In today’s fast-evolving and uncertain economic landscape, employee trust is a vital yet delicate organizational asset.
Recent surveys highlight a global decline in trust, signaling a weakening of the employer-employee bond.
This poses a critical challenge for leaders and HR professionals: how to restore trust and foster a culture of transparency, accountability, and psychological safety to strengthen resilience.
Drawing from insights of business executives and HR experts, this article offers practical, actionable strategies.
From ethical leadership to transparent communication and true partnership, these leaders provide a roadmap for creating a workplace rooted in honesty and shared purpose.
Read on!
In light of the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer findings, it’s clear that businesses must take bold steps to regain employee trust.
At iMoving, we prioritize transparency by involving our team in decision-making processes and openly sharing both successes and challenges.
Additionally, fostering a culture of recognition and empowerment can bridge the trust gap, proving that authenticity and accountability are non-negotiable in today’s workplace.
It’s time for leaders to shift from mere policies to genuine relationships—because trust isn’t built through words, but through consistent actions.
Transparency and Relationships Rebuild Trust
Eugene Leow
Director, Marketing Agency Singapore
After a stressful Q4 where deadlines piled up and communication frayed, we saw morale dip.
I started doing something deceptively simple: every end of week, I’d write a “behind-the-scenes” email explaining why leadership made certain decisions that week: what went wrong, what we learned, and what’s next.
It turned transparency into a routine, not a reaction. Within a month, feedback loops got healthier and cross-team assumptions dropped.
Trust rebuilds when leaders stop gatekeeping context and start narrating the journey openly even when it’s messy.
Open Transparency Rebuilds Team Trust
A few years back, when the whole company got restructured, I made a stop to productivity due to trust issues which were not caused by any skill shortage. I found out that trust is not a one-off agreement; it is something you do every day.
For transparency to be rebuilt, it should be practiced radically.
Leaders have to speak their business problems out loud and give all workers the freedom to suggest solutions. I hold monthly sessions named “Ask Me Anything” where every issue is up for discussion; these have been built as a foundation for our culture.
The next important thing is the ongoing acknowledgment which, in contrast to just recognizing results, helps employees by reminding them they are appreciated.
Lastly, doing what you say you will do is the most important. Unfulfilled promises destroy credibility even more quickly than any company policy can fix.
The trust that has been stretched, will not restore itself immediately. But with consistent, human-centered leadership, it can be more robust than ever before.
Trust is a Daily Leadership Practice
Kevin Heimlich
CEO & Founder, The Ad Firm
In my experience running a fast-moving digital marketing agency, trust breaks down when people feel ignored, unclear, or undervalued.
Rebuilding it requires returning to fundamentals such as clear communication, follow-through, and showing up consistently.
The first thing I do is talk to the team directly, not through memos or long emails but through actual conversations. I ask where things went wrong and what they need from leadership moving forward. Then I act on it. Trust doesn’t come back through promises; it comes from visible changes.
People don’t expect perfection. But they do expect honesty and consistency. If you say you’re going to fix something, do it. If you made a mistake, own it. Small and persistent behaviors are more important than any big speech.
Trust Returns Through Visible Changes
Trust is more than just being correct—it is being authentic.
Thus, we took a leap into complete openness. We made the roadmaps public, acknowledged our errors, and delivered the reasons behind every decision, even when they were not favorable.
To be able to reconstruct trust, you have to show the same effort in three areas: communication, accountability, and involvement. Talk to people often and sincerely—even if there is uncertainty. Apply the same rules on leadership as on the rest of the team. And bring employees into important discussions to make them feel included, not isolated.
Trust is being rebuilt, not through big actions, but through daily proof of the value you attach to people’s time, voice, and wellbeing.
The gap of trust cannot be closed with a single action, but little transparent steps can make a significant difference in a short time.
Honest Transparency Rebuilds Employee Trust
I’ve learned that rebuilding trust isn’t just about fancy programs or HR initiatives — it’s about consistent, tangible actions. Last March, we faced a major trust crisis after a restructuring that didn’t go as planned (honestly, it was pretty messy).
The first thing I did was implement complete financial transparency. I started sharing our quarterly numbers — the good & the bad — with everyone. Not just the executive summaries, but the actual data.
When we missed our Q3 targets, I walked the entire team through why it happened & what we were gonna do about it. That transparency alone boosted our internal trust metrics by ~25%.
One of the biggest wins came from our “open-door Wednesday” policy. Every Wednesday, my office door stays open for 4 hours straight. Any employee can walk in & talk about anything. Sometimes it’s about budgets, sometimes it’s about their career concerns. The thing is, it’s not just about listening — it’s about taking action. When someone pointed out our outdated expense policy was causing frustration, we changed it within 48 hours.
I’ve found that money talks when it comes to trust. We implemented a profit-sharing program that’s tied directly to company performance. Everyone — from entry-level to senior management — gets the same % based on our quarterly results. It’s amazing how trust grows when people can see their direct connection to company success.
But here’s something that might surprise you — I actually started sharing my own mistakes in our monthly town halls. Like when I miscalculated our expansion budget by $500K. Being vulnerable about my own screw-ups has made a huge difference in how people view leadership. They see us as human, not just suits in corner offices.
Communication is crucial, but I’ve learned it needs to be consistent & predictable.
We now have a strict “no surprises” policy for major company announcements. Everything gets communicated at least 2 weeks in advance, with clear explanations of the ‘why’ behind decisions.And speaking of decisions — we’ve completely changed how we make them. Now we use what I call the “3-2-1 method”: 3 possible solutions presented, 2 rounds of employee feedback, 1 final decision with clear reasoning. When we were deciding on our new healthcare provider, this approach led to 90% employee satisfaction with the final choice.
The hardest part for me personally was learning to say “I don’t know” more often. In finance, we’re trained to always have answers. But I’ve found that admitting uncertainty & then following up with research builds more trust than trying to have all the answers immediately.
One thing that’s been particularly effective is our monthly “numbers & narratives” sessions. Instead of just presenting data, we share stories about how our decisions affect real people. When we increased our R&D budget by $2M, we had the actual researchers share how it impacted their work.
From my experience, rebuilding trust takes time — usually 6-8 months to see real change. But the investment is worth it. Our employee retention has improved by 35% since implementing these changes, & our productivity metrics are up significantly.
The most important lesson I’ve learned: trust isn’t built in big moments, it’s built in small, consistent actions over time. And it starts at the top — if leaders aren’t willing to be transparent, vulnerable, & accountable, no amount of programs or initiatives will make a difference.
I regularly discuss this and have many years experience, so I’d love to help! I’ve earned my degree in this area and held leadership positions across institutions such as JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Citi. I can also share your article with my 100,000+ newsletter subscribers.
Rebuilding Trust: Small Actions, Big Impact
Christopher Falvey
Co-Founder, Unique NOLA Tours
No matter the size of the business, always involve employees in decisions that affect them. There is no better way to gain trust than having employees partake in the actions that need to be trusted.
Lack of trust is easy to fall into when decisions are made without input from those you’re asking to have trust in you. People believe in what they have a stake in.
Involve Employees in Decisions to Gain Trust
Dr. Beth Ribarsky
Director & Professor, School of Communication & Media
People first framework – Recently, my program underwent a significant change in leadership.
My new dean stepped in with a “people first framework” – prioritizing the well-being and interests of the faculty and staff within our college.
He focused less on what employees could do for him and more on how he could help employees.
He sought out to engage with faculty and staff on a personal level through actions such as walking the hallways and stopping in to chat or swinging by a departmental happy hour.
As simple as it sounds, these actions created a shift in the culture of our college – one marked by trust and transparency.
Seeing how this transformed the culture, as a new leader of my specific program, I implemented a similar perspective – being transparent with budgets and decisions and seeking ways to recognize my faculty members on a personal level.
People-First Leadership Builds Trust and Transparency
The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing these insights.
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