Slack: Trusted employees feel four times more satisfied at work

One in four workers do not feel trusted at work, according to a survey of 10,000 global employees by Slack.

And this has a knock-on effect on their wellbeing and belonging – those who don’t feel trusted at work are 2.3 times more stressed and have a 4.2 times lower sense of belonging.

They are also twice as likely to look for a new job, and are less productive because they have two times worse access to the right people, files and resources to do their jobs.

By comparison, when employees feel trusted at work, they are twice as focused and productive, plus they are four times more satisfied. They are also 1.2 times more likely to go above and beyond at work (40% for trusted workers, and 33% for non-trusted).

Interestingly, Slack’s findings were consistent across the globe, and employee age  group– trust is not just an issue for new, young employees, it is a problem for old workers and managers.

This is having a trickledown effect – managers who don’t feel trusted as twice as likely to express doubts about the work ethic and commitment of their direct reports.

It’s time for more transparency

Clearly, employers focus on tracking employees and their activity may be having the opposite of their intended affect – instead trust and transparent, two-way communication is the key, according to Slack’s research.

Talking exclusively to UNLEASH, Slack’s head of customer success for EMEA Chris Mills shares: “HR leaders need to respond to this worrying trend and prioritize trust” and “transparency is key for leaders who want to create more trust”.

Mills continues: “Our research shows that the number one reason why workers say their company isn’t transparent is not taking employee feedback into account.

“Creating a culture of transparency has to come from the top. Two-way conversations between leaders and employees form the foundation of trusting work cultures which has a positive knock-on effect for the business – employees at companies with transparent leadership are 1.8x more productive.”

Technology has a huge role to play in building transparent, two-way conversations. Innovative companies are 2.4 times more transparent than laggards, and then have 1.4 times higher levels of trust, bringing all of those productivity and motivation benefits.

HR leaders, make sure you are using your HR tech to its full potential – collecting data and feedback is pointless if you aren’t going to listen and take action.

“Cultivating channels for employees to share their ideas and feedback is a win-win even when the feedback itself is challenging,” concluded Slack’s head of research and analytics Christina Janzer.

“It allows organizations to tap into their own subject-matter experts to improve work output and experience — and it’s the first step to ensuring employees feel valued and heard” – and ultimately trusted.