Time to Build Trust in 2026?

This year, organization leaders are relying on the trust of their employees to roll out massive strategies around AI and successfully execute in a very uncertain economic environment. But experts say that many leaders need to work on building up that trust right now if they want those plans to have a chance of succeeding. “Double down in the new year,” says Kevin Cashman, vice chairman of Korn Ferry’s CEO and Enterprise Leadership practice.

Trust, or lack thereof, certainly is on the minds of many leaders; they say a lack of employee trust puts a firm’s productivity, product quality, and profitability at risk. But trust has been eroding in businesses, much like it has in other institutions. According to a 2024 survey, 86% of senior leaders say they believe their employees “highly trust,” them, but only 67% of employees say they highly trust their employer, a decline of 3 percentage points from 2022.

Newer surveys make even that statistic seem optimistic. Less than half, 48%, of employees trust their senior leaders, according to a 2025 survey by Gartner. Another 2025 survey asked 33,000 people across 28 countries about their attitudes around institutions, 68% said they think business leaders purposely mislead people, an increase from 56% in 2021. “We live in a low-trust environment,” says Bryan Ackermann, Korn Ferry’s head of AI strategy and transformation.

Indeed, there were many developments in 2025 that might have dented employee trust. Some senior leaders threw money at AI tools, demanding employees embrace the changes—often without giving them support—or lose their jobs. Raises and promotions declined even as many large organizations posted record profits. In the job market, employers were accused of posting “ghost jobs,” essentially advertising roles that are never intended to be filled. Nearly three quarters of people said that the feedback they received during performance reviews was, at least in part, unfair, biased, or inaccurate, according to a survey by LiveCareer.com, a résumé building service.

Experts say there are a few things leaders can do at the start of the year to help build trust among their employees. The biggest revolves around better communication. Be consistent and authentic, Cashman says. “Consistency amidst change builds trust,” he says. Don’t just send out messages, but have conversations with employees, says JP Sniffen, Korn Ferry’s head of its Military Center of Expertise. “Time is the biggest currency with your people.”

Of course, the message also matters, particularly around AI. Ackermann recommends that leaders need to have a vision of how AI will expand opportunities and then communicate that message routinely to employees. AI adoption is a massive change, and if leaders are silent around it, then employees could make up a story about it. “That’s never good news,” Ackermann says.

Trust also revolves around honesty and transparency, adds Shanda Mints, Korn Ferry’s vice president for AI strategy and transformation. That transparency can apply not only to communication, but to pay practices. Leaders can continue pushing efforts at pay transparency further, creating clear, consistent pay bands and job classifications. Pay transparency can bring a sense of validation; employees often see openness about pay as proof that their organization really values fairness and accountability, says Tom McMullen, Korn Ferry senior client partner and leader of its North America Total Rewards Expertise group. Explain the thoughts behind the pay decisions, too. “Transparency without context raises more questions than it answers,” says McMullen. 

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