what they need to hear in a given situation.
A joke might be required at the start of an office party to truly convince everyone that they’re free to relax a little, but placing a joke at the end of a really stressful financial review meeting where employees are sent away with worry over possibly losing their jobs may be in bad taste. Reading the room is a critical skill that you should never leave home without, but there are many other considerations to keep in mind when building rapport with your team.
Making Small Talk is Not a Waste of Time
When it comes to employee rapport building, every interaction, no matter how small or big, adds to your connection with them. For you, it might be a simple elevator conversation about last night’s football game, but for them, it’s still a brave attempt at navigating a minefield. Appreciate the effort it might take for an employee to keep up with the small talk and listen to what they have to say.
If on another day you’re able to remember that they had a niece’s birthday party coming up or they were supposed to attend a pottery workshop this weekend, your employees will always appreciate the gesture. It shows that you care about them as individuals and not just pawns of the company, which will create a healthier connection between the two of you.
Know Your Employees To Build Good Rapport With Them
Silimar to the previous point, it helps to get to know your employee as much as possible. New managers who want to invest in rapport building should absolutely create situations where they get to interact with employees and normalize these interactions for everyone. Staying locked up in their own cabin can make the manager or boss seem like an imposing entity and every appearance can then cause everyone to be on high alert.
If an employer makes it a habit to regularly make an appearance, stop for a conversation, have meetings outside of their own office room, and generally interact with the employees often, it will make their presence less stressful over time. Ask employees questions about themselves, their hobbies and interests—nothing too personal or inappropriate—and understand them and their perspective when you can.
Be Clear in Your Communications with Them Always
If you want to know how to build a good rapport with employees, then work on your communication on priority. At the end of the day, this is still a professional relationship and it requires the work aspect of things to go smoothly for the personal connection to flourish. If work begins to suffer because your communications with them are unclear, you aren’t giving them enough to do their job well. This will leave them irritated without any way to ask you to do better. It will also leave you disappointed in their performance, causing you to feel uninterested in building a healthy relationship with them.
When handing out assignments, be clear about the project guidelines, the resources that should be utilized, and the ultimate goal of the task. Allow the employee to ask questions and answer them patiently so there is no room for misunderstanding. New managers working on rapport building should let their employees know how they work and what formats of communication they prefer. Give employees time to adapt accordingly.
Don’t Say “Because I Told You So”
Employees are usually aware of your position of power over them—they don’t need to be reminded that your opinion takes precedence over theirs in the hierarchy. If an employee happens to question an instruction or methodology, refrain from playing the boss card and give them an explanation of why things have to be done a certain way.
Have a calm conversation where you discuss their perspective and see if it holds up to this particular situation. You might even find a few good ideas for how to approach a situation differently just by considering what they have to say.
Act With Confidence and Be Authentic
When you want to build rapport with employees, try to be authentic and convey your values and beliefs clearly. If you feel your knowledge in an area needs some work or that a specific skill set is on the weaker side, work on improving it so you can approach your role with confidence. Employees appreciate a leader they can trust and when you exude confidence, it gives them a sense of security in their role too.
When you and your employees enter a discussion, you are both able to do it with a sense of security that it is going to be fruitful. Employee rapport building is not just about the conversations you have one-on-one, it is also influenced by the persona you are able to present them with. Your credibility as an individual plays a role in how you are perceived within the organization.
Offer to Support Your Employees When Possible
Employees appreciate a leader who is a good listener and they feel more comfortable opening up to their employers when they know they will be heard. Regularly interact with employees and check in on what they need to improve within the workplace so they can do their jobs better. These regular interactions will help build rapport with your team and give you some insight into the ground realities at the company.
If the workplace culture has suffered due to inattention, asking employees what needs to improve and then following it up with action will automatically endear you to them and contribute towards the goals of employee rapport building.
Actively Acknowledge Achievements to Build Rapport With Employees
If an employee performs exceptionally, ensure there are rewards for good performance and that they are acknowledged across the company properly. Along with providing them with rewards, it is also a good idea to personally meet with them and convey your appreciation. If you want to build rapport with your team, you need to be there to encourage them to repeat their successes. You can also ask them genuine questions regarding the things that helped them perform well and what you can do to help them continue to flourish at the company.
Don’t corner them and make them feel burdened with high expectations—that might be counterproductive—but giving them room to explore that success more is a great way to show them your confidence in them.
Employee rapport building is hard to get right every time and there might be occasions when you falter and make a mistake. This is completely normal and the best way to resolve it is to acknowledge it. Do not try to cover it up or pretend nothing is wrong because that will only undo all of the good work you’ve done to connect with them.