5 Insights for Employer Branding from the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer
In it's 19th edition, the Edelman Trust Barometer provides an important pulse check of the global political economy. The trust relationship between individuals and key institutions is a lead indicator as to the health of society.
The global report also provides meaningful insights to inform Employer Brand strategies and tactics. Trust goes to the heart of why someone would consider working for your company. Hence building and maintaining trust is essential to attracting and retaining the best talent and thriving as a business.
The backdrop is a growing feeling of pessimism about the future, with only one-in-three respondents in the developed world believing his or her family will be better off in the next five years. Incredibly, just one-in-five believe 'the system' is working for them and 70 percent desire change. And despite a full-employment economy, fear of job loss remains high among the general population, with respondents fearing the pace of change and innovation.
Here are five insights that will inform your Employer Branding:
(1) Trust has been localised
Against the backdrop of growing pessimism about the future, people have shifted their trust to the relationships within their 'control', most notably their employers. Globally, 75 percent of people trust 'my employer' to do what is right. Their place of employment is a place they understand and feel some control over. It is a place where they can look people in the eyes and make a judgement call.
People trust business (56%) more than governments (48%) or media (47%), but place far higher trust in their own employer.
However, we all know that trust is hard to build and easy to lose as strong positive or negative news gets magnified across online news and social media: just look at the example of Volkswagen in recent years, or Facebook and Huawei today.
(2) People expect companies to play a proactive role in societal issues
73 percent of people expect companies to improve society as well as their bottom lines. This is up nine percent year-on-year.
What's more 76 percent (up 11 points) say CEOs should take the lead in making change happen rather than waiting for governments, on issues ranging from prejudice and discrimination, to the environment, to sexual harassment.
Employees look to leadership from their CEOs in challenging times: 71 percent expect their leaders to respond to industry upheavals, political events, national crises, as well siding with employees on issues that are important to them.
This high level of expectation impacts the ability of companies to hire and retain the best talent. 67 percent say that they want an employer who has a greater purpose and where their job will meaningfully contribute to society, with 25 percent saying lack of shared action would be a deal breaker.
(3) Trust through the employer-employee partnership results in enormous benefits
When a company earns and retains the trust of their employees, those employees are far more likely to be engaged, committed and loyal. What's more, those employees are 39 percent more likely to be positive advocates for the company.
(4) You can build trust by focusing on these five communications topics
The top five communication topics that are most effective in increasing employer trust:
- Societal impact - the organisation's contributions to the betterment of society.
- Values - ultimately, people want to work for an organisation whose values align to their own.
- The Future - a compelling vision for the future.
- Purpose - the organisation's mission and purpose.
- Operations - operational decisions, including decisions that affect my job.
(5) You can build trust by activating your employee voices
We have long known that the days of channeling all messages through marketing and the company spokesperson are dead - that is seen as spin.
People trust people like themselves: people they can relate to. They trust 'regular employees' and place the highest trust in 'company technical experts'.
I am the training partner for LinkedIn's global team of Employer Branding & Content Marketing consultants. I post articles on Adult Learning, Employer Branding, & Content Marketing.
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