Line managers are marginally less trusted today than they were over a decade ago! Findings of the new research by The Institute of Leadership, where over 1,000 people across a range of organisations and sectors were polled. The trust rating for line managers in 2023 stands at 67, a fall from 71 in 2018, and down from 69 in 2009, at the peak of the global financial crisis! Chief Executives today are slightly more trusted than they were in 2009, rising from 59 to 62, although they remain less trusted overall than Line Managers.
Key Findings:
• Trust remains lower in CEOs than Line Managers.
• Trust diminishes over time with new employees displaying high trust initially.
• Trust is lowest in the public sector, and highest in the private sector.
• Trust is highest in SMEs with under 50 employees.
• Trust is significantly higher for those working from home the whole time.
The Trust Dimensions:
Significant academic research into leadership trust has identified three broad determinates of trust: competence, benevolence and integrity. These are aggregates of several different behaviours that have been refined into six for Line Managers and seven for CEOs - these form the Trust Dimensions. The six that are common to both are:
1. Capability in their role and their ability to lead
2. Understanding the roles of those they lead and displaying knowledge of their responsibilities
3. Openness to ideas and suggestions from those they lead
4. Fairness in the way they treat, and showing concern for, those they lead
5. Integrity in how well they live up to their espoused values, striving to be honest and fair
6. Consistency in decision-making, behaving in a reliable and predictable manner
For CEOs, the seventh behaviour is:
7. Accessibility as in being available to staff
Are you a trustworthy leader? Test yourself with our Scorecard
This scorecard is available to access for FREE for a limited time only as part of our Index of Leadership Trust research.