Insights from the 2024 Edelman Trust at Work Report: How to Build Trust and Inclusion with Entry-Level Employees
The 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report on Trust at Work has just been released. It highlights some critical points about listening to employees, respecting diverse perspectives, and building trust by ensuring employees feel heard, valued, and included in decision-making.
There are some interesting statistics relating to Associates (entry level and non-managerial employees) that particularly caught my eye, reinforcing what we regularly talk to clients about at True. These included:
Associates have stronger trust in their peers and co-workers (people like me) than senior leadership. In fact, they are 2.5 times more likely to trust their colleagues compared to their CEO.
There’s a strong desire from associates to have an opportunity to provide input and feedback to their managers even if those opinions may differ.
Many associates feel left out of organisational transformations and of those who have recently experienced an organisational transformation, only 22% said the experience was positive.
An area of concern is the mental health gap between associates and executives. There’s a significant disparity with 41% of associates rating their mental health as very good or better, compared to 75% of executives. To me this indicates the toll that feeling excluded or powerless can have on mental health.
Here are three things we often advise that leaders and communicators can do to help bridge these gaps.
1. A people-centric approach to change and transformation where people are given the space and time to understand what is happening. Involving colleagues early and often.
2. Embedding listening into your ways of working so that all colleagues can share their thoughts and ideas with leaders and feel their input genuinely matters.
3. Empowering employee voice through Champion Networks, Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and other employee-led groups can play a vital role in building trust and inclusion by providing a safe space where associates can share concerns, ideas, and feedback, which might not be easily communicated through formal channels.
