In November, I participated in the University of Oregon Strategic Communications Leaders Network meeting, a gathering of communication leaders, faculty and graduate students who convene twice a year to discuss key trends and research, and share perspectives on the art and science of effective communication.
Our discussion this fall centered around the importance of trust. It’s a topic that couldn’t have been timelier, given crises facing Boeing, Facebook, Nike, WE Works and a host of other companies, not to mention the impeachment hearings.
As background, we were encouraged to read a five-part series titled, “Broken Trust,” published by Harvard Business Review in July 2019. The articles contained excellent reminders about the importance of building and maintaining trust in business and why betrayals of trust are so consequential and difficult to repair.
If you are a communication professional or the leader of a company or team, I highly recommend you read them. You’ll gain the following insights and more:
- A reminder of the definition of trust as defined by organizational scholars.
- An understanding of businesses’ key stakeholders – customers, employees, investors and society – and the unique promises they want to see businesses make and keep. The authors include an at-a-glance framework that you might want to keep handy when developing marcom plans or considering the economic, legal or ethical promises that are expected by these stakeholders.
- Ideas on how to meet stakeholders’ needs, even when they might initially seem to be in conflict. The authors explain why stakeholders often have different interests and objectives, and share examples of how other leaders dealt with challenges that arise from this tension.
- Thoughts on how to determine if you’re doing right or upholding your promises. After all, as authors Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta write, people want to know “a company is doing what’s good for them, not just what’s best for itself.” There are three simple questions you can ask yourself to ascertain your motivations, illuminate your interests and understand your duty.
- Insight into four types of fairness: procedural, distributive, interpersonal and informational fairness. If you are responsible for setting policy or influencing the rules of engagement at work, you’ll want to be familiar with these concepts.
- Recommendations on the elements of an effective company apology. When something bad happens, key stakeholders want to understand it. This article explores when an apology is warranted and how to communicate it in a way that enhances trust instead of weakening it further.
The insights shared in this series will be helpful whether you’re a senior executive with a large or mid-sized corporation, or running a smaller business, like me. They’ll also be invaluable for anyone working in corporate communication or advising others about thorny communication issues. I hope you’ll take a minute to read these as you consider the meaning of trust in your life and organization.