Trust In The Workplace: What Happened To It, And How Do We Get It Back?

Trust is important not just in our personal lives but also in the workplace. If employees don't trust each other or their managers then all sorts of problems start to arise: collaboration and communication stagnates, innovation ceases, employee engagement declines, productivity falls, and in general the workplace becomes unsuitable to be around. However, today it seems as though everywhere we look there is a lack of trust. Governments are spying on us, organizations are sharing data with third party sites, we are weary of banks, and contracts are becoming longer and filled with more legalese. According to ToleroSolutions 45% of employees say lack of trust in leadership is is the biggest issue impacting work performance. Maritz found that only 11% of employees strongly agree that managers that managers show consistency between their words and actions. The Edelman Trust Barometer also found similarly poor levels of trust among government officials and CEOs of organizations.