Sunsuper, one of Australia’s largest superannuation and retirement businesses, today launched its 2016 Australian Employee Insights Report.

The report found that while less than half of Australians (46%) always trust their immediate manager and less than a quarter (24%) always trust senior management, only 20% admitted to always trusting both.

When broken down by gender, women were more likely to trust their manager in comparison to men, but less likely to trust their company’s senior management. Interestingly, trust in management declines as employee age and company size increases.

Sunsuper’s Chief Executive Officer Scott Hartley said the results were particularly interesting given the report also found that trust was one of the characteristics people most valued in a leader.

“Australian employees voted ‘trust’ as one of the characteristic they most value in a leader (23%), closely behind ‘integrity’ (27%),” said Mr Hartley. “So it’s concerning that while trust is so highly valued amongst employees, the levels of trust Australians have in their managers is so low.

“It appears Australian managers still have quite a bit of room for improvement when it comes to building trust with their employees.

Mr Hartley said the Sunsuper 2016 Australian Employee Insights Report also included findings about Australians’ ideal business leaders, how people want to be rewarded and recognised at work, and the company benefits they most prefer.

“As well as being able to provide businesses with insights into what their employees really want and value, we’re thrilled that the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) has supported this year’s report and partnered with us to provide tips, insights and further readings based on our findings.”

Other key findings from the 2016 Australian Employee Insights Report:

• Integrity is the most valued characteristic in a leader (27%)

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• Richard Branson is Australians’ preferred business leader (44%)

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• Less than half of Australian workers find their performance review process useful (48%)

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• Employees who have a performance review at least every six months are the most likely to find the process useful (57%)

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• More than two thirds of Australians (71%) don’t feel regularly rewarded or recognised for their performance

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• Only 18% of Australians get paid higher superannuation contributions as a company benefit, yet 43% say it’s the benefit they’d most prefer

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• 72% of people don’t know the current superannuation guarantee (SG) rate is 9.5%

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• Most Australians turn to their employer for information about their super

The Sunsuper 2016 Australian Employee Insights Report is based on research conducted throughout 2015 by Galaxy Research for Sunsuper, of more than 1,000 Australian workers. For a full copy of the report, please visit www.sunsuper.com.au/employeeinsightsreport