Cynical behavior harms workplace relationships. It undermines change efforts. It drains enthusiasm. Cynical employees may be irritable or grumpy. No one wants to work with them. They surely won’t put forth extra effort when it’s needed. Plus, cynicism is contagious. A few cynical employees can spread their negative attitude, and before you know it, everyone is infected. 

Usually, cynicism is a sign that people are feeling hopeless and powerless. They may feel unsafe, devalued, not listened to. They may see leaders as being ineffective or as not truly having their best interests at heart. And they have no faith that the organization will ever change things for the better. (In all fairness, they may never have seen any evidence of positive change.)

Your best defense for dealing with cynicism is a good offense. You must attack the problem at the source. You need to proactively and urgently get to work building a culture of trust. This will not happen overnight. But it will improve relationships and promote credibility and resilience.

Get intentional about creating a culture of trust. It won’t happen on its own. Make it a priority. Work to pinpoint what processes or leader behaviors need to change. This will require some digging into the specific issues that may be eroding trust inside your company. Then, create a plan and assign someone to oversee the changes. 

Also, it may help to acknowledge publicly that there’s a big problem and that you want to correct it. "We know that in the past things have happened that created the current environment of mistrust. We are committed to fixing this."

Let people know what right looks like. What are the values and behaviors that define a culture of trust? Do some thinking about this and spell out the behaviors. For example:

Put it in writing. Creating an official "standards of behavior" document helps crystallize the attitude you’re hoping to cultivate. Spell out actions that create trust and prohibit cynical behavior and put it all in a document. For example: "I will not badmouth customers," "If I have something to say to an employee, I’ll say it to their face," "I will step in and help coworkers anytime I can," "I will not use blind cc’ing in the emails I send." Have everyone (leaders and employees) sign it and hold them accountable for infractions.

Let only "Boy Scouts" lead. (And Girl Scouts too, of course!) Hire and promote leaders who truly do live the values your company espouses. They will do too much damage otherwise, which paves the way for mistrust and cynicism. People will emulate leader behavior, so make sure leaders build on and nurture the trust you are trying to create. 

Be clear and predictable. Let people know what they can expect. Vagueness and a lack of predictability in behavior, priorities, or values only creates anxiety and destroys trust. How can employees trust a leader if they don’t know what that leader wants from them or how that leader might react day to day?

Keep your promises. Do what you say you will do (with both customers and employees). This has to be an across-the-board value. If you aren’t sure you can keep a promise, don’t make it in the first place. And if something outside your control happens and you have to break a promise, let people know as soon as you possibly can. Explain why and apologize.

Be transparent and tell the truth at all times, even when it’s bad news. If there’s even a hint that you could be lying, covering up, or being evasive, employee cynicism will be validated. Trust will be shattered. Once that happens, it is incredibly hard to win people back.  

Promote psychological safety. Make it safe to speak up. Are employees allowed to make mistakes without being scolded, shamed, or otherwise punished? If not, they are very unlikely to tell leaders the truth. If they share an idea in a meeting, are they taken seriously? If not, they will keep quiet. Fear and trust cannot coexist. Always choose trust.

It won’t happen overnight, but when people realize that they can trust their leaders, and each other, cynicism will taper off. It simply can’t get a foothold in a culture of trust. 

Working in a culture of trust just feels better. People will be more positive and engaged, and the mood of the organization will shift. From that point, amazing things may happen. Everyone will enjoy coming to work. They’ll feel a strong sense of meaning and purpose. They’ll be more likely to form strong relationships with coworkers, which paves the way for better communication and collaboration. All of this will lead to a higher-performing organization. Not a bad payoff for making a change that’s the right thing to do in the first place!