Trust is at the heart of effective collaboration and psychological safety. As part of our learning programme, staff and leaders explored the forces that both support and hinder trust in their daily work. The results reveal key similarities, as well as important differences, in how trust is experienced across the organisation.
What Staff Told Us
- Trust among peers is strong, built on collaboration, fairness, and open communication.
- Barriers to trust include poor communication, unequal treatment, and heavy workloads.
- Trust in leadership feels fragile and dependent on individual managers.
What Leaders Told Us
- Leaders see trust as shaped by clarity, systems, and consistency.
- Barriers include accountability gaps, micromanagement, and perceptions of favouritism.
- Leaders believe trust is strengthened by transparency, reliability, and empowering staff.
Shared Insights
- Both staff and leaders agree that favouritism is the biggest threat to trust.
- Transparency and fairness are universally recognised as foundations of trust.
- Staff emphasise emotional safety, while leaders focus on structural reliability.
The Way Forward
Building stronger trust requires attention to both perspectives:
For everyone: Make fairness, transparency, and collaboration the cornerstones of everyday work.
For staff: Reduce workload pressures and create safe spaces to speak up.
For leaders: Strengthen accountability, delegate with confidence, and model consistency.