The extent to which employees can count on senior leadership to communicate honestly, weigh their interests and do what it said it would. Measurements in 2026 show a wide gap between how CEOs rate this and what employees say.
Managers use AI almost twice as often as their staff and think the direction is clear. The workforce does not experience it that way. The difference lies in what a manager visibly does: leading by example, setting a quality standard and saying what happens to the time saved.
Publications per month for AI use and AI strategy as seen by leaders and by staff
Executives think employees trust them and understand the culture. Recent measurements show a widening gap: fewer than half of employees trust their leadership, and only one in five feels strongly connected to their own organisation's culture. Leadership is the last to notice.
Publications per month for Trust and culture as seen by executives and by employees
Support among Americans for CEOs who speak out on social or political issues fell from 65 per cent in 2018 to 55 per cent in 2026, and the share who shun a product over such a stance doubled. Support holds only for issues that affect the company itself.
Publications per month for Public support for CEOs who speak out on social issues
Edelman finds across 28 countries that people are retreating into their own circles, and that only their own employer still scores above half as a builder of trust (58 per cent). Inside the organisation that trust is thin: in the US, one in five employees trusts their own leadership.
Publications per month for Trust in employers and other institutions
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