The proverbial bottom line was once associated with many strategies, including cutting spending and reducing costs, boosting sales and increasing profits, reducing downtime, and speeding manufacturing, to name a few. While it is true that investments are necessary for growth and innovation, especially in research and development, the return on investment has always been carefully and strategically weighed to determine if it was viable.
Trust also influences your bottom line, as does transparency. When combined, the synergy of the two can be the greatest investment you will ever make in your business. One only needs to look at the fallout experienced by corporations and industries when neither exists. Wall Street is one, and the mortgage industry certainly suffered a major blow that they are still in the process of recovering from. This supports the fact that a reputation is easier to earn than it is to repair.
In 2015, Edelman's annual trust barometer hit a five-year low in public trust in corporations, CEOs, and officials in both industries and public positions. In the spring of 2017, a survey was conducted that revealed that 45 percent of employees indicate a lack of trust in leadership is the greatest issue affecting their performance at work. In a technological and digital world where information spreads seemingly at the speed of light, this dissatisfaction can quickly cause drastic results. It only takes one questionable tweet from a business Twitter account to spur the disapproval of hundreds of thousands of Twitter users.
Such damage can be devastating and irreversible. Corporations that can effectively use damage control to survive the fallout know it is challenging and costly in terms of time, effort, and money. What a small investment trust is in comparison! But let’s look at some of the other ways trust connects with your bottom line, including reduced employee turnover and absenteeism and increased employee engagement. Trust removes limitations from research and development, freeing them to be creative. Encouraging feedback and suggestions reduces errors and speeds time to market. Productivity increases. Employee and customer approval increase, and, therefore, so do sales. Positive word-of-mouth marketing reduces in-house marketing costs. Investors and shareholders are easier to attract, and all sectors become more approving and likely to place their confidence in a business when it is honest, open, and has earned their trust.
The bottom line is, trust is no longer an option. Elevated levels of distrust cost businesses millions. One only needs to look as far as Blockbuster to see what happens when there is distrust within a company and a lack of trust with a customer base. Don’t wait until it’s too late to make trust an asset in your organization.
Corporation meet Trust. Trust meet Corporation. It’s about time.
Excerpted from Scott's book, The ROI of Trust Transparency.
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