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Business On The Brink Of Distrust

Edelman’s Barometer earlier this year proclaimed “Business is on the brink of distrust”. It is both revealing and disconcerting that trust in all four institutions — government, media, business and NGOs — has eroded in 2017 from 2016. This trend reversal is noteworthy because we had seen a major recovery in trust following the financial crisis of 2008 and has seen the index climb to post-recession levels until today.

Rob Peters
Jul 24, 2017 · 5 min read

The connected age is both an incredible opportunity and impediment to sustaining relevance and distinction. On one hand, digital and social technologies have made it easy for B2B companies to reach and engage with their target industries. But it has also greatly lowered the barriers for entry into various industries and has increased both the quantity and quality of business competition.

The expectations put on small businesses and entrepreneurs as a whole are high and margin for error is razor thin. The one aspect that makes business distinctive that has not yet been quantified (but is about) is our credibility and trustworthiness as a business and as a professional. Trust is the foundation of all human relationships and interactions, from the personal and private to the professional and sometimes extremely public.

Trust is also a critical factor of companies’ license to operate and is increasingly on the attention of business leaders. There is also research from the World Economic Forum which makes a clear and compelling business case to CEOs and Boards of Directors for building trust. In 2016, we are exploring how trust issues are exhibited at the industry level and how business organizations can better translate this knowledge into building trust. By sharing these key findings, we intend to decrypt the complexity of trust.

“Trust, not money, is the currency of business and life,” author David Horsager says in his best-selling book,The Trust Edge

1. What is the current state of trust?

NGOs have the highest public trust, followed by business, the media and, lastly, government. The recent Annual Global CEO Survey by PwC revealed that more than 50% of CEOs surveyed regard trust as a prime concern and a genuine threat to growth. This is a dramatic rise from 37% who specified concerns in 2014. What does this signify for a companies’ license to operate?

Pull Factor: The importance of trust currency grows because of a reduction of its total volume. Trust has fallen, in part as a result of the perceived failure of capitalism, making it a scarce asset or commodity.

Phase I: Create A Standard of Trust Commitment(s) Agreement

What is needed are mutually agreed-upon commitments that align the expectations of both business and society. Commitments that clearly defines business’ purpose toward fulfilling a wider societal role beyond the creation of financial value. It is this understanding that will encourage and rebuild trust.

Echoing this sentiment, World Economic Forum workshop participants spoke about capitalism as “failing the majority of the society” and how we have “created a system that is only driven by numbers” (Delhi workshop, November 2014)

They referred to difficulties in how business leaders communicate their financial performance and corporate information, noting the common utilization of quarterly reporting which propels a short-term focus-and-reward system. The perceived failure of capitalism generates growing doubt from the public and, as a result reduces the trust currency volume in business over time.

Push factor: The importance of trust currency grows because of an increase of its unit value. Growing vulnerability to brand/reputation disasters and a rising need for collaboration and co-creation increases the value of trust a company already has (and can lose).

Workshop Participants reasoned that business today is much more susceptible to losing trust than before. They believed that the consequences of losing trust appears to be more damaging today than at any other time in history.

For example, the prospects for success of News Corporation and BP dropped precipitously as a result of events that impaired their reputations. Participants also talked about the speed and magnitude of change as well as the level of volatility and uncertainty in today’s connected world.

Earning Relationship Capital and Credibility on Peer SaaS

Conclusion

Based on the results from the lated Edelman Trust Barometer and the World Economic Forum workshops, it is clear that the value of trust currency has risen appreciably and is likely to continue to grow in the future. Hope you will give Peer SaaS a try in your business organization and build relationship capital with your peers and stakeholders.

www.StandardofTrust.com

Sources:

Rob Peters

Written by

Relationship Capital | Gamification | Co-Creator of Peer SaaS Platform | HR Tech and Workplace Culture Strategist | CEO| Author of Standard of Trust Leadership

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