Trust is the foundation of any thriving workplace. When team members feel safe having honest conversations, and leaders build genuine relationships and share information openly, everything changes.
Research shows that in high-trust companies, employee engagement rises, sick days decrease, and productivity soars. According to Harvard Business Review, employees who highly trust their leadership are more likely to collaborate, innovate, and stay. By creating a culture where psychological safety is a priority, organizations both boost performance and build trust that lasts.
At Apliteni, trust is a daily commitment. As a fully remote, distributed company, we know that trust is what holds our workflow—and our people—together. It’s how we operate asynchronously, manage projects across borders, and show up with impact, no matter where we are.
So, how exactly do we build it, teach it, and protect it?
Why Trust Matters
The case for trust in the workplace is overwhelmingly backed by research across disciplines. From productivity to retention, the presence (or absence) of trust has a measurable impact on business outcomes. According to findings from sources such as Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review, high-trust organizations consistently outperform their peers on nearly every meaningful metric.
In companies where trust is high, employees report being significantly more engaged, by up to 76%. This engagement translates not only into a willingness to collaborate but also into a more profound commitment to the organization’s goals. Workers in these environments experience 74% less stress and are 40% less likely to suffer from burnout. They’re also markedly more productive, with output rising by as much as 50% compared to their counterparts in low-trust settings.
Well-being metrics reflect this too. People working in high-trust environments take 13% fewer sick days and report a 29% increase in overall life satisfaction. They bring more energy to their roles. In fact, studies indicate they generate up to 106% more energy on the job, a testament to the motivational power of being in a psychologically safe and trusting culture.
These individuals are also more stable and motivated: they’re half as likely to seek new employment elsewhere, and they demonstrate up to 260% more motivation to perform at their best. In other words, trust doesn’t just reduce risk – it amplifies potential.
And yet, despite these clear benefits, a troubling gap remains. Many organizations significantly overestimate the level of trust within their teams. While 86% of executives say they place a high degree of trust in their employees, only 60% of employees feel they are trusted to the same extent.
A 26-point gap that reveals a deep perception disconnect. The 2024 PwC Trust Survey further suggests that employers overestimate employee trust levels by nearly 40%, indicating that many leadership teams are unaware of the fragility of their internal trust.
This disconnect has consequences. In remote or hybrid environments, where spontaneous interactions and informal bonding are limited, the absence of trust becomes even more pronounced.
What might be smoothed over by casual in-person exchanges in a traditional office can escalate in a virtual space, where assumptions fill the gaps left by unclear communication or a lack of psychological safety.
For remote-first teams, then, trust must be treated not as a passive cultural trait but as an active system—something to design for, invest in, and continuously strengthen.
What Trust Looks Like at Work
Trust is a system made up of consistent behaviors. Trust in the workplace has four foundational dimensions:
- Character: Do we keep our promises? Do our actions align with our values?
It is the foundation. It’s about doing what we say we’ll do consistently, even when it’s inconvenient. It is evident in how leaders follow through on their commitments, how team members hold themselves accountable, and how decisions align with the values an organization claims to stand for. When character is strong, people feel safe making decisions, knowing their colleagues will act with integrity and fairness.
- Communication: Are we transparent, timely, and clear with one another?
This aspect shapes how trust is sustained on a day-to-day basis. It’s not only about how often we talk, but how clearly, openly, and honestly we do it. High-trust workplaces prioritize transparency: people are kept informed, leadership doesn’t hide behind closed-door decisions, and feedback flows in all directions. In these environments, even difficult conversations are welcomed because the team knows candor won’t be punished — it will be respected.
- Capability: Do we respect each other’s competence and empower one another?
This reflects our belief in each other’s professional competence. Trust thrives when people feel confident not only in their own roles but in the skill and judgment of those they work with. It means leaders empower their teams rather than micromanage them, and colleagues respect each other’s expertise, contributions, and decision-making. A lack of trust in capability can lead to second-guessing, unnecessary oversight, or bottlenecks, especially in distributed teams.
- Care: Do people feel valued, recognized, and supported as human beings?
Care is what elevates a competent workplace into a human one. It’s about whether people feel genuinely valued, not just as employees, but as individuals. Do they feel respected? Are their efforts recognized? Can they speak up without fear? Teams that operate with care don’t just function efficiently; they build loyalty, resilience, and emotional safety. This is the dimension where empathy, inclusion, and psychological safety are most visibly at play.
When trust is strong in these areas, teams are more likely to communicate openly, take smart risks, and collaborate across functions with confidence.
How to Build Trust: What Works
At Apliteni, trust is actively embedded in our culture, systems, and ways of working. In a fully distributed team, where spontaneous in-person connections are rare, building trust requires intention, consistency, and design.
Drawing from neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and workplace research, these are the trust-building practices we prioritize and model every day:
1. Recognize Excellence
Recognition is not just praise; it’s a biological trigger for trust. Neuroscientist Paul Zak’s research shows that specific, meaningful recognition activates the release of oxytocin in the brain, a neurochemical that facilitates bonding and openness.
At Apliteni, we focus on timely, personalized, and public acknowledgment of contributions: whether it’s a small breakthrough, excellent support feedback from a customer, or thoughtful cross-team collaboration. When people feel genuinely seen and appreciated, trust deepens, and morale rises. We celebrate not just outcomes, but progress and effort, reinforcing a culture where people know their work matters.
2. Set Challenging Yet Achievable Goals
Trust is all about setting correct expectations. Teams build trust in leadership when goals are clear, ambitious, but realistic.
These types of stretch goals—goals that challenge individuals without overwhelming them—create positive pressure that fuels focus, effort, and engagement.
When leaders invite people to rise to a challenge and provide the necessary support to succeed, trust forms naturally.
We strike a balance between accountability and compassion, ensuring our objectives are not only aligned with business priorities but also co-created with the individuals responsible for delivering them. This builds both ownership and mutual respect.
3. Give People Autonomy
Micromanagement is one of the fastest ways to erode trust. When people feel they are constantly being monitored, second-guessed, or controlled, it signals a lack of faith in their judgment.
We operate on the principle of “freedom with responsibility.” Team members are trusted to manage their schedules, make tactical decisions, and approach work in the way that best suits their expertise and style. This autonomy isn’t the absence of structure. It’s the presence of clarity and alignment, paired with the freedom to act. Autonomy creates intrinsic motivation, higher engagement, and more innovation, all of which strengthen trust across the team.
4. Share Information Transparently
In a high-trust organization, people aren’t left guessing. Transparency — especially in a remote culture — is crucial for establishing credibility and alignment.
We believe that information should be accessible by default and restricted only when necessary, not the other way around. From sharing company strategy updates and project roadmaps to clearly explaining why certain decisions were made, we keep our communication open and context-rich.
This reduces uncertainty, prevents misinformation, and shows that leadership respects employees enough to tell them the truth. Transparency creates an environment where trust becomes the norm, not the exception.
5. Be Vulnerable and Authentic
Contrary to outdated beliefs, strong leadership isn’t about having all the answers — it’s about being real. Research consistently shows that leaders who show vulnerability are more trusted than those who project false certainty.
At Apliteni, authenticity starts with acknowledging limitations, admitting mistakes, and being honest about challenges. When leaders ask for help or share what they’re learning, it creates space for others to do the same.
Vulnerability also promotes psychological safety — a necessary condition for open dialogue, problem-solving, and experimentation. In distributed teams, where misunderstandings can happen easily, authenticity is the bridge to connection.
6. Enable Whole-Person Growth
People trust companies that invest in them, not just as employees, but as individuals as well.
Trust is deepened when people know they’re seen as more than just their job title. And that their aspirations, learning needs, and well-being matter.
This means providing room for ongoing professional development, encouraging cross-functional learning, and making time for personal reflection and feedback.
We don’t believe in rigid career ladders; instead, we support diverse growth paths tailored to individual strengths, interests, and long-term goals. When a company supports the whole person, not just their output, it builds lasting loyalty and trust.
The Real Payoff of Trust
When trust is strong, everything moves faster and with greater purpose. Teams aligned by trust don’t need to double-check intentions or waste time protecting themselves from blame.
Instead, they make decisions more efficiently, take ownership with confidence, and recover from setbacks with resilience. High-trust cultures foster collaboration, invite healthy risk-taking, and unlock creativity. Work feels lighter, more focused, and more human.
The contrast is clear: in low-trust environments, energy is drained by second-guessing, office politics, information hoarding, and slow execution. People hesitate to speak up, innovation stalls, and turnover increases — not because the work is too hard, but because the culture is too heavy. Resilience suffers when people feel like they can’t rely on one another or their leadership.
In high-trust environments, agility comes naturally. Communication is clearer. Teams are more collaborative, more engaged, and more open to change. These aren’t just nice-to-have qualities — they’re what drive long-term performance, especially in fast-moving, remote-first organizations like ours. This isn’t theory. It’s a competitive edge rooted in how we treat each other at Apliteni.
