Alohia Hall
| USA Today’s Special
When CEOs make headlines for the wrong reasons – Viral videos, tone deaf comments, or scandals dominating social media feeds – Their The reputation is the same as the company.
The viral moment led to resignation and questions about the leadership culture when the chief executive of Data Software Company was caught up in concert Kiss Cam this month and hugged the company’s HR chief (not his wife).
According to the BCG Trust Index, nearly 30% of large corporations experienced a sharp decline in stakeholder trust during the crisis, with almost everyone struggling to restore visible sustained leadership behavior.
For employees, it can raise an uneasy question: Where do we go from here?
The PR team is committed to managing external messages, but remediating internal trust is much more complicated. Rebuilding the trust of a company requires honest leadership, true accountability, and a thorough investigation of the company’s values.
We asked experts what to do after the CEO controversy to understand how companies can move forward and whether employees can rebuild trust after the CEO controversy.
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At a recent Coldplay concert, lead singer Chris Martin quickly went viral, unintentionally shining the spotlight of nasty moments in the crowd.
What does good leadership look like after a controversy?
After the controversy, leadership sets the tone of how to rebuild trust.
Lisa Burke, an organizational development consultant at Energy, says leaders must do more than promote the value of the company. They need to live them.
“It’s a lot of a leader walking around the story,” she says. “Values really set the standards for how our culture looks and feels.”
When leaders embody those values in their actions and decisions, employees begin to rebuild their culture confidence, she says.
It is also important to reassure employees that their work is still important despite the controversy.
“Yes, we went through a challenge,” Burke says. “Let’s bring it all together and help us move this organization forward and get better. What lessons can we learn?
Burke points out that getting better starts with rebuilding trust from the top down.
Step 1: Acknowledge the harm and acquire ownership
After the controversy, the company must begin to rebuild trust with its employees, which starts with taking ownership of the issue.
“The first thing is to own it,” Burke says. “People feel it when there’s a performance. They also feel it when it’s real.”
Leadership should quickly acknowledge the situation, she says, rather than delaying, disrespecting or taking responsibility.
She added that it is essential for the company to reaffirm its core values and acknowledge that incidents may not match their values, but that they are important.
“Employees already have feedback, so they need to be as transparent as possible. What works our brains are, if we don’t have information, we’re structuring stories, and in most cases we’re structuring negative stories,” Burke says.
Step 2: Talk like a person, not a PR team
After the virus controversy, “I think the biggest answer is communication,” says Ashley Heard. Ashley Heard worked in HR for 20 years before launching his company, Manager Method. “That’s the biggest gap.”
Scandals are spreading rapidly, but businesses often hesitate to respond and await daily while uncertainty is thrilled. But while businesses are waiting to finalise their sophisticated statement, employees are left with unanswered questions. According to the herd, the lack of transparency allows the underlying problem to boil. If not addressed, it can be publicly surfaced through Glassdoor reviews, employee chatter, or social media posts.
The herd emphasizes: “Does the people in the company, especially the people in the company, mostly care about what you’re saying? Are you talking to them as a human?” she asks.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. Even simple communication can help, she says. She said, “This is really difficult. I’m still trying to understand this. I’m here to support you and our team members.
She also recommends holding candid meetings, even if it’s tense, and creating spaces for open conversations that don’t feel like an obligation.
The message must be clear, she advises: “I want to give you the opportunity to be honest about this, because this is not just a news article. It affects the trust of the organization.”
Even if it’s not interesting, she says it’s best to focus on the outcome.
“Having a meeting that doesn’t work is a million times better than silence getting worse,” she says.
Step 3: Open the door and listen to it
In particular, senior leaders should be more prominent in helping coach managers feel uneasy to deal with tough topics. One way to achieve this is through listening sessions where a group of employees and managers share concerns with leadership about the organization’s future.
“It’s a great opportunity to build trust and relationships,” Burke explains.
Another possible approach is role-playing.
“If you’re nervous about sharing this with your team, is there someone you’re most nervous about?” she says. “Let’s play role-play. Play that person so that mid-level managers can feel more confident.”
Burke also recommends offering opening hours for unstructured conversations. “Hey, I have an open office hour from 3 to 4 on Fridays.”
Even small, informal check-ins show that leadership exists and attention is being paid. By showing up consistently and creating spaces for honest dialogue, leaders not only rebuild trust, but also prove that it is a way of thinking.
Step 4: Swing to Action
However, listening to employees is not enough. Leaders also need to take action.
“If I’m a senior leader and I have a listening session where I share my concerns as my employee, my responsibility is now to take action,” Burke explains.
That means scheduling follow-ups to share potential solutions and progress.
“It’s not always going to be action based on what I think is the best,” Burke says.
Even small steps to progress can help employees’ feedback reinforce what leaders are listening with an intention to act.
What to do when you start to feel that your company’s culture is broken
If a company cannot respond transparently after a dispute, it can reveal a deeper rift in the culture. And for employees, those cracks are often more sensitive than naming.
According to the herd, employees should be aware that they do not truly recognize human values.
Red flag to watch out for
Ashley’s flock warns that the main red flag is “when employees are asking for some kind of meeting, and the company will shut them down completely and say “no.”
Another red flag, “You’re having a meeting and you’ll be stopped soon,” she adds. In such cases, leadership may say things like, “We’re not going to talk about these things. Go back to work.”
Lisa Burke says people with poor corporate culture often become more tangible for employees over time.
“If you’re not in a great culture, you start to feel it,” she said. “The worst thing is to gaslight information or not share it. We’re not hearing anything about anything.”
These patterns tend to be a strong signal, Burke explains, that culture “may not be doing what we need to do to achieve our mission.”
What employees can do
For employees facing these challenges, Burke recommends honest self-reflection. “Is this where I really want to work? What are my strengths and weaknesses?”
She looks ahead and encourages her. “The next thing is, let me play the film until the end. So if I leave, where would I go? What would it look like?
Finally, while providing honest feedback to employers is important, Burke reminds them to be aware of maintaining professional relationships with employees. “Make sure you don’t burn the bridge along the way,” she said.
Leadership that earns you trust, not just headlines
Ultimately, rebuilding trust in the wake of CEO controversy is not about a complete statement. It’s about communication, ownership and transparency. According to these experts, if you’re uncomfortable, there are four simple steps.
- Own moments and communicate quickly
- Talk from human to human, not from brands
- Create space for honest and informal feedback, even if it’s offensive
- I’ll act on what you hear
Experts say when a company commits to their values, employees can feel that they are being not only heard, but also guided.
What is USA Today Top Workplaces 2025?
Does your company have your trust? Each year, USA Today Top Workplaces is a collaboration between Energage and USA Today, ranking US organizations that excel at creating positive work environments for their employees. Employee feedback determines the winner.
In 2025, over 1,500 companies were recognized as the best workplaces. Check out our overall rankings. You can also get more insight into workplace trends and advice by checking out the links below.
