Rebuilding Trust: Regaining Credibility After Organizational Shakeups
“The fastest way to regain credibility is not through grand gestures, but through deliberate actions that demonstrate you understand and care about your people.”
By Michel Koopman
When we experience significant organizational disruptions—whether it’s a merger, a major restructuring or the difficult decision to implement layoffs—employee trust is often the first casualty. I’ve seen this pattern repeat countless times in my work as an executive coach.
Even the most well-intentioned transitions, designed to position a company for future success, can inadvertently breed fear, disengagement and cynicism among the very people essential to that success. Without intentional effort toward transparency and accountability, that trust deficit can fester, impacting productivity, retention and overall morale long after the initial dust settles.
If companies want to embed coaching into their culture and position themselves for stronger retention and sustained growth, here's what leaders should keep in mind:
What builds trust, and what tears it down?
The psychological contract between an employee and their leadership is surprisingly fragile. In my experience, it's typically built on expectations of stability, fairness and mutual respect. When that contract is perceived to be broken—through a sudden change in direction, a lack of clear communication or a decision that feels misaligned with stated values—employees can quickly become disengaged. Research consistently shows the impact of broken trust: A Deloitte study, for instance, highlighted that organizations with high trust levels outperform those with low trust by up to 400% in terms of stock market returns.
In the aftermath of a major shakeup, it’s easy for leaders to make missteps that undermine trust even further. I’ve observed many leadership teams who believed they had “checked the box” by issuing an official announcement, only to find that morale continued to plummet. Common pitfalls include:
• Over-relying on legal or communications-approved language that feels impersonal and distant, rather than genuinely addressing the human impact.
• Avoiding vulnerability or accountability, projecting an image of unflappable certainty when employees are craving honesty.
• Failing to follow up or take visible, consistent action after an initial announcement, leaving employees feeling abandoned or unheard.
This is why I believe that, as leaders, we must actively engage in rebuilding trust through radical transparency, consistent values-based behavior and empathy-led engagement. My experience coaching executives through these challenging transitions has taught me that the fastest way to regain credibility is not through grand gestures, but through deliberate actions that demonstrate you understand and care about your people.
Here’s how to start restoring credibility sooner rather than later:
1. Embrace radical transparency: Tell the truth, even when it’s hard.
After any organizational disruption, the urge to control the narrative can be strong, leading to vague communications or a reliance on corporate jargon. This is a critical misstep. Your team needs honesty. Be upfront about what happened, why it happened and what comes next, even if you don’t have all the answers.
I coached a CEO who, after a difficult round of layoffs, held town halls where he didn’t just read a statement; he candidly discussed the market pressures, admitted the pain of the decision and outlined the steps the company was taking to stabilize. He used language like, “I know this is incredibly difficult news, and many of you are feeling uncertainty. I can’t promise that everything will be perfect tomorrow, but I can promise you complete transparency about our path forward, and I’m here to answer every question I can.”
This directness, while uncomfortable, immediately began to chip away at the cynicism and allowed a space for genuine healing. In my experience, people generally don’t expect perfection, but they do demand honesty.
2. Demonstrate consistent, values-based behavior: Live your principles aloud.
Consistency is a cornerstone of rebuilding trust. I've observed that in times of instability, teams look to their leaders' actions more than their words. That's why it's important to reestablish stability by making decisions that are visibly aligned with your company’s stated values. If you’ve emphasized “employee well-being” or “innovation,” then every subsequent decision, from new project approvals to budget allocations, should demonstrably reflect those values.
As Stephen M.R. Covey puts it in The Speed of Trust, “Trust is equal parts character and competence . . . You can look at any leadership failure, and it’s always a failure of one or the other.” Rebuilding credibility after a shakeup demands both: the moral clarity to lead with integrity and the operational acumen to execute effectively.
I spoke with another leader who, after a strategic pivot that caused some initial confusion, consciously began every team meeting by linking current projects back to the company’s core values, explaining how each decision reinforced those principles. This constant reinforcement and clear demonstration of integrity in leadership helped re-anchor the team. Your team needs to see that the company values aren’t just words on a wall, but rather guiding principles for how you operate, especially when times are tough.
3. Engage with empathy by creating space for shared processing.
Organizational shakeups are emotional. Ignoring the fear, anger or sadness that employees feel will likely only prolong disengagement. Instead, create space for two-way dialogue, acknowledge the pain or fear and allow people to process the change.
For example, after a merger, another senior leader I spoke with implemented regular “listening sessions” where team members could share their concerns and frustrations without judgment. She didn’t always have solutions, but she consistently acknowledged their feelings, saying things like, “I hear how frustrating this is for you, and I understand why you feel that way. We’re working through this together.”
These sessions, combined with her consistent presence and empathy in leadership, significantly reduced anxiety and started to mend fractured relationships. Remember, genuine empathy involves active listening and validation, not just sympathy.
Play the long game of leadership credibility.
I've found that rebuilding trust after an organizational shakeup takes much more than a single speech, a one-time announcement or a quick fix; it requires an ongoing commitment to how you, as a leader, show up every single day. It requires courage to be transparent, discipline to be consistent and genuine empathy to connect with your team’s human experience.
Treat trust as a critical business strategy, not merely a soft skill. By consistently demonstrating these principles, you can both restore credibility and forge a stronger, more resilient team ready to tackle future challenges.
Read the original article on Forbes.