A new report reveals that trust between staff and employers is critical for driving high levels of performance and workforce motivation.

Compiled by Working Families and consultant lead researcher Susanne Jacobs, in partnership with Unum, the report reveals a clear link between the individual, the team they work in, how they are led and their level of trust, to sustainable gains in productivity.

In the report, entitled Trust: the key to building well-being and performance in the workplace, researchers identified eight key drivers for building trust throughout this chain.

These include making employees feel part of the team and the organisation and giving them the ability to speak up in a way that allows them to influence decision making.

Fairness is also a key factor, as is security, a sense of purpose and the opportunity to learn.

The study will be of interest to practitioners of 360-degree feedback systems, a specialised multi-level or multi-source evaluation method designed to gain knowledge of an employee’s performance by using confidential questionnaires answered by selected staff members’, clients and customers.

360-degree feedback can also be used to improve organisational performance, establish specific values, while creating a sense of connectivity and growth for each and every employee, as a team or individually. In fact it can be used to build morale, motivation and encourage the philosophy that everyone’s opinion counts.