Hong Kong employees trust leaders less than average

Weak optimism and top-down structures are fueling employee confidence gaps.

Employee confidence in Hong Kong is lower than the global average, with workers 9% less positive and 3% more negative about their organisation’s future, according to Ipsos’ Global Trends report.

“There may be two reasons. One is low trust in business leaders. Only 37% of Hong Kong employees trust business leaders to tell the truth, versus a global average of 44%,” said Javier Calvar, Head of Customer & Employee Experience at Ipsos. “The other reason may be lack of optimism in the short and mid-term future of Hong Kong.”

Dr Guy Llewellyn, Assistant Professor at EHL Hospitality Business School, said uncertainty and poor communication were to blame. “They've had years of not knowing what's going to happen tomorrow, which makes them very wary,” he said. “Most organisations have a very hierarchical point of view… organisational strategy, that long term planning, is not really being shared to all of the managers and the frontline employees.”

To rebuild confidence, Calvar urged companies to create “more positive workplace experiences,” enhance communication, recognise contributions, promote well-being, and stay engaged with Hong Kong’s community.

Llewellyn emphasised transparency. “The most important thing for business leaders is to create more of a transparent, open relationship with their employees,” he said. “They need to be much more of a dialog and much more of a bottom-up approach.”

Both experts said lessons could be drawn from global firms. “Leadership is about competence. It’s about passion and it’s about a genuine interest in employees and their needs,” Calvar said. Llewellyn added that people metrics like psychological safety and belonging “must be part of strategy.”