Do bosses who refuse to apologize see worse results on employment engagement surveys? Does accountability lead to engagement?

According to the global Leadership Pulse Survey, almost half (43 per cent) of employees say that their managers rarely or never apologize. At the same time, only 19 per cent of employees responded that their bosses always or often say they're sorry.

"The lack of employee engagement is a huge issue among U.S. workers and our research found that employees who register low levels of trust at work, are also the most likely group to report low engagement,” said Andrew Graham, CEO of Forum Corp.

"When managers aren't transparent in their actions – and that includes accepting responsibility for errors, being truthful with their employees and acknowledging hard work – that tends to breed mistrust among employees."

Their data also shows that:

  • 96% of employees say it's extremely important for employees to have a manager they can trust
  • 56% of managers say it's extremely important for employees to trust their managers
  • 37% of employees say that they trust managers less today, compared to past years
  • 78% of managers say they refrain from asking for forgiveness for fear of appearing incompetent, while 22% are afraid of looking weak

If you have any questions about what an employee engagement survey can do for your company, please contact us any time.