Business leaders have delivered on trust - Now, here’s what we do with it

This year’s Edelman Trust Barometer tells us what many CEOs already know: that business is the most trusted institution right now. Amid economic uncertainty and unclear guidance on the pandemic, many individuals looked to their employers to provide for their physical safety, financial security and peace of mind - all while the world leaned on businesses to create a vaccine, bridge the gaps in remote working and learning, and keep our economy moving forward. 

And from my point of view, most CEOs have delivered. Although the pandemic has affected every business differently, the refrain among the leaders I have had the honor to work with this year has been, “I have to keep my people safe. I have to keep my people secure.” This period has been eye-opening for many of us as we have realized our great potential as agents of stability and progress.

To continue to gain trust and fulfill our renewed mandate as leaders, we need to be agile, resilient, and ready to compete in new ways as our world continues to rapidly transform. 2020 was a crash course in digital transformation, and we’ve seen a real need for companies to accelerate upskilling and retraining their employees, look at new ways to grow revenue, mitigate risk in our supply chains, push toward net zero emissions, double down on diversity, equity and inclusion, and make other investments in future-proofing our organizations against both irrelevancy and global disasters.

We have so much work to do - and so much to hope for. The promise of our future lies in the business community’s contribution to helping our people and our economy thrive again, and we can fulfill that promise when we are fueled by trust. Here are the elements of that rebuilding that I am thinking about now:

Changing demand will transform industries 

As we inch closer to what some are calling a second “roaring twenties,” we expect consumer confidence will grow and business models will shift. Forecasting sources of this demand - and how to meet it - will be critical for business leaders, and we should be evaluating our supply chain ecosystems, reexamining our relationships with vendors, and interrogating areas of vulnerability. We can also anticipate exciting things to come from industries that are poised to make a comeback, like retail, travel and leisure and entertainment, as well as an explosion of innovation from industries like design, real estate, and healthcare, whose objectives and service models have been changed - perhaps forever - by the coronavirus. 

Employee upskilling will remain a constant need - and is an essential benefit

The ripple effect of these industry-wide shifts is the changing nature of jobs, the creation of new ones, and how we source and support talent. The labor market is tight even though unemployment is high, fueled in part by the digital skills gap. Organizations are becoming more reliant on technology to create seamless customer experiences, particularly as the coronavirus has put a premium on “no touch” experiences for B2B and consumer brands alike. While businesses in the knowledge economy are leaning into tech-enabled efficiency so that their people can focus on the more important aspects of their roles, digital upskilling should not be limited to office workers alone - nor should the benefits. Providing our people with meaningful upskilling or reskilling opportunities will be a critical way that we can not only adapt to new customer expectations, but also address diversity and inclusion and long-term unemployment as a business community. And as business leaders increasingly rely on these efforts to attract, retain and develop all of our people, we should start to think of upskilling and reskilling as a standard benefit like healthcare and retirement savings plans. 

A hot M&A market creates opportunity on all sides

M&A is likely to accelerate in 2021, as investors gain access to capital that will fuel scale and expand scope, and more megadeals are on the horizon as industries converge and businesses in some sectors gobble up market share. Huge opportunities exist whether you’re on the buy side or the sell side. As all businesses recalibrate for the future, now is the time to get opportunistic about M&A to address weak spots that may emerge in our strategies such as talent, supply chain and technology, or to accelerate digital enablement or even ESG efforts. Likewise, now is a good time to rethink elements of our organizations that no longer serve our long-term vision.

M&A also has an important role to play in helping businesses digitally transform - particularly when the scale and scope of necessary transformation demands not just access to capital, but immense management attention. Private equity has the capability to concentrate resources, time and focus on buying and transforming strong but complex businesses, so leaders of multi-business portfolios can look to private equity as a resource to help streamline and digitally enable. 

Helping our people succeed

The tail of the pandemic is going to be long in terms of the effects on our peoples’ mental and physical wellbeing, ability to care for their loved ones, sense of security, productivity, and so on. Now is the time to double down on things like mental health benefits, flexible working arrangements, and an emphasis on the cultures we’ve built that emphasize respect and belonging. Taking care of our people isn’t just our moral imperative as leaders – it’s also the most prudent strategy we can undertake as we prepare for the road ahead: The new nature of remote work means that job-seekers in some industries are no longer constrained by physical limitations like geography or access to transportation and, as many organizations return to growth in 2021, the talent wars are likely to be fiercer than ever across the literal landscape. And with flexibility at a premium, now is the time to think critically about things like hybrid working models, hoteling, and if there are certain segments of our employee population that may benefit from continuing remote working full time. As we look at all the ways to enable our people to be more successful, our goal should be to build and grow our cultures in new and different ways - because culture is one of the most important and intangible assets we have. 

The state of stakeholder capitalism

The events of 2020 have pushed ESG up on our agendas and underscored the symbiosis between business and society. Businesses have come a long way in less than a year - leaning into diversity, equity and inclusion, closing the digital skills gap, committing to net zero, and so on. But we still have a long way to go. From a D&I perspective, my hope is that as businesses look to get back to growth, they will expand their talent pools to attract diverse candidates, enhance their succession planning to solve for better representation, and double down on critical aspects of inclusive workplaces such as mentorship and sponsorship, critical skills training, benefits geared toward supporting specific employee groups, and open dialogues on issues like race and gender. I believe we are moving into a “Golden Age” of transparency in business, where organizations that do a better job at showing their work and articulating progress on these societal issues will be better able to succeed - and pass the benefit to their broad networks of stakeholders. If you are a leader of an organization that is poised to grow in 2021, now is your moment to understand where your business and society can mutually benefit from long-term investments in ESG and incorporate those investments into your strategy - and how you can transparently share your strategy and progress over time.

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As the leaders of organizations that are seen as “deeply competent and increasingly ethical,” our influence and ability to have impact has never been greater (R. Edelman, 2021) . We should be proud of what we’ve accomplished over the past year, and as we act with integrity and transparency to solve the greatest issues facing our people, we will also be doing our part to help our economy and our society.