Productivity improves when team trust becomes a workplace norm

When trust increases, optimism overpowers grievance.

Would you entrust the agency to ‘experiment’ with ten percent of your budget? My guess is ‘probably not’. Yet clients regularly did this some decades ago. Sure, it was a gamble, but more often than not, it paid back in spades.

This palpable demonstration of trust in the agency was often rewarded both with out-of-the-box, unfettered ideas and with undying loyalty of the agency team.

Of course, much has changed since then that would render this a risky and possibly career-threatening tactic for a CMO, but the core issue here is one of trust. Trust in the agency, trust in the team, trust in business.

Erosion of team trust

Much has been written lately about the erosion of trust across many aspects of our society. Politicians, religious leaders, news sources and business leaders are under scrutiny. According to the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer report, business remains most trusted institution compared with NGO’s, government and the media. The report suggests that when trust increases, economic optimism overpowers grievance. So team trust has value.

“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”

Stephen Covey

Regardless of the issues that may ebb and flow between business and personal relationships in the course of time, the pivotal point for all relationships seems to boil down to mutual trust.

Trust between marketer and agency teams

When it comes to client-agency relationships, an Aprais report shows that trust is the most important behaviour among the seven we track, and this importance has grown over the past 10 years.

This chart shows the change in average team behaviour scores that marketers and agency gave each other. Scores for trust improved by 5% (from 79 in 2011 to 83 in 2021) in the decade. Though this increase may seem modest compared with other behaviours it was the highest-scoring behaviour in 2011 and remained so in 2021.

Bad behaviour on the rise?

In 2023, Marla Kaplowitz, the CEO of the 4A’s in the USA raised the issue of bad behaviour saying “… we are increasingly hearing about the misconduct and negative experiences (i.e: clients behaving badly, treating agency talent disparagingly and in inappropriate ways)”. She suggested a code of conduct for clients and agencies to align on expectations and behaviours connected to shared values.

The 2025 Edelman report calls for restoring trust and building optimism amid the crisis of grievance; “When institutions can’t be trusted to do what is right, grievances fester and outlooks darken. To dissipate grievance and increase optimism, prioritize and rebuild trust across your organization and local communities”.

Marketers and agencies need to be reminded that nurturing workplace civility and team trust is a new paradigm for influence.

Compassion over power

Historically, workplaces have relied on positional power to drive decisions and enforce compliance. Yet, the Trust Barometer’s insights reveal a shift: influence today is increasingly earned through compassion rather than power. The report indicates that 68% of respondents with low grievance levels and 65% of those with high grievance levels value leaders who understand their needs over those who simply occupy formal positions of authority.

The productivity payoff

When civility and compassion become workplace norms, the results are tangible. Teams that operate within such environments exhibit:

1. Improved Communication: Open, respectful discussions lead to more effective problem-solving and decision-making.
2. Greater Resilience: Compassionate support enables employees to navigate challenges with confidence.
3. Enhanced Innovation: Psychological safety and mutual respect encourage creativity and risk-taking.

Businesses that prioritize these principles report higher levels of trust and productivity. Trust—earned through civility and compassion—becomes the currency of successful collaboration, enabling teams to thrive even amid uncertainty.

Do you trust your agency enough to let them experiment with 10% of your budget? Probably not, but civility and compassion are a good alternative.