The Trust Building Survey

The Importance of Trust

Research and practice consistently demonstrate that trust between employees and their employer and is a key determinant of organizational performance and employee well-being. Trust is the foundation for a culture of health and safety, making it a prerequisite for a psychologically healthy and safe workplace.

However, trust is fragile. During times of uncertainty and unpredictable change – like the COVID-19 pandemic — trust easily can be eroded. The COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding lockdown are straining the employer-employee relationship.

In order to assist organizations to measure this relationship, PH+S and the Graham Lowe Group have partnered to create a new instrument: the Trust Building Survey (TBS)©. This tool provides a quick and accurate diagnosis of trust in your organization and identifies the best opportunities to strengthen it.

About the Trust Building Survey©

The Trust Building Survey© (TBS) is a short, online employee survey. Its 22 items measure workplace conditions and employer-employee relationships  Respondents are asked to indicate their level of agreement with each item as it pertains to their experience over the last four weeks. In addition, there are 6 demographic questions  that permit group breakdowns, and one open-ended question asking for suggestions to improve employee-employer trust.

The TBS is easy to administer and takes less than 10 minutes to complete. It is designed to be used in repeated ‘pulse checks’ to capture the evolving recovery phase of the pandemic, and beyond. It can be administered in both French and English. Our clients can administer the TBS in specific departments, occupational groups or worksites. Clients also can include custom items relevant to their workforce.

The TBS can be used by any type, sector, or size of organization. It may be particularly relevant for those organizations providing essential services, such as healthcare.

Here is a sample item from the TBS:

        I am informed about important changes at work in a timely manner.

        Strongly Disagree/Disagree/Agree/Strongly Agree

The TBS can be administered using an organization’s existing email platform or independently by the consulting group. All responses are confidential and anonymous. Results will be stored on a secure Canadian server. Users will receive a succinct report of organizational-level results, highlighting strengths and opportunities for improvement, as well as national pre-pandemic benchmarks.

All items in the tool are actionable, which facilitates action-planning based on results. Reliability and validity of the TBS are based on psychometric analysis of the 2016  Guarding Minds@Work reference sample of 5,010 working Canadians.

For more details about the TBS, please click here to download the proposal (PDF).

For information about administration, deliverables and pricing of the TBS please contact: