Is Trust Missing in Your Workplace? Here’s How to Tell — and Why It Matters More Than You Think

Trust in the workplace is like oxygen: when it’s present, it often goes unnoticed, but its absence is felt immediately and can suffocate collaboration, engagement, and productivity. Trust is foundational to every successful team, enabling individuals to work well together, innovate freely, and achieve shared goals.

However, building and sustaining trust is not just an employee responsibility—it must be led and role-modeled from the top down. When leaders actively demonstrate trustworthy behaviours, they set the stage for a culture where everyone feels secure and motivated to contribute openly.

Below, we’ll explore the signs of low trust, why trust matters, and actionable ways leaders can cultivate a high-trust environment, incorporating Patrick Lencioni’s Five Behaviours of a Cohesive Team model.

The Positive Power of Trust: Why It’s the Foundation of Success

In a high-trust workplace, people feel psychologically safe, empowered to bring their best selves to the table, and encouraged to engage in healthy conflict—the constructive kind that leads to innovation and growth. This can only happen when trust is demonstrated consistently by leaders.

Leadership sets the tone for behaviours, openness, and accountability. When team members see leaders model trust through vulnerability, transparency, and consistent action, they feel encouraged to do the same.

A high-trust workplace brings numerous benefits:

• Effective Collaboration: People share insights and ideas freely, achieving more together.
• Constructive Feedback: A culture of trust enables people to offer and accept feedback, leading to continuous improvement.
• High Morale and Engagement: Employees feel a sense of belonging and commitment.
• Innovation: A trusting environment allows team members to explore ideas without fear.
• Employee Retention and Customer Satisfaction: High-trust environments not only retain employees but also cultivate loyal customers.

The Three Pillars of Trust: Competence, Connection, and Authenticity

Building a high-trust workplace requires a foundation of three essential pillars:

1. Competence: Trust grows when team members can rely on each other’s abilities and accountability. Leaders who show they are dependable and skilled instill confidence in the team’s overall strength.
2. Connection: Trust is nurtured through personal connection, empathy, shared values, and positive intention. Leaders should foster relationships that encourage team members to assume the best in each other and give the benefit of the doubt. When employees feel genuinely valued, they’re more likely to trust one another and work harmoniously.
3. Authenticity: Consistency, integrity, respect for boundaries, and confidentiality are crucial. Leaders who are honest, consistent, and uphold integrity set the standard for a trusting culture, encouraging others to bring their true selves to work.

Signs of a Trust-Deficient Workplace: Recognising the Absence of Trust

When trust is absent, it can feel like a lack of oxygen in a room—stifling the team. Here are common indicators:

• High Stress and Anxiety: Team members may feel unsupported and insecure.
• Unhealthy Conflict: Without trust, disagreements become divisive instead of constructive.
• Gossip and Innuendo: Rumours and indirect communication replace open dialogue.
• Absenteeism and Disengagement: People may avoid the workplace, both physically and mentally.
• Lack of Accountability: Individuals may agree verbally but fail to commit to follow-through.
• Fear of Speaking Up: Employees might hesitate to share insights due to fear of backlash.
• Cliques and Exclusion: Teams divide, impacting morale and cohesion.

The absence of trust erodes productivity, retention, and customer satisfaction. When employees don’t feel trusted or able to trust, they often become disengaged, and customers notice the inconsistency.

How Leaders Can Build Trust in the Workplace

Building trust starts at the top. When leaders actively cultivate a culture of trust, they pave the way for everyone else to follow. Here are some essential ways for leaders to role-model and foster trust:

• Demonstrate Trustworthiness: Leaders should model reliability, transparency, and consistent follow-through. When a leader commits and delivers, they create a culture where others do the same.
• Encourage Personal Connection: Building genuine relationships with team members fosters empathy, respect, and a sense of shared experience. Taking time to get to know colleagues builds rapport, which is essential for trust.
• Show Positive Intentions and Generosity of Assumptions: Encourage team members to view each other’s actions with empathy and positive intention. When misunderstandings arise, leaders can model a "generosity of assumptions"—seeing the best in others and avoiding defensiveness.
• Normalise Vulnerability: Leaders who admit their own mistakes and learn openly encourage others to do the same, which fosters psychological safety.
• Foster Open Communication: Leaders should create and maintain channels for honest dialogue and constructive feedback. A culture where communication is encouraged helps prevent misunderstandings and builds trust.
• Celebrate Accountability: Recognising those who take responsibility reinforces trustworthiness and encourages others to follow suit.
• Empathise: Showing care and concern for employees' well-being, both personally and professionally, makes trust feel mutual and authentic.
• Understand Work Strengths & Motivators: Leaders can build trust by recognising individual team members' unique strengths and preferences using tools like the DISC personality model. DISC profiling helps leaders understand whether someone is more driven by results, relationships, stability, or compliance. By tailoring feedback, roles, and even communication styles to align with these motivators, leaders demonstrate that they value and respect individual contributions. This strengthens trust and engagement as team members feel seen and appreciated.

Why Trust Is Only Noticed in Its Absence

Trust, like oxygen, is easy to take for granted when it’s there but impossible to ignore when it’s missing. Without it, an organisation can quickly descend into toxic behaviours—miscommunication, unhealthy conflict, stress, and low morale. Leaders play a pivotal role in ensuring that trust is built and sustained, setting the stage for a culture where openness, accountability, and collaboration thrive.

In the end, trust is the key that enables a team to operate at its best.

When prioritised, it builds a foundation of stability, productivity, and positive energy. When trust is present, everyone can "breathe easier," feeling safe, empowered, and ready to contribute to the success of the organisation.

And when we get this right, everything becomes much easier.

The better it gets the better it gets!

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Naomi Oyston has more than twenty years leadership experience within the Corporate, Financial and SME Business sectors.? She has had extensive executive level success, with direct responsibility for leading the implementation and performance assessment of Customer Service Excellence, Sales Performance, Performance Coaching, Organisational Culture, Productivity and Leadership training within multiple major corporations.

Passionate, engaging and insightful, Naomi specialises in helping business leaders to create High Performing teams through a combination of mindset, toolkits and skillsets that are street proven to deliver results that matter.