Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Latest NewsHR practiceLine managers

Eight out of 10 UK employees do not trust their manager

by Gareth Vorster 7 Nov 2007
by Gareth Vorster 7 Nov 2007

More than two-thirds of UK employees do not trust their manager, new research has found.

A survey of 1,800 employees, conducted by YouGov on behalf of people development agency Investors in People, found that almost 80% felt their manager had let them down in the recent past.

The research found that managers were most likely to let down employees by failing to provide the support they need to do their job (49%). A similar number (48%) of respondents said managers failed to respond to their concerns and (45%) said mangers withheld information that affected them.

Simon Jones, acting head of Investors in People UK, said a lack of trust in UK workplaces is a major concern. “Trust is fundamental to building and maintaining effective relationships between managers and teams, and the bedrock of success. However, as our research shows, less than one-third of employees have complete trust in their manager,” he said.

“Managers must take heed and redouble their efforts to build trust among their people, understanding their concerns, communicating more regularly, and being more honest with employees,” he added.

Related research found that more than four in 10 UK employees thinks that their employer treats them fairly when it comes to issues such as internal communications, training, appraisals and work-life balance.

The GfK Fairness Index, questioning over 1,000 employees from a range of industries, found the professional services industry to be the least trusted, with 39% of respondents uncertain about their employer’s ‘fairness’.

Topping the table was state education, with over 70% of employees from state schools and colleges believing their employers to be fair.

Leo Martin, founding director of GoodCorporation, the firm that sponsored the survey, said the results have been extremely revealing. “From our assessment work we see a clear link between responsible business behaviour and profitability. It’s time British businesses woke up to this.”

Lord Sharman, chairman of Aviva and former global head of KPMG said: “I welcome the findings of GoodCorporation’s Mirror Mirror survey, but was disappointed to see Professional Services companies performing so badly.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

“For an industry that spends much of its time advising others on how to run their businesses, this was a very poor performance indeed. While some of the larger professional service firms have made great strides in adopting good business practice, there is clearly a lot of work to do,” he said.

 

Gareth Vorster

previous post
National Stress Awareness Day: Free 10-page guide
next post
North of Scotland HR talent to be recognised

You may also like

The employer strikes back: the rise of ‘quiet...

13 Jun 2025

Data ‘blind spots’ blighting employee relations

13 Jun 2025

EHRC defends interim update as ‘balance of clarity...

13 Jun 2025

HR is second ‘most sexist profession’ survey suggests

13 Jun 2025

Former employees of Wilko gain £2m payout

13 Jun 2025

Capita rolls out ‘agentic AI’ to speed up...

13 Jun 2025

Lawyers warn over impact of Employment Rights Bill...

13 Jun 2025

Redundancies boost candidate availability at fastest pace since...

13 Jun 2025

Workplace disputes: ‘Most employment tribunals could be avoided’

12 Jun 2025

Racism claims have tripled and ‘Equality Act is...

12 Jun 2025

  • Preparing for a new era of workforce planning (webinar) WEBINAR | Employers now face...Read more
  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+