A new report from Great Place To Work®, a UKG company, reveals a powerful truth: trust isn’t just good for culture — it’s a key driver of long-term financial success. Based on millions of employee survey responses across the U.S., The Great Place To Work Effect Playbook: How Building Trust Fuels Growth shows that companies with high-trust cultures consistently outperform their peers in revenue, stock performance, innovation, agility, and resilience. The data is clear:
- Revenue per employee at the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® — powered by Great Place To Work — averages $883,928, compared to $104,030 per employee across the U.S. U.S. market RPE is based on an analysis of more than 6,000 U.S. companies by Aswath Damodaran, professor and researcher at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
- Cumulative stock market returns are 3.5x higher over 27 years for those companies that earn Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® recognition compared with the top 1,000 U.S. companies by market cap.
- Innovation and agility surge, with 80% of employees at high-trust companies adapting quickly to change and driving 5.5x more revenue growth.
- Discretionary effort jumps by 42%, and collaboration rises by nearly 30% for companies recognized as great workplaces with high-trust cultures.
- During downturns like the 2008 recession and the COVID-19 pandemic, high-trust companies not only survived — they thrived — including 100 Best Companies gaining a competitive advantage of more than 2,000% in cumulative returns following the pandemic.
“In today’s climate of constant disruption, trust isn’t a soft skill — it’s a business accelerator. Leaders who earn trust by listening, adapting, and owning the employee experience are unlocking performance at every level,” said Michael C. Bush, CEO, Great Place To Work. “Trust is the secret ingredient driving the world’s most successful companies.”
“I can’t tell you how big of an effect Great Place To Work has had on Trek,” says John Burke, CEO of Trek. “You can go leader by leader. The best leaders have the best Great Place To Work scores.”
Similarly, companies like Hilton and Delta Air Lines have used the Great Place To Work Effect to achieve remarkable success, delivering record profits and value to shareholders. Hilton has consistently ranked at the top of the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list, with its focus on employee trust driving its impressive stock performance. Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines attributes a significant portion of its customer satisfaction score and profitability to the quality service provided by its trusted employees.
The Great Place To Work Effect Playbook offers actionable strategies for leaders to build trust and drive results — proving that when employees trust their leaders, they don’t just work harder. They work smarter, faster, and better.
To access the full report, visit https://www.greatplacetowork.com/effect?utm_campaign=cp.gptweffect.playbook&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=press-release&utm_content=text-link&utm_term=2025.
Great Place To Work®
As the global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work, a UKG company, brings 30 years of groundbreaking research and data to help every place become a great place to work for all. Its proprietary platform and For All™ Model help companies evaluate the experience of every employee, with exemplary workplaces becoming Great Place To Work Certified™ or receiving recognition on a coveted Best Workplaces™ list.
Using Great Place To Work®, companies gain insight with benchmarked metrics for employee trust, innovation velocity and agility, critical tools that forecast how resilient they will be to market challenges, and how quickly they can take advantage of new business opportunities. This is the “Great Place To Work Effect,” where better outcomes for employees also drive stronger results for your business.
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