---
id: "claim-trust-reduces-workslop"
type: "claim"
source_timestamps: ["§ Relieving the Pressure: How Leaders Can Reduce Workslop"]
tags: ["statistics", "trust", "team-dynamics"]
related: ["framework-system-level-response", "counter-governance-vs-trust", "lit-psychological-safety"]
speakers: ["Kate Niederhoffer", "Alexi Robichaux", "Jeffrey T. Hancock"]
confidence: "high"
testable: true
sources: ["adoption"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-adoption"
originDay: 9
articleStem: "hbr-edu-38-ai-workslop"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/01/why-people-create-ai-workslop-and-how-to-stop-it"
sourceTitle: "Why People Create AI “Workslop”—and How to Stop It"
---
# Team trust reduces workslop by 61%

Based on a survey of **1,150 U.S.-based full-time employees**, the researchers found that building a culture of trust acts as a massive protective factor against workslop. Specifically, when employees trust their team — meaning they feel safe admitting they use AI, raising concerns about AI's impact on quality, and asking for feedback without fear of stigma — the production of [[concept-workslop-d38]] is **reduced by 61%**. This finding anchors the **Culture** layer of [[framework-system-level-response]].

- **Confidence:** high · **Testable:** yes

**Enrichment.** The 61% magnitude appears in the newer HBR piece rather than in earlier public summaries, so it is 'likely accurate but not directly verifiable from public excerpts'; the trust → less-workslop *direction* is corroborated by Fortune and Worklytics. The mechanism maps directly onto Amy Edmondson's psychological safety ([[lit-psychological-safety]]). A governance counter-view ([[counter-governance-vs-trust]]) cautions that trust *without* controls can cause teams to over-accept AI output.