How to rebuild trust after a viral CEO controversy: Advice for leaders, employees

USA Today

4 days ago

When a CEO makes headlines for the wrong reasons — a viral video, a tone-deaf comment or a scandal that dominates your social media feed — it can damage not only their reputation, but the company's as well.
When the chief executive of data software company Astronomer was caught on a concert Kiss Cam this month, cuddling with the company's HR chief — who was not his wife — that viral moment led to their resignations and questions about leadership culture.
Nearly 30% of large companies experienced abrupt drops in stakeholder trust during a crisis, and almost all struggled to recover without visible, sustained leadership action, according to BCG's Trust Index.
For employees, it can raise an unsettling question: Where do we go from here?
While PR teams work to manage the external message, repairing internal trust is far more complex. Rebuilding company trust requires honest leadership, true accountability and a thorough examination of the company's values — and whether they're being lived or merely listed on the company website.
To understand how companies can move forward after a CEO controversy and how employees can gauge whether trust can be rebuilt, we asked experts what companies should do after a controversy goes viral.
What good leadership looks like after a controversy
After a controversy, leadership sets the tone for how trust can be rebuilt.
Lisa Burke, an organizational development consultant with Energage, says leaders must do more than tout company values; they need to live them.
'It's so often about leaders walking the talk,' she says. 'Values really set the standard for what our culture looks like and feels like.'
When leaders embody those values in their actions and decisions, she says, employees begin to rebuild confidence in the culture.
It's also important to reassure employees that their work still matters, despite the controversy.
'Yes, we've been through a challenge,' Burke says. 'Let's all come together and help move this organization forward and become better because of it. What lessons can we learn? And how do we get better?'
Burke notes that becoming better starts with rebuilding trust from the top down.
After a controversy, companies must begin rebuilding trust with their employees, and that starts with taking ownership of the issue.
'The first thing is to own it,' says Burke. 'People feel when it's performative. They also feel when it's authentic.'
Rather than delaying, downplaying or shirking blame, leadership should acknowledge the situation promptly, she says, even with a simple message like, 'This thing has occurred, we're handling it.'
She adds that it's essential for the company to reaffirm its core values and acknowledge that the incident may not have aligned with those values, but that they remain important.
'You should be as transparent as possible, because employees are already giving feedback. The way our brain works is we make up stories in the absence of information, and most often, we make up a negative story,' Burke says.
After a viral controversy, 'I think the biggest answer is some communication,' says Ashley Herd, who spent 20 years working in human resources before launching her own company, Manager Method. 'That's the biggest gap.'
Scandals spread quickly, but companies often hesitate to respond, waiting days while uncertainty festers. But while companies wait to finalize a polished statement, employees are often left with unanswered questions. According to Herd, a lack of transparency can allow underlying issues to simmer. If unaddressed, they can surface publicly through Glassdoor reviews, employee chatter or social media posts.
Herd emphasizes: 'What people, especially people at the company, care about most are the things that you're saying to them. Are you talking to them as a human?' she asks.
It doesn't have to be perfect. Even simple communication helps, she says. She recommends something like, 'This is really hard. I'm still trying to figure this out. I'm here to support you and the team members, and my focus is on you all as an organization.'
She also recommends holding a candid meeting, even if it feels tense, and creating space for open conversation without making it feel like an obligation.
The message should be clear, she advises: 'We want to give you the opportunity to talk honestly about this, because this isn't just a news story; this is something that impacts the trust of the organization.'
Even though it won't be fun, she says it's best to focus on the outcome.
'Having a meeting that doesn't go well is a million times better than having silence that goes worse,' she says.
Senior leaders should become more visible, Burke says, especially to help coach managers who feel uneasy addressing tough topics. One way to achieve this is through listening sessions, where groups of employees and managers share their concerns about the organization's future with leadership.
'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 an individual you're most nervous about?' she says. 'Let's have a role play, and I'll play that person so the mid-level manager can feel more confident.'
Burke also recommends offering open office hours for unstructured conversations. You might say, "Hey, I have open office hours on Friday from three to four," allowing for good discussions about what's going on in the organization and giving employees a chance to see where their role is headed.
Even small, informal check-ins signal that leadership is present and paying attention. By showing up consistently and creating space for honest dialogue, leaders prove that rebuilding trust isn't just a message, it's a mindset.
However, listening to employees isn't enough; leaders also need to take action.
'If I'm a senior leader and I've just had a listening session where you shared concerns as my employee, my responsibility is now to take action,' Burke explains.
That could mean scheduling a follow-up to share potential solutions or progress.
'It isn't always taking action based on what I think would be best,' Burke says, 'but listening to those who are on the front line. You might then ask them, 'What's the solution you see?''
Even small steps toward progress help reinforce that employee feedback matters and that leaders are listening with intention to act.
What to do when your company's culture starts to feel broken
When a company fails to respond transparently after a controversy, it can reveal deeper cracks in the culture. And for employees, those cracks are often easier to feel than to name.
According to Herd, a lack of genuine recognition of human values is something employees should watch out for.
Ashley Herd warns that a major red flag is when 'employees are asking for some sort of meeting, and the company just shuts them down across the board and says 'no.'
Another red flag, she adds, is if 'you have a meeting, and it's stopped right away.' In those cases, leadership may say things like, 'We're not going to talk about these things. Get back to work.'
Lisa Burke notes that poor company culture often becomes tangible to employees over time.
'You will start to feel it if you're not in a great culture,' she said. 'The worst ones are gaslighting or not sharing any information. You're just not hearing anything for a month about something.'
These patterns, Burke explains, tend to be strong signals that the culture 'may not be doing what it needs to do in order for us to achieve our mission.'
For employees facing these challenges, Burke recommends honest self-reflection. Ask yourself, 'Is this the place I really want to be working? What are my pros and cons?'
She encourages looking ahead: 'The next thing would be, let me play the movie to the end. So if I did leave, where would I go? What would that look like? Would the grass be greener or not?'
Finally, while it's important to provide honest feedback to your employer, Burke reminds employees to be mindful about maintaining professional relationships. 'Make sure you aren't also burning bridges on the way out,' she said.
Leadership that earns trust, not just headlines
In the end, rebuilding trust in the wake of a CEO controversy isn't about perfect statements; it's about communication, ownership and transparency. According to these experts, it comes down to four simple, if uncomfortable, steps:
According to experts, when companies commit to their values, employees can sense they're not just being heard, they're being led.
What is USA TODAY Top Workplaces 2025?
Does your company have your trust? Each year, USA TODAY Top Workplaces, a collaboration between Energage and USA TODAY, ranks organizations across the United States that excel at creating a positive work environment for their employees. Employee feedback determines the winners.
In 2025, over 1,500 companies earned recognition as top workplaces. Check out our overall U.S. rankings. You can also gain insights into more workplace trends and advice by checking out the links below.