Maritz Study on Employee Distrust for Leadership

In 2010, Maritz Research published the results of a survey they conducted on trust in the workplace. Their study suggests that trust is in bad shape, which is still relevant today to an extent.

Here are the key findings of the study:

• According to the study, employees do not trust their leadership; trust falls at an alarmingly low level when they feel disconnected from their superiors. This also evokes feelings of suspicion.
• Only 30% of the people surveyed reported that their leaders acted in alignment with the company’s values.
• An even smaller percentage believed senior management would not make decisions in the employees’ interests.
• There were also differences in responses based on the hierarchy. Frontline employees reported a lower level of trust, whereas those sitting in higher positions had a slightly higher level of trust in their seniors. So, we can say that trust is influenced by communication and direct interaction with the leaders.
• The study also found that distrust in leadership extends to supervisors. About 40% of people reported feeling their supervisor’s words and actions did not go together.

What Causes Distrust?

Many reasons lead to feelings of distrust amongst the employees towards their leaders. Some of the main factors that cause distrust are:

Communication Gap 

According to the study, the wider the communication gap between employees and leaders, the higher the level of distrust.

Plus, sudden organizational changes that don’t involve the entire team further create discord. 

That’s when employees begin to feel left out and lose trust.

No Transparency

If employees ever feel that the leaders make major decisions without considering their feedback, they will become suspicious of the leadership.

According to the Maritz study, only 25% of the employees felt their leaders were consistently transparent. They especially felt this was the case in matters like the company’s financial health or important decisions on restructuring.

When such decisions are taken without keeping the majority in the loop, employees feel the management is untrustworthy.

Unfulfilled Commitments 

Another attribute that leads to distrust is when management makes false promises or is unable to fulfill its commitments. It includes promises of raises, promotions, bonuses, or other perks the management fails to uphold.

Although they may have reasons for doing so, such as economic conditions or budget cuts, it damages the employee-leader relationship.

Employees feel that such actions show a lack of respect and honesty and cause them to lose the will to perform at their jobs.

Effect on Morale and Engagement

When the leadership isn’t trustworthy, employee morale suffers. This is often seen in employees’ low productivity levels and a lack of enthusiasm.

When employees feel their leaders aren’t providing for their interests, they become cynical. According to the Maritz study, low-trust places have lower job satisfaction. This is because employees feel disconnected from the organization’s goals and values.

It also causes

• Low engagement rates of employees
• Decreased productivity levels
• Higher stress levels or mental constraints
• Lower job satisfaction 
• Burnout state of employees
• Competing team members

An Insightful Interview with Rick Garlick of Maritz

I interviewed Rick Garlick of Maritz about the study. My interview with Rick is directly below his brief bio.

Rick Garlick is Director of Consulting and Strategic Implementation for Maritz Research. He has worked with many Fortune 500 companies to translate research findings into actionable solutions with the goal of driving organizational growth and profitability.

Before joining Maritz nine years ago, he spent seven years working with The Gallup Organization. Prior to entering the private sector as a researcher and consultant, Rick spent a number of years as a university professor where he taught courses in research methods, statistics, marketing, communication, and psychology. He received his Ph.D. from Michigan State in 1987.

1. How did you define trust in your study? Can you give me some examples of questions you asked to measure trust?

We ask a series of questions regarding three areas of trust: (a) senior management trust, (b) direct supervisor trust, and (c) co-worker trust. While our statistical analysis shows these to be three separate concepts, it is not surprising that ‘low’ trust environments than have all three. 

As an aside, we did some examination of situations where co-worker trust was high, and management trust was low and found employees in these situations were much more likely to support unionization, although support for unionization was generally low due to high amounts of mistrust of both management and co-workers.

A sample of questions we used to measure trust (some of which are referenced in the press release; some of which are used in our analysis but not referenced:

• I completely trust my employer to look out for my best interests.
• My company’s leaders are completely ethical and honest.
• Senior management’s actions are completely consistent with their words.
• I trust management to make the right decisions in times of uncertainly.
• My supervisor is concerned about my personal well-being.
• My supervisor’s actions are completely consistent with his or her words.
• I completely trust my co-workers to look out for my best interests.
• At my company, everyone is on the same team, working toward the same goals.

2. Your study found a big lack of trust in management. What’s your explanation for this?

Several things: First of all, we started measuring these things at the start of the decade (2000.) After the Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and other scandals, we already saw a sharp decline in employee-employer trust which never came back. 

You can imagine how trust has been further impacted by all the bad things we’ve read about ‘greedy’ CEOs in the last couple of years. Add to the fact that very large numbers of people in our study worked for companies that had significant layoffs in the past couple of years.

When people are the ones left behind, they often wonder if they are next. Co-worker trust suffers as well since you and your co-worker might be competing to see who gets to keep their job. 

Furthermore, when companies are publically traded, everyone understands that when profits are low, people are often ‘thrown overboard’ to save costs. That also fosters management mistrust.

3. Do you have any data on how trustworthy people in management positions perceive themselves? How about data on how trustworthy employees see themselves?

The problem is that everyone self-reports themselves to be the most trustworthy, hardest working team player, etc., in the company. That’s why we always phrase these types of questions in the second or third person, such as ‘My co-workers do all they can to uphold the dignity of all persons in the workplace’ or ‘At my company, everyone is on the same team, working toward the same goals.’ 

If we asked, ‘To what extent can you be trusted?’ or ‘To what extent are you a team player?’, nearly everyone would answer in the affirmative. It is like asking people whether or not they are a good driver. Very few would admit to being a poor driver–you have to look at how others see the person. Similarly, everyone sees themselves as trustworthy–you have to ask others to get a true read.

4. In tough economic times, is trust harder to build and easier to destroy? What is your outlook on trends in trust as the economy improves in the next few years?

It is harder to maintain trust in economic hard times for many reasons I’ve already cited: fear of either losing a job personally or seeing co-workers lose jobs; the belief that everyone will ‘take care’ of themselves first; losing resources, opportunities, etc. 

When you think about it, trust is something that is noticed most when it is tested under fire. Do co-workers come through in a pinch? Does my company do all it can to keep its people in down times? Does my company communicate openly and honestly? 

Do my senior leaders show evidence they sacrifice themselves when they ask others to sacrifice? It is easy to say the right things but much more difficult to walk the talk, particularly when there is business pressure. 

Our data has shown that companies establish a reputation that lasts for a long time, so even if times get better, if they do things to hurt trust now, the perception will linger. People have long memories when it comes to those kinds of things. I think of some of the draconian measures United Airlines took a few years ago when they were on the cusp of bankruptcy, like eliminating worker pensions. Employees are still bitter.

A key concept related to trust is company values. We have another white paper from an earlier study that shows how perceived company values impact performance. When employees really believe their employers will do the right thing for their employees and customers, there is clear evidence of stronger business performance. 

When employees believe companies are just ‘in it for themselves,’ their performance and commitment are significantly lessened. There are even instances where companies are identified as having high-minded stated values but are found to lack a moral compass. In these cases, saying the right things does little good.

Wrap Up

After reviewing the study and its findings and based on the interview with Rick Garlick, we can see that trust is at a concerning level in the workplace. So many employees feel the disconnect, and it reflects on their relationships with other employees.

Lack of trust also impacts productivity levels, morale, and team collaborative efforts.

The key is to rebuild trust, which requires much effort. Leaders must show their intent with their actions. Only when the employees truly believe the management will work in their favor will they invest in team building and workplace productivity.

Leaders can rebuild trust and foster healthy workplace relationships by consistently making efforts to mend the past and create a more cohesive work environment.

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Bret L. Simmons, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Management at The University of Nevada, Reno. He earned his doctorate in Business Administration at Oklahoma State University. Bret blogs about leadership and social business at his website Positive Organizational Behavior. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.