The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, unveiled in January, has sounded a wake-up call, exposing a troubling global decline in employee trust: Only 75% of workers now believe their employers “do the right thing,” a steep 3-point drop from previous years that underscores a widening trust gap in workplaces worldwide.
As organizations navigate a landscape marked by remote work fatigue, economic uncertainty, and a 3.5% unemployment rate (SHRM, 2025), this erosion of confidence threatens morale, productivity, and retention.
The Techronicler team reached out to a powerhouse panel of HR experts and business leaders to confront this pressing challenge with a critical query:
As an HR or business leader, what practical steps would you suggest to rebuild trust and address this workplace challenge?
Their insightful, hands-on strategies—ranging from transparent communication to innovative engagement initiatives—promise to bridge the divide and reignite a culture of trust.
Dive into their expert roadmaps and discover how to transform your workplace for the better!
Read on!
Kurt Uhlir
Chief Marketing Officer, eZ Home Search
Kurt Uhlir
Let’s stop pretending the trust gap is just about layoffs or bad CEOs—it’s about a lack of clarity and connection.
In my experience leading high-growth companies and coaching other GTM leaders, I see two major breakdowns behind today’s erosion in employee trust.
First, there’s a transparency gap:- Too many leadership teams fail to explain the why behind business decisions. I’m not saying share every spreadsheet—but employees should understand the key outcomes the company is aiming for, across different timeframes. Just as important, they need to know how their day-to-day work contributes. Without that, people feel like bystanders. So when leaders say “we missed our numbers,” it doesn’t feel honest—it feels disconnected. In hindsight, employees often realize they could’ve helped—if only someone had taken the time to connect the dots. Leaders need to remember, sometimes you have to go slow to go fast—or go far.
Second, return-to-office mandates have fractured trust by ignoring how distributed teams really operate:- I’ve said this before, and it keeps proving true: Once your team expands beyond a single office, every additional location functionally becomes remote. That’s when your workplace strategy either scales your culture—or erodes it. I’m not hiring people to sit in a building. I’m hiring them to drive results. Many RTO policies send the wrong message: “We don’t trust you unless we can see you.” That’s a culture killer. And the irony? With modern tools, I have better visibility into performance today than ever before.
Rebuilding trust takes more than a town hall or a Slack update. It requires intentional leadership, visible actions, and repeated clarity. Start there—and the culture will follow.
Margaret Buj
Principal Recruiter, Mixmax
Margaret Buj
Trust is built in the small moments- clear communication, fair treatment, and follow-through. At Mixmax, we operate with a lot of transparency: hiring managers and leadership share strategy updates regularly, and we don’t over-promise.
In my coaching work, the companies that retain trust even in hard times are the ones that:
Trust can’t be rebuilt overnight, but consistency matters. One leader I worked with started weekly “Ask Me Anything” sessions during a reorg – it turned employee anxiety into collaboration.
Dr. Kirk Adams
Disability Inclusion Strategist & Speaker, Innovative Impact LLC
Dr. Kirk Adams
To rebuild trust in the workplace, especially from a disability inclusion standpoint, leaders must prioritize accessibility, representation, and open communication.
Start by embedding disability inclusion into core values and policies. Ensure all digital and physical environments meet or exceed accessibility standards, and provide reasonable accommodations proactively, not reactively.
Establish Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), which are voluntary, employee-led groups that support community and belonging, for people with disabilities. Make sure these groups have executive sponsorship. Inclusive hiring practices, visible leadership commitment, and regular training on disability awareness foster a culture of respect. Involve employees with disabilities in decision-making processes.
Nothing about us without us. Transparent communication about progress and challenges builds credibility and trust. When employees feel seen, heard, and supported, trust follows.
Genevieve Piturro
The change-maker for building trust between management and employees is right in front of us, a truth we’ve always known in our hearts – genuine human connection. It has taken me 25 years to fully embrace the leadership truth that human connection is the expression of love – and love is the key to success for all of us growing our organizations.
Here are a few ways leaders can build trust:
Start each day by asking yourself, “What can I do to bring people together?”: Have some fun and surprise everyone with a long lunch and a game tournament! Try Checkers, Monopoly, even Family Feud! Or, go bigger and bring in a pro to facilitate a Murder Mystery event! While together, highlight uplifting news or updates on a current goal to inspire engaging conversation. Having team fun will last far longer than one day.
“Do you have 30 minutes today? I’d like to know how it’s going.”: Invite someone you’re still getting to know for a one-on-one. Let them know you’re interested in how they’re doing with the project they’re working on and if they have any special weekend or summer plans coming up. Let your heart lead your conversation – it knows exactly what to do – and say.
“What’s one skill that most people don’t know you have?”: It’s SPRING – Take it Outside! Enjoy the smell of flowers and soak up some sun by moving your team – and your conversations outside. Make it fun by ordering a picnic lunch complete with fruit, cheese, sandwiches, chips, and dessert. Start off by asking each team member to answer one question such as, “What’s 1 skill that most people don’t know you have?”
Ruth Rathblott
Speaker, Author, Ruth Rathblott
Ruth Rathblott
The drop in employee trust isn’t just about policies or perks, or just a data point; it reflects something deeper: people don’t feel safe to fully show up at work.
As someone who hid my limb difference for 25 years, I know the toll it takes to pretend everything’s fine—to stay quiet, to overperform in hopes of belonging. That same dynamic plays out in workplaces every day.
And as a former CEO, I also know what it’s like to be in the leadership seat—wanting to build trust with your team, but not always knowing if you’re creating the space for it. It can be lonely. And it takes intentional, consistent work.
When employees feel they have to hide—parts of their identity, their concerns, or their ideas—trust breaks down. And that disconnection quietly erodes engagement, innovation, and retention.
To rebuild trust, leaders need to go first. That means:
Trust isn’t a checkbox—it’s a culture. And it starts when people feel safe enough to be seen and ask for the support they need. It’s also a two-way street!
Christopher Migliaccio
I’ve led a law firm through major transitions and understand how trust can make—or—break a professional environment.
Over the years, we’ve built a culture that emphasizes transparency and follow-through.
This is what my experiences have taught me:
One of the most effective ways to rebuild employee trust is to ensure that leadership models accountability.
When something goes wrong, owning the mistake publicly, rather than spinning it, can be more powerful than any team-building activity.
Equally important is the consistency between what leadership says and what it does.
Trust breaks when there’s a gap between messaging and action. It rebuilds when even the small promises are kept.
Finally, give employees a meaningful seat at the table—ask for their feedback, implement what you can, and explain transparently when you can’t.
David Goldstein
Founder, TeamBonding
David Goldstein
Drawing from decades of industry experience, I emphasize that involving employees in meaningful Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities offers profound benefits, especially in today’s uncertain economic climate.
These initiatives don’t just check a box, they foster a powerful sense of purpose and unity when employees work together towards a common cause.
For organizations, they are a way to demonstrate company values in action and a commitment to making a positive impact both for employees and the larger community.
CSR team-building events, like TeamBonding’s Do Good Bus or Charity Bike Build, are opportunities to boost engagement and create lasting, positive memories, transforming team building into genuinely impactful and fun experiences.
Elene Cafasso
President, Enerpace
Elene Cafasso
The number one way to build trust is to have a high “say/do ratio”. If you say it, announce it or promise it – do it!
Frequent changes in direction lose buy-in because they’re just the “flavor of the month”. Eventually, they’re ignored.
Authentic, frequent communication is the foundation of trust. Speak in conversational language, not PR soundbites.
Even if there’s something you can’t share yet, address the elephant in the room or any rumors. Let folks know when you will be able to share more, or why you can’t do so at this time.
Even if employees don’t like the message, they’ll appreciate your honesty.
Our reptilian brains get triggered when there’s a lack of control, certainty or fairness. Trust is extraordinarily difficult to rebuild if any of these are missing.
Use the Golden Rule and treat people like intelligent adults. It pays off!
Andrea Hayley-Sankaran
Rebuilding trust starts with listening—and really meaning it.
At Lotuswood Farm, we keep things small, intimate, and transparent. But even in a tight-knit team, trust can waver when people feel like their voice doesn’t matter. So I make it a point to ask questions without an agenda, to have open conversations where no one is punished for telling the truth.
I also believe leaders need to show more vulnerability. If you want people to trust you, you have to admit when you’re unsure or when you’ve made the wrong call. That builds emotional safety, and emotional safety builds trust.
When trust is present, people take initiative, offer ideas, and stick around for the long haul—not because they have to, but because they want to.
David Maffei
SVP & GM, Staffbase
David Maffei
Rebuilding trust in the workplace starts with strong, consistent communication, and middle managers are the unsung heroes who can make that happen.
As the most trusted source of information, with 57% of employees saying they trust their immediate supervisor “a great deal,” middle managers play a critical role in bridging leadership and frontline teams.
Organizations should provide these managers with timely, transparent updates and encourage two-way communication to further this sense of trust.
Staffbase’s data revealed that 88% of employees who feel well informed about changes also report being happy in their jobs, which ultimately contributes to employee retention and productivity.
Leveraging trusted tools like employee apps, ranked the top source of information by 60% of users, can also further enhance transparency and engagement.
When communication flows clearly and consistently, trust follows.
The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing these insights.
Do you wish to contribute to the next HR Spotlight article? Or is there an insight or idea you’d like to share with readers across the globe?
Write to us at connect@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.
Subscribe to our newsletters!
