Employees who distrust their directors or senior management are significantly more likely to look for new job than their colleagues with more trust in management.

According to research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), nearly half of employees who strongly distrust their leadership are looking for a job, compared to just 8% of employees who have strong trust in their senior leaders.

Claire McCartney, resourcing and talent adviser at CIPD, says: “With many organisations struggling to compete and survive, the issue of organisation culture and values can take a back seat. Some employers may also feel that they don’t have to work as hard to keep their people because there are fewer opportunities in the labour market that will allow employees to jump ship.

“However, vacancies always exist for motivated and skilled staff, and employers risk losing their most valued employees – those most able to compete in a tough labour market.”

While overall trust in leaders is generally low, with only 34% of survey respondents saying they trust their senior management, and 38% saying they mistrust them, the survey shows significant regional variation.

South-West England is the only region where more employees trust their leadership than mistrust, by a margin of 25%, while in Wales and the North-East this figure is reversed, with mistrust exceeding trust.