Fewer than four in 10 employees (36%) trust senior managers to always communicate honestly, according to a survey of more than 1,100 UK employees by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
The findings are similar to a recent Mercer survey in the US where only 40% of employees trust management to communicate honestly.
The survey also found that levels of trust decline with length of service. Fifty-seven per cent of employees with less than a year’s service trust management to communicate honestly, but this figure declines to just 26% for employees with 15 or more years’ service.
Mercer head of organisational research and effectiveness, Patrick Gilbert, said: “It is particularly worrying that long-serving employees – who know most about their organisations – trust management the least.”
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He added: “Employees tend to be especially distrustful of management in times of organisational change as they can feel less secure in their jobs and uncertain about their future in the organisation. But trust is crucial for change to be successful, otherwise staff will not believe the messages communicated by management.”
Furthermore, only half the employees surveyed (53%) feel their organisation does a good job of keeping employees informed about matters that affect them.
