Nearly 90% of CEOs say they are confident or very confident that their employees trust their leadership. But only 46% of employees agree, according to The BCG CEO Insomnia Index published by my colleagues this month. To understand why nearly half of employees don’t trust the top boss, we must look at how leaders show up, and the downstream effects on employees’ joy and productivity.
Every single day, each person chooses how much of their energy, creativity, and discretionary effort to bring to work. They are not obligated to give their best. They are customers making a purchase decision to exert energy or not. And that product is day-to-day work: the rhythms and routines of completing tasks, the culture, the administrative processes, the interactions with managers, and how the CEO and senior leaders engage with employees. It’s all parts of the product employees choose to consume or not. And like any product, it must be good enough that people choose it again tomorrow.
