The Workplace Crisis No One Is Naming
When I first began researching betrayal and its impact on the workplace, what struck me wasn’t just how common it was — it was how invisible it had become. Organizations were measuring the symptoms everywhere: in disengagement scores, in turnover, in the quiet exodus of people who had once been their most committed. What they were missing was the cause.
What we mean by betrayal — and why it doesn’t have to start at work
One of the most important things leaders need to understand: the betrayal affecting your workforce may have nothing to do with your organization at all. Employees carry their experiences with them. A devastating personal betrayal — a spouse, a family member, a close friend — doesn’t stay home when someone walks through your doors. It travels with them, quietly shaping how safe they feel, how much they trust, how willing they are to be vulnerable, and how present they can actually be.
That said, betrayal inside the workplace is also far more common than most leaders recognize. It isn’t only the dramatic events — the executive scandal, the sudden layoff, the public humiliation. It includes:
- A manager who promised a promotion that never came
- A leadership team that communicated one set of values and acted on another
- A restructuring that happened without transparency or warning
- A colleague who took credit, violated confidence, or undermined trust
- An organization that failed to protect employees during a crisis
- A merger that erased culture, role clarity, and psychological safety overnight
Any of these events — and many more — can trigger symptoms of Post Betrayal Syndrome® (PBS®), the distinct cluster of physical, mental and emotional symptoms I discovered through my original PhD research. And once PBS® symptoms take hold, it produces measurable, predictable symptoms that show up directly in your workforce.
PBS® isn’t rare. And it isn’t subtle.
PBS® symptoms affect motivation, engagement, focus, trust, and the ability to feel psychologically safe. It shows up in your data whether you recognize it or not — in disengagement, in absenteeism, in the slow erosion of team cohesion that no culture initiative seems to fix.
The question that changes everything
Most organizations respond to low engagement by asking: “How do we motivate our people better?” That’s the wrong question. When the root cause is unhealed betrayal, motivation programs don’t touch what’s actually happening beneath the surface. They’re treating a broken leg with a better shoe.
The right question is: “What happened to our people — inside or outside of work — and do we have the framework to help them through it?”
That’s exactly what this work gives leaders, managers, HR professionals and more. Not just awareness — but a research-backed foundation to recognize symptoms of PBS® clearly, understand what your people are moving through, and lead them along The Five Stages of Betrayal Recovery™ toward genuine restoration so your business improves.
The disengagement you’re seeing isn’t permanent. But it does require the right framework to address.
To learn more and explore what this could look like in your organization, visit thepbtinstitute.com