FROM CIPD 2025! As we emerge from five years of steady workplace change, one element stands out as the thread that connects productivity, performance and retention: Trust.
Fresh off his talk at the CIPD Future of Work conference in London, David Bowes, Head of People at Insights, shares why trust is not just a nice to have, but the very key to employee engagement…
“There are two commercial reasons why engagement is more important than ever,” David explains.
“We've just come off the back of a period of time defined as the war on talent when retention was a key driver of business performance.
Today, we’re in a fairly chaotic macroeconomic climate, where budgets are under pressure. We turn to things like productivity that’s affected by the discretionary efforts of each employee. In this situation, engagement levels determine if each employee is going go that extra mile or do the bare minimum.
Organisations that invest in engagement can tap into that discretionary effort and turn it into a competitive advantage. But whether they choose to give it or not, comes down to trust.”
The trust–engagement connection
Discretionary effort is the energy someone willingly puts in above and beyond their basic duties. Things like staying late, volunteering to train junior staff or making an extra follow up call.
Things that can obviously be encouraged – hoped for, even – but it can’t be enforced. As anyone addressing a team of either engaged or disengaged people will attest to, discretionary effort can only be inspired, and it only happens in trust-filled environments.
“When people trust their leaders and feel trusted in return, they’re far more likely to go that extra mile. Trust drives connection, and connection drives engagement.”
Yet as many studies point out (the Edelman Trust barometer is a great example and while Gallup doesn’t speak to trust directly in the State of Workplace reports, trust can certainly be implied), trust can be hard to come by at work, especially when communication is unclear or leadership feels distant.
Communication is, in itself, a signal of trust
One of the biggest opportunities to build trust lies in how organisations communicate. But as David points out, it’s not just about what’s being said, it’s about who is trusted to hear it.
“With internal communication, trust plays a crucial role. When leaders don't fully trust their people, communication is often less transparent, especially regarding sensitive topics like financial performance.
Yet people are the very resource through which a company can overcome these challenges, things like improving sales, delivering better products or driving innovation all require tapping into your people a little more. In practice, we need to treat people like adults and be open about the challenges we’re facing.”
Whether an organisation is privately held or publicly traded, David believes in erring on the side of transparency.
“Even in a publicly traded business where transparency is obviously more inhibited, I’m a fan of as much communication as possible to engage people in the process of turning things around.”
The role of leaders in creating trust
If communication is the bridge to trust, then leaders, as they set the tone and ideally create psychological safety for teams, are the ones responsible for keeping that bridge open. And according to David, that takes presence, both physical and emotional.
“Leaders being visibly and physically present is, in my view, is hugely important. This means leaders must make the effort to be present, whether that’s spending time in a physical office, virtual connects or creating opportunities for interaction outside of it through social occasions, events or other informal gatherings.
The outdated notion of the executive suite on the top floor, complete with private lifts and layers of gatekeepers only serves to create distance. It blocks trust and stifles open communication. It hinders the flow of ideas and insights.
In today’s world, where we must tap into every asset within our organisations, these barriers should be dismantled as much as possible. At the same time, we should actively use the physical spaces we have, like offices and communal events, to bring people together and build the kind of relationships that create collaboration, trust and retention.”
Back in the 2010s, we talked about connection as a soft skill, but the pandemic taught us a thing or two, and in this new era of people management, connection is widely recognised as a strategic necessity with regard to trust and engagement.
“There’s strong evidence to suggest that people who have meaningful relationships at work are more likely to stay engaged and committed, and I see that played out every day at Insights.”
But trust doesn’t mean bypassing structure. In his view, organisational design has a role to play. Leaders should listen and be open, yes, but they must also be empowered to act. People need to believe that their manager can help them, that they don’t have to escalate everything to be heard. That’s paramount to building trust through the organisation, not just at the top.
What happens when trust is absent?
Without trust, engagement falters. And when engagement falters, so does performance.
“When decision-making becomes burdensome, leaders (who should be maintaining a balanced focus on internal and external environments) end up overly focused on internal issues.
If leaders become too inward-looking, it can create significant risks for the organisation, like missed market signals, a lack of innovation or strategic drift. The health of the organisation depends on leadership that can maintain a balanced focus as a whole.”
Building trust across globally dispersed teams
As more of us work in hybrid and international work environments than previous years, trust can’t be left to chance - it must be intentionally built.
An international workforce brings diversity of thought, and David points out how critical that is for problem-solving, creativity and agility, but he also stresses the need for intentional opportunities for teams to connect in person. Strong cross-cultural trust requires face-to-face moments.
Recent gatherings at Insights like its Global Leadership Meeting that connects internal leaders across 52 countries to learn and better understand one another, show just how impactful these connections can be.
“But it’s not just about people travelling to a central hub,” he says. “The centre must also reach out. Leaders, in particular, benefit from immersing themselves in different cultures and contexts, and build trust at every level.”
A proven connection: Listening builds trust and trust builds engagement
Another foundational element of trust is active listening. This goes beyond hearing or participating in passive conversations at work or in meetings. Active listening is a specific skill, and one that creates real connection.
He advises leaders to approach conversations with curiosity, not judgment.
“Rather than feeling defensive around issues our people may want to talk to us about, it’s about getting curious about what’s going on, so we can work with people to improve outcomes.”
It’s important, in these conversations, not to get caught up in defensiveness, or even the delivery of the issue (remember that people with different personality types are going to communicate different aspects of an issue differently. These points may not be aligned with what you feel are the salient points to know).
Managers would be better to explore the issue and ask what’s behind it. Active listen and meaningful inquiry shows people that they matter, and that builds trust.
Simple habits can reinforce this, like leaders being the last to share an opinion in a meeting, or making sure everyone nobody speaks twice before everyone in the meeting has spoken once.
Even the very act of consulting with employees is meaningful. At Insights, involving people in shaping outcomes has had a direct impact on trust levels as measured in our annual employment engagement survey.
“When people feel involved, they trust the process. And when they trust the process, they’re far more likely to engage with the result.”
Building employee trust starts with self-awareness and grows from there
At the heart of trust between colleagues, teams and leaders is self-awareness.
“Engagement starts with understanding yourself,” David explains.
“Leaders being able to identify their own personality preferences and adapt their communication style to the people around them is hugely important.
Building this kind of self-awareness is the key step for leaders who want to communicate better and build trust with their people.
There’s a great study that came out of Queensland in 2021 that linked self-awareness with leader endorsement, and every year we’re seeing new studies supporting it. This is powerful, and it links straight back to Insights purpose to make a difference in people’s lives.
It’s no secret that people trust, and are often inspired by, authenticity.
This is where tools like Insights Discovery come in.
By giving people a common non-judgmental language to talk about personality and communication styles, it creates a shared understanding of how people like work and communicate with each other, and the value each style has to the team. As communication flows, trust builds.
“I’ve worked in five countries, and every time I’ve seen how a common language builds stronger teams. Discovery helps people connect across geographies, generation and cultures. And connection is the bedrock of trust.”
The Future of Work is built on trust
The demands on today’s organisations are complex. But the solutions often come down to something simple and profoundly human.
“If we want people to do more than the bare minimum—to care, to contribute, to commit—we have to give them a reason to trust us. And we have to show them that we trust them too.”
That’s the future of work. And it’s already here.
