70% of Workers Trust Their Leaders Less Than 5 Years Ago
- Karen Ladany
- 7 days ago
- 1 min read
THIS WEEK'S READ
The Loyalty Deficit — UK study of 1,000+ HR leaders and managers
70% say workers trust their leaders less than they did five years ago
The fallout reads like separate problems: burnout, turnover, declining well-being, stalled development
Managers blame pay and job security; Leaders point to whether leaders actually do what they say they'll do
OUR TAKE:
These aren't isolated problems. They're one: eroding trust. And it is very predictable.
Operational pressure climbs, and the first thing cut is investment in people. Sometimes small and slow (postponed one-on-ones, development pushed to next quarter), sometimes loud and fast (reorgs, freezes, cuts). Same move, different volume.
And it works, briefly. That's what makes it dangerous.
Trust and adaptability drain slowly, so nobody connects the skipped one-on-ones to what arrives months later: burnout, exits, knowledge walking out the door, weaker work.
That weaker performance lands back on the org as more pressure, and the quick fix that caused it starts looking necessary again.
You say people come first. Then the hard stretch arrives and the people-stuff vanishes first. Employees feel that gap immediately, even when it's well-intentioned. Trust erodes in the space between what you say and what you do.
YOUR NEXT MOVE
Before you pull the cost lever on people, ask one question: what will this cost us in six months that it saves us this quarter?
There are many levers to pull when things get hard. Just know the unintended consequences of the one you're reaching for.
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