How to bridge the trust gap by bringing more leaders into employee communications

Simon Sinek's insight, "Customers will never love a company until employees love it first," remains undeniable. Trust and transparency are vital in creating a workplace that employees love.

However, leaders and their teams don't always share the same views about trust levels in organizations. Moreover, trust between employers and employees appears to be shifting in today's corporate landscape. PwC's 2024 Trust Survey reveals that while 86% of business executives believe employee trust is high, only 67% of employees share the same sentiment towards their employers. This trust gap of 18 points underscores a pressing need for organizations to reevaluate their communication strategies.

Additional studies point to organizational communication lapses. In a Gallup survey, the percentage of employees who know what's expected of them at work dropped to a record low in 2022.

As the Chief People Officer at Appspace, I've witnessed firsthand the transformative power of leadership involvement in employee communications. Employees who trust their organizations are more engaged, productive, and loyal. Yet, trust doesn't happen automatically or arbitrarily. Trust also is not a goal with a finish line. Organizations build trust through consistent, transparent, and honest communication.

Today's employees have increased expectations for what the workplace should deliver, including better communications about issues that matter. In this new reality, traditional, impersonal communication models from the HR leader no longer work.

Everyone is in employee communications

Employees crave authenticity and meaningful connections that deliver more than corporate talking points, financial facts, and figures. With this backdrop, HR leaders can spearhead initiatives to engage the entire executive team, not just the CEO, in employee communications.

One of the initial hurdles in bringing more leaders into the communications process is acknowledging that not all leaders possess the same level of communication proficiency. While some may excel at conveying complex ideas in long-form memos, others may need help to adapt to the demands of a TLDR (Too Long; Didn't Read) environment.

Employee communications as a team effort helps ease different leaders into the process. Diversifying communication channels to cater to various preferences and aptitudes helps leaders communicate in their preferred method or style.

Many organizations leverage digital signage and modern intranets as channels for leaders to keep communication flowing and employees updated with important information, including policy changes and recognition. Interactive capabilities and the ability to like and share posts provide employees with familiar, consumer-like communication experiences and can help build familiarity with leadership.

Appspace finds that interactive town hall meetings are a great forum to facilitate dialogue between leadership and employees. This is especially true in hybrid, remote, and global organizations, where some team members have different levels of in-person access to the leadership team.

Our town halls also provide the perfect opportunity to bring more leaders into the communications process. We often schedule meetings around a specific topic or area of employee interest, empowering leaders to "own" their expertise.

For instance, our CFO routinely shares financial updates during monthly town halls, providing revenue and profitability metrics with insights directly relevant to employees, such as bonus status. This personalized approach enhances understanding and cultivates a culture of transparency and accountability.

Concise and purposeful communication is paramount to building trust

Take communications on the road

While many workplaces thrived in work-from-home environments, human, in-person connections still have their place. For companies like Appspace with dispersed teams across multiple locations, road shows offer a valuable opportunity for leaders to connect with employees in person, fostering mutual understanding and solidarity.

By meeting with teams in different offices and often in other countries, leaders gain insights into diverse ideas and cultural perspectives that may help shape communication and business strategies.

A balancing act

The new way of working and communicating presents its own set of challenges. Bringing multiple leaders into the communications process is key. However, the goal is to avoid creating more distractions for employees managing pings, emails, and meetings throughout their day.

Concise and purposeful communication is paramount. Leaders must adopt a "Keep it Simple" approach, delivering messages that cut through the noise and reach workers inundated with distractions.

Above all, listening emerges as the linchpin of effective communication. By soliciting feedback and engaging in dialogue with employees at all levels, leaders gain invaluable insights into what resonates and what falls flat. This ongoing dialogue transforms leaders into empathetic communicators capable of fostering trust and alignment across the organization.

The bottom line

Involving leadership directly in employee communications is essential for bridging the trust gap. Organizations that embrace transparency, authenticity, and inclusivity create engaged and resilient workforces. HR leaders can spearhead this transformation, empowering their peers across the company to become effective co-communicators in building a truly connected workplace.

Holly Grogan is the Chief People Officer at Appspace. In this role, Holly drives the company’s growth and profitability through human resources & talent strategies. She has spent most of her career building People & Culture strategies for high-growth companies while creating great places to work environments. Holly is on the Board of Directors of Think Big for Kids, a non-profit helping break the cycle of poverty by providing middle and high school students with career opportunities, mentorship, and job readiness.