PwC publishes 2024 Trust Survey

Business executives are growing further out of touch with their employees and consumers when it comes to trust.

Company leaders continue to overestimate how much their employees and consumers trust them, according to Big Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 2024 Trust Survey, published on Tuesday. Fully 90% of business executives think customers “highly trust” their companies, according to the survey, when in reality, only 30% of customers actually do. 

PwC surveyed 548 businesses and roughly 2,000 employees and 2,500 consumers across the U.S. for the fourth iteration of its annual survey. This year, the 60-percentage-point trust gap between executives and customers has worsened from last year’s 57-point gap. Meanwhile, 86% of executives say employee trust is high, with 67% of employees agreeing. 

PwC stressed its own focus on trust in a reorganization in June 2021. The firm restructured into two broad business segments: Trust Solutions, which includes the assurance and tax-reporting practices, and Consulting Solutions, which encompasses everything from cybersecurity to tax consulting. 

“Those are the two pieces of our business and our Trust Solutions segment is the world’s largest trust platform,” said Wes Bricker, vice chair and U.S. Trust Solutions co-leader at PwC. “We’re really excited about where we’re going in building trust in society and helping our clients understand the importance of trust.”

There’s much at stake for a company that lacks trust. Forty-two percent of executives cite customer engagement as the biggest risk if customers don’t trust a business, according to the survey. That’s followed by the ability to expand into new markets (41%) and profitability (38%). When it comes to employees, 42% of executives say productivity is at greatest risk, followed by quality of products or services (41%), operational efficiencies (40%) and profitability (38%).

“This data shows that lower trust among employees has an immediate impact on everyday operations,” said the survey. “The risk is not that people leave — it’s that they stay and work half-heartedly.”

Not to mention, employee trust has obvious implications for a company’s ability to recruit and retain talent. More than half (60%) of employees who trust their company say they’ve recommended it to friends and family as a place to work. Conversely, 22% of employees say they’ve left a company because of trust issues.

Companies shouldn’t overlook the basics when it comes to building trust. Customers say protecting their data, quickly responding to and resolving their concerns, and providing a consistent and reliable customer experience are very important when it comes to earning trust. Employees cite fair pay, fair treatment, protecting employee data and ethical behavior as very important.

On the bright side, employees underestimate how trusted they are — 86% of executives indicate a very high level of trust in their employees. Conversely, only 60% of employees think they are highly trusted by company leaders, and 61% agree that a perceived lack of trust impacts their ability to do their jobs well. 

The PwC survey offers a “trust playbook” for executives. Some of the key points include acknowledging the trust gap, formally measuring trust with a common set of metrics, building a culture of trust starting among the highest-level leaders and embedding trust in new areas — like climate and AI — from the start.