Summary.For the fourth year in a row, business has been named the most trusted institution in America. And a recent PwC survey yielded similar results, with 63% of consumers saying they have trust in U.S. companies. But trust is fragile and businesses must manage it as carefully as they do their balance sheets, writes Tim Ryan, U.S. chair of PwC and founder of the Trust Leadership Institute. He details where consumers and business leaders agree on which actions drive trust and offers three takeaways for the business community: 1) It’s time for business to galvanize around trust and transparency; 2) To build trust, leaders must communicate the why behind their decisions; and 3) Leaders need to act with integrity, courage, and vulnerability.
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Which organizations do you trust? Government? The media? Business? The Covid-19 pandemic has had a keen impact on how consumers feel about institutions, and it may surprise you that business is actually the most trusted institution in the U.S. — for the fourth year in a row, according to Edelman’s Trust Barometer. A PwC study yielded similar results, finding that 63% of consumers say they have trust in U.S. companies.
Our survey found that this endorsem*nt of business can be at least partially attributed to the commitments and actions so many in the business community made during the pandemic. Advocating for social justice, protecting communities and the economy by keeping people safely at work, continuing the supply of household goods, fast-tracking vaccine production, providing small business loans, raising wages, and charitable commitments all had an impact on trust and reputation. So, yes, the business community stepped up in significant ways, yet we all recognize that there is more work to do.
The opportunity now for business leaders is to protect the progress that has been made and to manage trust as carefully as we do our balance sheets. Leaders can achieve this by assessing what earns trust, setting matching priorities, monitoring progress, and taking quick action to admit and fix problems when they occur.
I’ve seen large health care companies invest real money to target the social, environmental, and economic factors that affect health — increasing trust by striving to improve health outcomes for their customers and communities. I’ve seen financial institutions commit to customers that their money will never go to investments that could hurt the environment — increasing trust that ethical business practices guide them. I’ve seen companies raise wages of the lower paid. I’ve also seen executives’ pay docked if they fail to meet diversity targets for their workforce —increasing trust that inclusion is a requirement, not a PR campaign.
Unfortunately, trust violations are common too. We all give some companies our personal data, trusting that they will protect it and use it responsibly, yet data breaches and questionable uses of consumer data take place every day. Many of us direct our savings to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments, trusting that our money won’t be used to harm the planet. But some companies may be tempted to exaggerate ESG claims, causing governments and regulators to examine assets with green or socially conscious labels.
These opportunities illustrate why it’s so important for business leaders to understand what drives trust. In our recent survey, we found that consumers and companies agree on four actions that help establish trust:
- Data protection and cybersecurity
- Treating employees well
- Ethical business practices
- Admitting mistakes quickly and honestly
There are many examples of businesses that have made a great deal of progress across these areas over the years, and many continue to improve.
Of equal importance is identifying where business leaders and consumers disagree. Our survey found that how companies manage their value chains, deploy responsible artificial intelligence, and report on ESG actions are all highly rated trust factors by business leaders, but of lesser importance to consumers.
It’s worth noting the disconnect on ESG. Consumers do indeed care about companies’ environmental and societal impact and if they are ethically governed. However, many businesses have not yet taken the time to connect the dots between their ESG-related actions and how they impact the average consumer.
This gap in what consumers say increases trust and what businesses are actually doing is also evident in the area of accountability. Consumers want oversight from leadership. They want businesses to take responsibility for their failures quickly and demonstrate action to address those failures. However, fewer than half of businesses responding to our study have implemented formal initiatives related to accountability.
Why this misalignment in priorities? It may be because right now there is no one role in the C-suite that truly owns trust. Our survey found that in most companies, all C-suite roles were at least partly responsible, which makes accountability and alignment difficult.
So, what are the key takeaways for the business community?
1. It’s time to galvanize around trust and transparency.
To do so, tomorrow’s business leaders should set a clear strategy to build a culture of trust and transparency throughout the company. For example, one year ago, we at PwC took the important step in releasing our workforce demographics for the first time. We did it because diversity and inclusion are core to our purpose at PwC, and we wanted to apply greater rigor, accountability, and transparency into how we were continuing to drive our firm’s representation and culture of belonging.
We also did this to help foster trust. We want our stakeholders, including employees, as well as the broader community to know we are serious about DEI, and we are holding ourselves accountable to reaching our goals. While we are energized by the progress we’ve made, we recognize we have more work to do — and we remain committed to publicly sharing our progress through our Purpose Report.
2. To build trust, leaders need to communicate the “why” behind big decisions.
When done effectively, taking a multi-stakeholder approach to building trust can create a positive feedback loop that can be a true force multiplier.
For example, at PwC, we recently went through a historic transformation that included a brand refresh and a bold new strategy that we call The New Equation. Any change of this magnitude was bound to result in some discomfort among our broad network of stakeholders, but, this time, how we addressed their potential concerns and questions was different. We communicated not just the “what” but the “why” to our broad group of stakeholders — not just clients and our employees, but also regulators, analysts, alumni, the business community, NGOs and NPOs, future talent, and so on.
We also made sure to tailor our communications to each stakeholder audience to foster a better understanding. This was very important to motivate each stakeholder audience to come along on the journey with us.
3. Leaders need to act with integrity, courage, and vulnerability.
When mistakes happen, as they inevitably will, leaders should make a sustained, transparent commitment to make things right.
For nearly 90 years, our firm has had the great privilege of tabulating the votes for the Academy Awards ceremony and identifying the winners. During the 2017 Oscars, one of our PwC partners mistakenly handed a presenter the wrong envelope. On behalf of our firm, I immediately took responsibility. I personally reached out to dozens of people who were impacted, including producers, presenters, stage managers, and filmmakers. In the months that followed, we took swift action to understand how the mistake was made, and we worked closely with the Academy to design new protocols and safeguards to prevent the mistake from happening again. We did this because it was the right thing to do and wanted to regain trust with our client, our collective stakeholders.
I believe our recent study is good news for business and society. Our business community has come a long way in building trust with consumers and putting greater social needs in line with the responsibility to grow revenue. While it’s a hill we are still climbing, we are capturing the opportunity to make positive, lasting change for our stakeholders and society-at-large — and that is a step in the right direction.
FAQs
Here are seven key steps that your company can follow to gain customer trust:
- Make a great product. ...
- Show your company values. ...
- Create strong relationships with customers. ...
- Be transparent. ...
- Help customers solve problems. ...
- Showcase positive customer reviews and testimonials. ...
- Maintain your company's reputation.
How to build trust in your team
- Foster communication. Fostering communication between yourself and your team is a great way to build trust. ...
- Try to be transparent. ...
- Meet with individual team members. ...
- Conduct team-building activities. ...
- Encourage collaboration. ...
- Show your appreciation. ...
- Exhibit leadership qualities.
There are a number of ways to do this, including: helping employees cooperate, resolving conflicts between others, giving honest feedback, and checking in with people about their concerns. The second behavior is to demonstrate expertise and judgment.
What are examples of trust in business? ›
There are three types of business trusts, including grantor trusts, simple trusts, and complex trusts. Federal laws surrounding business trusts are also governed at the state level. Business lawyers help parties draft the legal documents required to formalize the agreement.
How do you build a strong business relationship? ›
5 Keys to Building Business Relationships
- Routinely Reach Out to Important Contacts.
- Offer Help Before You Ask for Help.
- Ask for Feedback.
- Find Ways to Connect with Less Valuable Contacts.
- Educate, don't sell.
The four elements of trust
- Competency: I trust you to do the thing right.
- Consistency: I trust you to do the thing right over time.
- Integrity: I trust you to do the right thing.
- Compassion: I trust you to do the right thing for someone because you care about them as a human being.
Most people tend to think they're trusting their gut or their instincts when it comes to their relationships, but there's really much more to it than that. Trust can actually be broken down into three main elements that I call the Trust Triad: competency, integrity and goodwill.
How do you build trust with clients? ›
How to Establish Trust with Clients
- Respect Your Clients. This is the key to getting your client to trust you. ...
- Get Personal. If a relationship is strictly business, trust won't come naturally. ...
- Admit Mistakes and Correct Ethically. We are all human and all humans make mistakes. ...
- Surprise Them. ...
- Listen first, respond later.
Always remain positive when confronting others about an issue that is bothering you. Follow through. Keeping your word is one of the fastest ways to build trust with others on your team. A simple way to keep track of on-going, multiple projects is to put a note in your calendar to check on progress.
How do you build trust and accountability in a team? ›
One of the key factors that influence trust and accountability is communication. You need to communicate your expectations, feedback, and support to your team members, and encourage them to do the same with you and each other. Communication should be clear, honest, and respectful, and avoid ambiguity and confusion.
Without trust, transactions cannot occur, influence is destroyed, leaders can lose teams and salespeople can lose sales. The list goes on. Trust and relationships, much more than money, are the currency of business. Trust is the natural result of thousands of tiny actions, words, thoughts, and intentions.
What does trust in business mean? ›
A trust is a business structure that doesn't have an owner or owners in the traditional sense. The trust imposes an obligation on the trustee – a person or a company – to hold and operate the business assets for the benefit of others, the beneficiaries.
Why is it important to build trust in the workplace? ›
Trust improves efficiency, engagement and productivity
A lot! Indeed, 96% of engaged employees trust management, while 46% of disengaged employees trust management. Besides engagement, research shows that highly-trusted workplaces enjoy: A 50% higher employee productivity.
What are the 7 elements of trust? ›
According to Dr. Brown's research, trust—an integral component of all thriving relationships and workplaces—can be broken up into seven key elements; boundaries, reliability, accountability, vault (confidentiality), integrity, non-judgement and generosity.
What are the three examples of trust? ›
With that said, revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, and asset protection trusts are among some of the most common types to consider.
What is the key to a successful business relationship? ›
You can't operate a business without engaging people, and growing your company starts with establishing meaningful connections with others. Whether you're building relationships with customers, clients, vendors or other business leaders, you should aim to connect with them on a deeper level.
What makes a successful business relationship? ›
Strong business relationships are about being mutually beneficial to one another. Make yourself invaluable by offering assistance, advice, and support to your connections. This creates authenticity and shows that you are invested in the success of others.
What is a successful business relationship? ›
Trust, loyalty, and communication are hallmarks of solid business relations. Effective business relations include communications strategies that can lead to greater employee satisfaction.
What are the three C's of trust? ›
Three elements come to mind that require balancing: consistency, competence and caring. These are the three C's of trust.
What is the key to building trust? ›
Be true to your word and follow through with your actions
The point of building trust is for others to believe what you say. Keep in mind, however, that building trust requires not only keeping the promises you make but also not making promises you're unable to keep.
Sometimes called the six key elements of building trust, the 6 C's are the essential skills and attributes that will help you enhance the confidence in your relationships: character, caring, competence, consistency, credibility, and communication.
What are the 5 C's of trust based leadership? ›
Creating a high-trust environment is not easy. However, the components are clear: care, communication, character, consistency and competence.
What are the 5 pillars of trust? ›
The 5 Pillars of Trust
- PILLAR 1: WALK YOUR TALK. Think about the 'vision' you have determined for your business. ...
- PILLAR 2: HONOUR YOUR PROMISES. This is a big one. ...
- PILLAR 3: RESPONSIBILITY. If you are an owner or manager of people, step up to the responsibility that you hold. ...
- PILLAR 4: SHOW UP. ...
- PILLAR 5: CONSISTENCY.
The 3 Most Important Factors in Building Trust with Others
- Character. Character may be the most crucial brick in the foundation of trust. ...
- Competence. For those in a leadership role, the technical and professional ability to do your job well goes a long way toward building trust. ...
- Consistency.
- 10 practical tools for building empathy, trust and openness at a workplace. ...
- Hold Team Retrospectives to invite change and open communication. ...
- Use Dixit cards or similar check-in methods to support openness in meetings. ...
- Organize Open Space days for the whole company. ...
- Set up Compliment Walls to team rooms.
5 ways to build trust with clients
- Be reliable. Let your clients know that they can count on you. ...
- Be transparent. Transparency is essential for building a trusting relationship with clients and begins with good communication. ...
- Be proactive. Don't always wait for your clients to come to you. ...
- Be available. ...
- Be authentic.
Open communication is essential for building trust. You need to get everyone on your team talking to one another in an honest, meaningful way, and you can use several strategies to accomplish this. First, create a team charter to define the purpose of the team, as well as each person's role.
How trust is built in teamwork? ›
Practicing teamwork builds strong verbal and nonverbal relationships among coworkers. When working together on team projects, you must learn how to communicate clearly and compile the entire group's ideas in order to build trust. When coworkers work together, honesty becomes a byproduct of the interaction.
What is the meaning of trust building? ›
Meaning of trust building in English
the activity of developing trust between people so that they can work more effectively: The company recognizes that trust building in labor relations is a long process.
How can empowering your team help build trust? ›
Empowerment builds trust and understanding to ensure the actions of the team are in line with company goals. All you need to do is inspire your employees to see your own vision of the business and work towards achieving it.
While trust helps generate positive word-of-mouth, it also creates customer loyalty, which can help your business grow immensely as loyal customers spend 67% more with a business than new ones. Customer trust and loyalty go hand in hand and are both crucial factors in a company's long-term success.
Why is trust the key to success? ›
A key component of successful working relationships between leaders and followers, trust enables cooperation, encourages information sharing, and increases openness and mutual acceptance.
Why do business owners like trust? ›
Trusts are established to provide legal protection for your assets. A trust, in the case of business owners, can be a tool that enables business owners to prevent beneficiaries and potential creditors (including previous spouses) from gaining direct access to assets within the trust.
Why is trust an important value? ›
Without trust there's less innovation, collaboration, creative thinking, and productivity, and people spend their time protecting themselves and their interests – this is time that should be spent helping the group attain its goals. Trust is also essential for knowledge sharing.
Why is trust important in solving business problems? ›
Trust in the workplace refers to psychological safety, mutual respect, and open communication between employees and management. As interpersonal challenges and conflict naturally arise, building trust improves problem-solving and comfort in the workplace.
Why is building trust important in business? ›
Without trust, transactions cannot occur, influence is destroyed, leaders can lose teams and salespeople can lose sales. The list goes on. Trust and relationships, much more than money, are the currency of business.
What is a trust in a business? ›
A trust is a business structure that doesn't have an owner or owners in the traditional sense. The trust imposes an obligation on the trustee – a person or a company – to hold and operate the business assets for the benefit of others, the beneficiaries.
What are the three components of trust? ›
A long history of research demonstrates that trust can be broken down into three components: competence, honesty, and benevolence.
What is the principle of trust in business? ›
The Trust Principles
Being or becoming trustworthy cannot be reduced to pure behaviors. You can't bottle it in a competency model. Our actions are driven by our beliefs, and our beliefs are driven by our values or principles. Trustworthy behavior is way too complex to fake without the beliefs and values behind them.
What is trust in a business relationship? ›
Trust in business partnerships implies that both parties participating in the relationship will give and get something out of the partnership. Trust in business partnerships implies that both parties participating in the relationship will give and get something out of the partnership.
Both employers and employees benefit when there is a feeling of trust at work. Not only can trust help to build and maintain strong working relationships, but it can set a good precedent for many aspects of a work day - from teamwork and collaboration to employee performance.
Why is it important to build trust with a customer? ›
Customer trust is essential to forming and fostering long-term relationships with your core audience. After all, it enables you to deliver better experiences, increase loyalty and retain more customers. Customer trust is key for personalisation – an expectation of today's consumers.
What are three keys to developing trust? ›
Most people tend to think they're trusting their gut or their instincts when it comes to their relationships, but there's really much more to it than that. Trust can actually be broken down into three main elements that I call the Trust Triad: competency, integrity and goodwill.
What does it take to build trust? ›
Trust often results from consistency. We tend to have the most trust in people who are there for us consistently through good times and bad. Regularly showing someone that you're there for them is an effective way to build trust.
What are the 4 pillars of trust business? ›
Honesty, competency, reliability, and relatability are the foundation to building trust in your business relationships. Being liked and trusted by customers is crucial, but don't confuse liked and trusted in your business life with liked and trusted in your personal life.
What are the 5 dimensions of trust in business? ›
Along with a general willingness to risk vulnerability, five faces of trust emerged: benevolence, reliability, competence, honesty, and openness.
