The case for building organisational trust is compelling. High trust organisations post higher financial returns, are more creative, and earn greater respect from employees and customers than their low trust counterparts. Never before has trust been so valued in business. Yet never before has it been so hard to build, so easy to break.

What can be done to maximise trust, and minimise betrayal in organisations? This report begins with a brief examination of the modern-day paradox of trust and explains why it is today that people need to trust more but, in fact, trust less. It then offers a definition of trust and betrayal before moving on to look at:

• our capacity for trust: and how, as individuals, we can learn to trust more
• developing trust in others: specific management behaviours that nurture trust
• how to repair trust: when it has been damaged by betrayal
• organisational trust: and actions which threaten or reinforce it

Finally, the report looks at two topical issues - whistleblowing and how it relates to trust, and building trust in virtuality to connect remote workers to company aims.

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