It’s gone missing, seemingly in every sector, everywhere.

The Harris Poll and U.S. News & World Report found a majority of respondents said the most sought after trait in leaders is trustworthiness (including: honesty, transparency, reliability, ethics, respect). This finding was despite political and demographic differences. And at the World Economic Forum in Davos, 2024, attendees expressed a lack of trust even in innovation.

I chose Trustworthy as my 2024 Word of the Year to explore for both work and society. In my book, “You Can’t Google It!,” trust was featured as one of the 10 essential skills and traits for success. Since choosing it I’ve been reading and thinking about it a lot and connecting the dots to the loss of work loyalty and how to restore trust and loyalty while creating a palpable sense of belonging.

So how long can we exist in a world without trust? In my explorations around this question I came across one writer who offered the opinion that trust creates the healthy debate that is impossible without it and leads to greater team productivity. It allows for mistakes and the ability to recover from them. It alleviates the fear from conversations, experimenting and human interaction.

What the 2023 Trust Barometer Tells Us

For 20 years, the large PR firm, Edelman has published its global Trust Barometer covering 28 countries, and it paints an ominous picture for 2023, declaring that trust in all institutions has cratered so much that people globally believe business is the only institution they see as competent and ethical in today’s polarized world! And that’s only at 62%. Business scored considerably higher on competence than ethics. Surprisingly, in a break from the not so distant past, people are looking to CEOs to lead the voice on social issues.

But all institutions, including business, are racing towards the bottom on trustworthiness. Government and the media only rate 50% on trust.

Only 26% of Republicans in the survey think they will be better off in 5 years; 48% of Democrats think they will be – a bit better, but still optimistic. Only 61% of Democrats said they trust government; a dismal 23% of Republicans said they do.

My next question is: What Is the Connection between Trust and Loyalty? Coming soon in Part Two of this topic along with my suggestions for the path to solutions to rebuild trust at work.

Call to Action: I urge all leaders at any level, especially middle managers, to take this vital challenge to heart. Earn trust, not just by words, but showing action on important issues such as DEIB, wellness and psychological safety, and people-first cultures.

© Phyllis Weiss Haserot 2024