Be upfront: A culture that promotes timely, clear, truthful and consistent communication is necessary to create trust and no leader or employee can drop the ball on this. Share the rationale behind decisions, even unfavourable ones with employees to promote trust in leaders and among employees.

Facilitate transparency: Fairness should not merely be a value, rather a process in an organisation. Standardised, streamlined processes that drive fairness and transparency go a long way in building trust, which in turn propels the employees to put in their best efforts.

Avoid favouritism: Human nature makes impartiality hard, but it must be applied to all decisions taken by leaders in order to create a fair system and earn respect. Favouritism in giving out plum assignments, or even an unintended bias in offering praise and recognition to employees who have not earned it, can have a domino effect.

Reward outperformance: Outstanding work performance must be rewarded with differentiating compensation for performing employees in order to boost morale and motivate them. However, recognition and reward must be substantiated with transparency regarding the process.

Never overcommit: Broken promises break trust and it can take forever to repair the damage. A leader must fulfill his or her commitments. In case, circumstances do not allow a promise to be honoured, timely, honest and open communication can help dispel any negativity that may arise.