Experts agree that trust is one of the most important elements of a successful workplace. Companies whose employees trust them tend to have a more engaged workforce and a high-productivity work environment. On the flip side, organizations that have lost employee trust meet with less success and may have difficulty engaging and retaining their talent.

When an organization nurtures relationship and trust-building behaviours, employees tend to feel more comfortable in their roles, enabling them to focus on their tasks with greater ease, leading to an incline in productivity rates. On the other hand, when trust is damaged, morale and productivity decline, and attrition increases.

A loss of trust usually doesn’t happen from one major event, but instead erodes over time. With today’s rapidly evolving VUCA environment and organizations being asked to do more with less, it seems more important than ever to consider the value of trust in the workplace.

So, in which situations is trust between employee and manager likely to be in chronically short supply?

· Disingenuous statements or false promises from senior managers. Employees can often detect when they’re being misled, and this causes severe damage to the employee-manager working relationship

· Management demonstrating behaviour that employees don't fully respect. Leaders also don’t always demonstrate the actions they expect of others, which can be an understandably disengaging experience for some

· Financial pressures that push managers into layoffs, slashing benefits and reducing bonuses. This is inevitable when faced with weak business results, and neither employee nor manager may even be at fault

· Forced ranking can push managers into a corner and force them to deliver performance messages they may not entirely believe in

On the flip side, employees also occasionally have unrealistic opinions of their own performance or behaviour, which management can’t do much about. Even with the best of intentions there are innumerable ways that workplace trust can be weakened - and once lost, it's hard to regain.

Managers can tackle this by doing a few things, starting with striving for transparency. Employees respect leaders whom they view as authentic and trustworthy. They should also recognize excellence immediately after it happens. Science claims that public recognition has the largest effect on trust when it occurs immediately after an employee meets a goal. Public recognition inspires others as well.

Employees can also be allowed to choose their work patterns and habits. Autonomy over work conditions very powerfully communicates to employees that their leadership trusts them.

Trust is a fragile commodity in management, and can make all the difference between an employee who is emotionally committed to an organization and highly productive, and one who is disengaged or even destructive, but has the potential to be a stellar contributor. The organizations with the highest trust recognize that it’s a two-way street. The most emotionally-connected leaders let their employees know that they need their help to build the best organizations possible.

When it comes to management, loyalty and trust are foundational – they are the basis on which the rest of the manager-employee relationship is built. A heightened sense of trust on both ends can actually improve company productivity and maintain a steady rate of employee retention.