Trust is the key to economic recovery

Research shows more than half employees donít trust their bosses and itís costing British business billions

Extensive research by the leadership and recruitment specialists, Endaba, has highlighted the dangerously low levels of trust that exists between employees and their managers. This in turn, is leading to a serious downturn in productivity, staff engagement and ultimately lost revenue for the company.

At a time when trust in the banking sector is at an unprecedented low, the study shows that the problem is not just confined to the financial services sectors, but is endemic across all of British business.

More than five thousand employees from 22 employment areas, both public and private were questioned and their views paint a worrying picture. In some sectors more than half the people questioned said they didnít trust their bosses.
The results have sparked a dire warning that Britainís economic recovery will be slower and more painful unless we change our behaviour in business. According to Endabaís Managing Director, Patrick Egan;

ìThe lack of trust in an organisation will prove catastrophic, particularly in a recession and the firms who have low levels of trust are the ones which will struggle to survive. Our research has found that where there is low organisational trust people disengage and productivity drops. Diminished trust has a knock-on effect on everything. Relationships with employees, colleagues, suppliers and customers are compromised; confidence plummets – and so does reputationî

Changing the culture within a company is crucial if trust is to be restored. According to the leadership specialists at Endaba, there are ways of restoring trust within an organisation and it is something every business leader should now be addressing.

Endaba Chief Executive Lynette Deutsch says there are three golden rules that a company should follow to ensure there is sufficient trust in their organisation for it to prosper or to help rebuild trust if it has been lost.

1. Identify staff in your organisation for whom trust has become a key problem e.g. suspicion, lying and manipulation
2. Either work with them to re establish trust and boundaries or dismiss them
3. Re build trust within the organisation from the top down and bottom up