The recently released Edelman Trust Barometer, in time for the World Economic Forum in Davos, reminds us of the Billy Joel song, It’s a Matter of Trust.
Amid the wealth of statistics, one key finding stood out: “CEOs must lead from the front and communicate company policies and actions on geopolitics.” And for the first time in a while the barometer saw a positive uptick for leaders.
In terms of trust, business still leads the way with 62% (up 1%), but government saw a 3% uptick in trust (now 56%) in the first five months of 2022. As discussed in an earlier Observer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been a role model in the way he has communicated since the start of the war building support for his country and its actions. This may explain the increase for government leaders.
Most important was the question of who to trust when delivering the message. CEOs remain at the top of the list, especially on a social or geopolitical issue. After the CEO (at 33%) as the preferred communicator, the other choices were a senior leader responsible for social issues (22%), the local/regional CEO or leader (19%), board member (18%) or the chief communications officer (18%).
The barometer also asks respondents about “their” individual CEO when measuring performance. This metric also saw a gain – up 4% to 70% over last year.
- Use this data when discussing who should communicate on certain issues.
- Also presented in how the Business Roundtable redefined the “purpose of a corporation,” businesses cannot shy away from societal and geopolitical issues that impact customers, employees and their communities.
- Use multiple channels when communicating leadership messages to reach the widest audience.
- In a tight job market, building trust with employees helps to increase job satisfaction and retention.