CEOs Have a Trust Rate of 38%. Can Social Media Help Bring that Percentage Back Up?

Within last week’s video interview with Jane Jordan-Meier, on her new book The Four Stages of Highly Effective Crisis Management, Jane brought up a very interesting survey done by the Edelman Trust Barometer. She said that:

“This year [The Edelman Trust Survey] showed that the trust in CEOs is at a record low. 38% of us around the globe trust CEOs. And if you’re in a financial institution, that’s even worse. […] We expect organizations to lie – isn’t that sad? […] The Edelman Trust Survey shows as well, that the believability and the trust in people like you and I, the frontline employees, ordinary everyday people, has gone up – along with analysts – it’s very high, it’s shot right up.”

38% is in fact a record low – one that’s screaming to be payed attention to

38% of people from around the globe trust CEOs. That means that 62% of us do not. This may be a passing grade in high school, but living in a trust society, 62% is most certainly NOT a passing grade. And when it comes to a crisis, when your organization depends on the trust your customers and your market have in you, this all-time low risks some serious repercussions for your brand.

How can the C-suits improve their reputation and raise the level of trust society has in them?

Before we take a look at how today’s CEOs can raise their trust barometer, let’s take a look at who the frontline employees are, and how they have managed to place themselves in the lead when it comes to being trusted by your clients and your market.

Your frontline employees are those within your company or organization who face, deal with, and build a relationship with your customers and market on a daily basis. They’re the regular, likable people who make an effort to connect with, and render good service to, your customers and market.

I’m always saying that it’s important to focus on building a relationship with your customers, fans and followers. But a strong relationship is built on trust, and if building strong relationships helps to prevent and overcome a crisis, how can you aim to accomplish this without trust?

What do your frontline people do?
They connect with customers. They form strong and valuable relationships with your market. They interact and engage on social media. They’re trusted by 62% of society (if not more).

What do your CEOs do?
They tend to sit behind the scenes, away from the front-lines. They run corporations but do not spend time personally connecting with those buying into their corporation. They get blamed for the company’s wrong-doings and are not trusted when those wrong-doings develop into a crisis.

What if we changed a link in the pattern?
What if CEOs started to take a more active role in social media? What if they began to focus on building the relationship with their customers and fans and developing a credible name and reputation for themselves? If it works for the frontline employees, would it not work for them? And what good would this raised trust do for your company or organization, as a whole, in a crisis?

I’m not saying that being active on social media is all it will take to raise the trust society has in CEOs as a whole. I am saying that it would be a start in the right direction. Bad choices, faulty cover-ups and hiding behind CEO lines have resulted in 62% of the globe not trusting the leaders of today’s corporations.

“Here’s the bottom line. Once you lose credibility, the game is over.” – Jane Jordan-Meier

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the credibility is being lost and it’s time to focus on building it back up.

As Jane put it:

“The 80+ year old Bill Marriott, head of the Marriott Hotel chain, [is] actively involved in social media [and] he’s 80 plus! If he can do it, then there’s no excuse, really.”

What do you think of the Edelman Trust Survey and do you think that CEOs, taking a clue from the frontline employees and actively focusing on building relationships, would begin to see a number shift? Share your thoughts with me below – I know you’ve got some!

photo by: ericskiff