Employee Trust & Confidence in Senior Management Take a Hit in 2006

Employee ratings of their senior management dipped in 2006 after considerable increases during the earlier part of the decade, according to the 2006/2007 WorkUSA Survey of over 12,000 full-time U.S. workers conducted by Watson Wyatt Worldwide (see full press release here. 

These declines in ratings are noted below:

• Question:  Employees have trust and confidence in the job of senior management
  • Favorable ratings in 2004 - 51%
  • Favorable ratings in 2006 - 49%
• Question:  Senior management makes changes to stay competitive
  • Favorable ratings in 2004 - 57%
  • Favorable ratings in 2006 - 53%
• Question:  Senior management takes steps to control costs
  • Favorable ratings in 2004 - 59%
  • Favorable ratings in 2006 - 55%
• Question:  Senior management behaves consistently with the company's core values
  • Favorable ratings in 2004 - 57%
  • Favorable ratings in 2006 - 55%

While none of this is great news, I find myself particularly troubled by the responses to the last question; not just the fact that the numbers have declined slightly, but that -- overall -- only slightly more than half of the employees surveyed feel that their leaders are walking the talk of their organization's core values.  This comes on the heels of news earlier this week that most workers would choose to forgo higher pay to work for an organization they believe is ethical (Ethics Trump Pay for Most Workers).  In other words, as ethics and integrity increase in importance (in the eyes of workers), senior leaders are perceived as giving them short shrift.