A recent survey has found that trust in leaders, and employee engagement, is being eroded by managers who fail to apologise or acknowledge when they’re wrong.

The study by a leading learning provider found there was a major disconnect between how managers perceived their behaviour when compared with views of employees.

Interestingly, just 5% of UK employees get an apology from their boss if he or she makes a mistake, yet 60% of managers claimed to always say sorry.

Where managers are accountable for mistakes at work, this tends to engender trust. 
Almost half (49%) of managers and nearly a quarter (24%) of employees believe that acknowledging personal mistakes is one of the key things leaders can do to inspire trust.

Being able to trust your boss is very important for 93% of the employees and those who displayed most trust for their managers were also the most engaged at work, the survey found.

However, almost a third of employees said they trusted management less than in previous years and 43 % of managers said they were aware of this drop in trust.

To address one of the most striking aspects of the study, the disconnect between how managers see themselves and the view of their staff can be addressed in a number of ways – not least through the use of 360 degree feedback.

It is also a tried a test way of improving employee engagement.