In January, two years into the pandemic, the World Economic Forum hosted a gathering of international leaders to share their outlooks, insights and plans relating to the most urgent global issues. The Davos Agenda covered myriad global challenges, but the one that particularly piqued my interest was based on the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer.
Richard Edelman, Edelman CEO, said, “government was the most trusted institution as recently as May 2020, when the world sought leadership capable of tackling a global pandemic.” But that was before the bungled response. “Now, when it comes to basic competence, government is less trusted than businesses and NGOs.”
According to the study, and probably to no one’s surprise, distrust has become society’s default emotion. More than half (60%) of respondents indicated they “distrust until they see evidence something is trustworthy.” In other words, we have a negativity bias.
So what does all of this have to do with communications or public relations? The most trusted (believable) source of information is now “Communications from My Employer.” That’s what!
The driving forces in this cycle of distrust
According to Edelman, there are four driving forces of distrust at work: mass-class divide, failure of leadership, a government-media distrust ‘spiral,’ and excessive reliance on businesses.
Between 63% and 67% of people are convinced we’re being lied to by journalists and reporters, governmental leaders and many business leaders. Edelman warned, “two institutions (media, government) people rely on for truth are doing a dangerous tango of short-term mutual advantage, with exaggeration and division to gain clicks and votes.”
Those surveyed indicate businesses should play a bigger role in societal issues (like economic inequality, racism, and climate change). But Edelman says we’re being over-reliant on business to fill the void left by governmental failures. This is “a job that private enterprise was not designed to deliver.”
Despite all this, Edelman is bullish on breaking the cycle of distrust and rebuilding trust. The key to doing this is simple (and complex at the same time), providing trustworthy factual information and transparently reporting on demonstrated progress — or setbacks.
Trust in the workplace
Last month (September 2022), the Edelman Trust Barometer issued a special Trust in the Workplace report. *The report is based on an online survey of 7,000 employees (excluding self-employed) across seven geographic markets, including the United States, in July and August.
The overarching message of the report is that the workplace has become “the last bastion of truth.” The employer trust advantage in the US is a record 27 points over the Edelman Trust Index overall. And it’s directly tied to the communications employees receive from their colleagues, CEOs, and companies.
While the report didn’t say specifically, my speculation is that those who said they did not trust their employer were not receiving honest and transparent communications.
So most people trust their employers. Mike Allen, a co-founder of Axios (known for its Smart Brevity®), succinctly reported why it matters: “That creates both an opportunity and an obligation for employers. They need to communicate clearly and consistently with workers who are ready to listen.”
Edelman took it further by stating, “There is a new employer mandate: employers must leverage the powerful force of employees to restore societal trust from the inside out.”
How to earn trust in the workplace
CEOs and other members of industry leadership must first trust their employees if they hope to be trusted by them. But employers need to go beyond simply saying they trust their employees. They should actively seek out workers’ feedback and viewpoints in the workplace — and incorporate that input into their decision-making and take demonstrable actions to prove it.
While the bulk of the suggestions and follow-up to the report puts the responsibility squarely on the C-suite, I contend that communications and public relations professionals play a major role in the process. After all, communication is a major component of trust.
Here are four ways communicators can contribute to employers’ earning or rebuilding trust:
- Help senior executives with their individual communication skills. Consider hosting a comms skills workshop with an external expert. This can teach (or remind) them to ask for and proactively listen to employee feedback. It can also educate leaders in non-verbal cues such as body language (in-person or video meetings) and tone of voice.
- Educate leadership on emotional intelligence (EQ). EQ training can improve their ability to communicate transparently and honestly without oversharing or including unnecessary information that could be confusing. Leading with compassion and empathy is crucial in today’s environment. They must be able to engage in difficult conversations and offer reassurance when necessary.
- Craft an internal communication strategy to create a trusting environment. This could include things like creating a forum and channels to foster two-way communications or hosting a monthly ‘lunch and chat’ between senior management and employees — this can even be done via a video meeting to include remote and hybrid workers. Work with your HR counterpart to help create an open culture, so employees aren’t afraid to speak up and participate.
- Conduct a program in conflict and crisis management. Understanding how to de-escalate emotionally-charged issues in the workplace is an absolute necessity. As is the ability to remain composed in a crisis while also communicating all the appropriate crisis messages. Communicators know how to do this, but the C-suite must also be comfortable with what to do and say.
This list comprises some (not all) the ways communications and PR pros can help their employers with trust in the workplace. What else would you include?
Conclusion
In the words of Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, “Trust has to be the highest value in your company, and if it’s not, something bad is going to happen.”
Trust is a powerful force that increases credibility and builds loyalty. It’s an integral part of healthy company cultures. Trust provides ‘the benefit of the doubt’ when leaders need to be heard, understood and believed. It’s also the cornerstone of good leadership.
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.*A version of this post by Tressa Robbins originally appeared on October 18, 2022 at https://burrelles.com/earning-trust-in-a-vicious-cycle-of-distrust-through-communication and is cross-posted here with permission.
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