How can organisations rebuild trust in a world where trust is eroding?

United Buddy Bears in Ljublijana, Slovenia, 2024. An exhibition symbolising the diversity of the global community and promoting understanding, peace and freedom.

Trust is a common theme in my blogs - how and why trust breaks down and the techniques I have used to try to rebuild it. My focus is the workplace and the impact of low trust in organisations, between employers, employees and union representatives.  Without trust, it is difficult to have open conversations, share information, look at challenges from different perspectives, move from your position or consider another position and therefore make an agreement. Trust is the foundation for how we feel about work, about our teams, our managers and our organisation – how we perform, the effort we put in and the person we are at work. It’s the building block for change and growth, creativity and ideas.

The Edelman Trust Barometer has been running for 25 years and has grown into a comprehensive global measurement of trust across various institutions. This year, I used AI to give me a summary of the key findings from the 2025 survey and this is what I got:

1. Widespread Grievance: A significant portion of the global population holds grievances against institutions like government, business, and the wealthy. This sense of grievance is eroding trust across the board.

2. Political Polarization: Deepening political divides are contributing to a crisis of trust, with many people feeling that institutions are failing to address their needs and concerns.

3. Hostile Activism: There is an increasing acceptance of aggressive actions, such as online attacks and disinformation, as legitimate tools for driving change, especially among younger respondents.

4. Business Responsibility: Businesses are seen as having a critical role in addressing societal issues. There is a growing expectation for businesses to act on behalf of their stakeholders and champion shared interests.

AI tells me - and I agree - that the findings highlight the urgent need for institutions to address grievances, foster trust, and create opportunities for optimism. You can read more here: 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer | Edelman

It is easy to be gloomy about this and I admit to often being gloomy about the state of the world and the direction of travel. However, I agree we need to “create opportunities for optimism” so I revisited what I had previously written about what organisations can do to build trust with their employees. Despite deteriorating levels of trust, I believe that these actions - focused on culture, behaviour and capability - stand the test of time.

·         Ask whether the organisational values and leadership style are truly aligned. If they aren't, ask why and plan to bridge the gap. Don’t ignore it as the gap will become clear to your employees, prospective employees and customers and your brand will get trashed.

·         Evaluate your leadership skills and ensure leaders are visible, curious, collaborative, and genuinely listen to and act upon employee views.

·         As leaders, ask if you need more access to employee opinion at board level. If so, explore the different options – worker directors or NED’s who focus on employee voice, for example.

·         Support and coach managers to lead based on trust not micro-management or enforcement. Ask yourselves what traits and behaviours will develop a culture of trust and have a plan to develop these in your managers, including skills in conflict resolution.

·         Consider different ways of enabling employees to regularly express their views – this may be through a formal structure or it may be more ad hoc through working groups, project teams or team meetings. Ensure the line manager is at the heart of this approach.

·         Trust your employees to contribute ideas, be innovative and to solve problems. This is not about “suggestion schemes” but giving employees a real say in how they actually do their jobs. Again, ensure the line manager plays a central role.

·         If you have a consultative forum, train your managers and representatives well. Managers need to share information, some of which is sensitive and they need to trust reps to keep it confidential. Managers need to listen to representatives’ views and explain their decisions. Expect both parties to display appropriate meeting behaviours and treat each other with respect.

·         Use joint problem-solving groups of employees, union representatives and managers to resolve ongoing or pressing issues, which will increase cooperation and trust.

·         Review your employee forums regularly to ensure they are achieving their objectives, address the key issues and that they are a trusted mechanism for employee voice.

This audit or review should be a top leadership priority with HR teams leading the way, asking the questions and asserting influence. An organisation without trust is not a sustainable organisation.