Our "Reinventing HR" webinar reveals a worrying trend: employee engagement and Trust Index scores are under pressure at many organizations. This is evident from, among other things, the Great Place to Work employee survey. The Trust Index score measures trust, pride, and camaraderie within organizations. This is not a "soft" HR problem; it is a direct threat to business results.

Organizations with high employee trust and greater engagement perform demonstrably better, says René Brouwers of Great Place to Work. A low Trust Index, on the other hand, leads to higher turnover costs, increased absenteeism, and reduced productivity—the phenomenon of "quiet quitting" is lurking. To turn the tide, so-called "micro-moments" must be improved. These are the many, often overlooked interactions that build or break employee trust on a daily basis.

Five critical moments that undermine trust

These micro-moments determine the employee experience and organizational culture. They must be addressed to achieve greater employee engagement.

1. Signing the contract & onboarding: Is the new employee overwhelmed with slow paperwork? Or does the manager not know where the new colleague should sit on their first day? If so, your company comes across as disorganized, or worse: uninterested.

2. The HR query: If an employee has a simple question about leave, for example, and is then passed from department to department, it can be very frustrating. The employee feels like a number, which increases the distance to HR.

3. The feedback moment: Performance reviews should not be a mandatory annual chore. If feedback and evaluations feel like a checklist without a focus on real, consistent growth, it is demotivating. The employee no longer believes in a fair development path. Sometimes feedback moments are skipped entirely: that is disastrous for employee engagement.

4. Moments with the manager: Inconsistent communication or the absence of the manager, especially when things get stressful, creates a sense of insecurity and anxiety.

5. When employees need extra support: You naturally have policies for things like sick leave or salary continuation. But is there also personal contact?

Someone who asks: "What do you need from us to be able to step away from your work?". If not, employees feel abandoned. The result: low loyalty and a risk of burnout.

Step-by-step plan for greater employee engagement

By mapping these moments for your organization, you can improve them in a targeted way. This is how you turn these pain points into a success story. Use this step-by-step plan to move from a low Trust Score to greater employee engagement:

Step 1: Look at the costs. What are your key metrics? Consider turnover in the first six months or the time it takes to handle HR requests. Establish a baseline measurement ("Our turnover in Q1 was 15%"). This provides the leadership team with clear proof that it's currently costing money. 

Step 2: Map out the employee journey. Focus on the five 'moments that break trust' mentioned earlier. Talk to your employees about their experience and measure your NPS (Net Promoter Score). That way, you'll pinpoint exactly where the friction lies.

Step 3: Redesign and simplify processes by making them digital, intuitive, and efficient. Even in a small business, this means no more hassle with printing and scanning. A fast, personalized digital contract process is a great example. 

Step 4: Replace one-size-fits-all policies with a personal, human-centric approach. This isn't just a 'nice-to-have'—as Maaike de Wit (Rvdb) puts it, "this impacts every single organization." Empower your managers to offer tailored solutions and hold meaningful conversations that strengthen employee engagement. 

Step 5: Present the new numbers. Repeat the measurements from step one after six months. Connect the improvement (such as an increase in the Trust Score) directly back to the business case: "A 10% increase has led to a 2% drop in turnover, resulting in savings of €[X]."

By following these steps, you not only restore trust but also transform your HR from a department that fixes things into one that demonstrably contributes to business results by increasing employee engagement. This requires leadership, say Brouwers and De Wit. Leadership that ensures the HR strategy is integrated into the overall strategy. Because that is the only way to ensure that real attention is paid to HR, and therefore to the employee.