The trust gap: The impact on employees in Europe

Being trusted is a key component of the experience of inclusion. It is more than just a positive feeling—it is an action that employees experience in their daily interactions with managers and team members through having the opportunity to make meaningful contributions and influential in decision-making.

In a study of over 1,700 full-time employees in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and France, we found that the experience of being trusted is linked to key outcomes such as engagement, innovation, team citizenship, and team problem-solving. And yet, less than half of employees often or always experience being trusted at work.

Furthermore, women and those in non-managerial roles experience less trust at work than men and managers. Organizations must invest in developing and improving key drivers of trust—team cohesion and inclusive leadership—in order to sustain engagement, innovation, and successful teams.