Fresh ways to measure trust at work

Earlier this year, Edelman released their vaunted Trust Barometer at Davos. That report detailed the connection between healthcare, the workplace and trust, and how employers sit at the junction of it all.

In the latest special report of the Trust Barometer, “Trust at Work”, Edelman unpacked responses from nearly 8,000 employees in eight countries around the globe.. As a qualitative metric, trust is hard to define in hard data. But with an approach that balances the quantitative and qualitative values communicators encounter daily, the report dove into leadership trust, economic optimism, and more.

Here’s what we learned.

Economic optimism, position on the org chart and workplace trust at work are tightly linked

The data revealed that 79% of respondents trust their employers, earning workplaces a higher mark than either media, government, or business. Further analysis showed that employee trust varies widely depending on economic optimism and one’s role within an organization.

Some notable data points on economic optimism included:

• Economic optimism varied sharply between associates and executives. There was a 39-point gap between the two groups, with 78% of executives claiming they thought they’d be better off in five years and just 39% of associates feeling the same way.
• Those who didn’t trust institutions felt they’d be economically worse off in the long run, and those who did trust in their institutions felt things would turn out better. This shows how the connection between trust in institutions and economic optimism is closely linked.

This disparity between executive-level employees and associates didn’t just apply to economic outlook — it a hierarchical gap was also evident when looking at which employee ranks trusted their employers and who exactly they trusted to tell them the truth.

• 91% of executives reported trust in their employers, while just 70% of associates did the same.
• 52% of executives report trusting their CEO as an information source, while 19% percent of associates trust their CEOs to tell them the truth. However, 48% of associates reported that they trust the words of their coworkers, while only 37% of executives felt the same way.

Though these numbers are stark on the surface, they provide insights into how communicators can act on trust in their messaging and empower employees to speak their minds to provide critical insights into company culture.

Amira Barger, executive vice president and head of DEI advisory at Edelman, told Ragan that these executive-associate disparities align with the gaps in decision-making power within an organization, emphasizing how this connects to communication and her work

“Executives are over 2.5 times more likely than associates to trust their CEOs, while associates place greater trust in their coworkers,” Barger pointed out. “This underscores the importance of connection and relationships, which depend on psychological safety—a key focus for DE&I practitioners working to build belonging.”

She added that communicators can close this gap by building substantive feedback loops that empower employees of all levels to communicate openly, and that trust will erode without them, trust will erode. When employers don’t trust their workforce, employers can’t expect employees to trust them back.

“To truly harness the trust of employees, employers must create environments where feedback is valued, diverse perspectives are respected, and all employees feel empowered,” Barger continued. “This is particularly vital as new technologies like AI reshape the workplace.”

Tina McCorkindale, president and CEO of the Institute for Public Relations, said that proximity and connection between employees and executives is also a major trust factor.

“The trust gap between employers and employees has remained relatively stagnant over the past few years, with proximity bias playing a key role — people tend to trust those closest to them, such as direct associates, family, and friends, over distant figures like CEOs, the government, or media.”

The ties between employee optimism and employee engagement, and how to shore up the gaps

The report also showed how economic optimism impacted the motivation levels and efforts of employees.

• 62% of non-optimistic employees reported going above and beyond in their roles for their employers, while 82% of optimistic employees reported doing the same.
• 70% of non-optimistic employees reported feeling the motivation to perform their best work, while 85% of optimists felt compelled to give their all at work.

These numbers reveal correlations between optimistic employees and employees who will advocate for their companies externally.

• 40% of optimists reported posting on social about their company weekly, while just 21% of non-optimists reported the same activity.
• 77% of optimists reported that most of their posts about their companies were positive, and only 43% of non-optimists said that most of their company-related posts had a positive tone.

This suggests that the more optimistic an employee is, the more likely they are to trust their employers and serve as employee ambassadors. Without that trust, there’s little chance to build any of the cornerstones of a successful employer brand, whether that’s trust in leadership, clear communication, or a meaningful culture.

The biggest key to fixing these gaps is confronting them head-on. In practice, that means providing employees with channels like pulse surveys, town hall Q&As and direct lines to comms and HR.  With qualitative data from these touchpoints, comms and HR can marry them to hard numbers on recruitment, turnover and performance to make a case to leadership that material change is needed. The path of trust needs to truly flow in both directions to work well and foster a happy and engaged employee populace.

“By addressing these divides,” said Barger, “organizations can build stronger engagement, loyalty, and resilience in their workforce.”

Join Tina McCorkindale alongside leaders from Microsoft, the NFL,  Clorox, LinkedIn and more at Ragan’s Internal Communications Conference, taking place at Microsoft HQ in Seattle October 16-18. Register today!

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports and hosting trivia.