#trustbarometer

#TrustBarometer 

#EqualityForAll 

#WednesdayMotivation 

The new year’s research report highlights the importance of strong employer-employee relationships.

Trade Journal Report     Jan 25, 2019

GAINESVILLE, Fla., January 25, 2019 (Tumblr.com) – Based on The Holmes Report, this week’s news about the public relations field includes different takes on how the field is developing. Traditional rules regarding crisis management have been challenged by professionals who urge that new rules emerge for today’s crisis management strategies. Later reports revealed that Edelman backed out from a seven-figure assignment with Huawei after competing against other agencies and entities for the right to complete this project. Correspondingly, Edelman’s Trust Barometer has been a prominent topic of discussion this week, with people worried about populations’ unrest and distrust in the media.

The 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer indicates that employers and CEOs have become the most trusted entity in the industry. Of the people surveyed, more than half say that they trust their employers to incite change and advocacy. The results prove that trust on other authoritative bodies, such as the government, has weakened. According to The Holmes Report, “president and CEO Richard Edelman said the findings signaled a new contract between employer and employee he called ‘trust at work’.” This annual research survey states that internal communication and the strengthening of employer-employee relationships will be what encourages loyalty and commitment. The 2019 Trust Barometer also reports that trust in traditional media has increased as trust in social media keeps decreasing.

The report suggests that CEOs and employers should dedicate time and resources to establishing internal communication and shared trust within their companies. In public relations, trust is the basis of mutually beneficial relationships between a company and its public. The appropriate way to establish these relationships is by consolidating employer-employee ties. The most stable firm will provide the best resources and results to its clients. The increased trust on employers and CEOs can potentially diminish the negative response that social media has received over the past year.

The Holmes Report serves as the “voice of the global public relations industry.” It highlights important news and events about the industry and professionals.

Contact:

Valentina Baptiste

A thought provoking presentation from #AcumenRepublic  #TrustBarometer  Disturbing that New Zealand is online with global trends, ripe for populist action.

@AcumenRepublic launched the #TrustBarometer research this week, offering us insights into how this implosion of trust affects business and all of us personally - with a special focus on New Zealand.

Latest findings from #TrustBarometer  reveals trust in business, government, NGOs and media is in crisis. A global trust implosion has seen trust in media fall to all-time lows in 17 countries at 43% globally, while trust in government has also dropped in 14 markets to 41%.

Michael Dunlop, Chair @AcumenRepublic said: “Trust is at the root of all strong relationships. Trust is affecting the institutions in society to which and with which people relate; we have influence in our individual lives and within our  work to try and build trust with stakeholders - it behoves us to stand up and talk about the humanity and the humour in the storytelling….we have to change how we are doing it.. "

#TrustBarometer shows the credibility of leaders is in decline. CEO credibility dropped 12 points globally to its lowest-ever level of 37% (28% in New Zealand), plummeting in every country studied, while government leaders 29% (27% in New Zealand) remain least credible.

”CEOs have been risk adverse. Businesses need to take risks & to rebuild trust you have to tell real stories & not just information @DavidBrain CEO, Edelman Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa

“Sad news is trust gap has widened again. Call to action for business - we need to rebuild trust” @abbie_reynolds Exec Director Sustainable Business Council

Surprising - around 1/4 of Kiwis fear immigration and globalisation. Surprising around 1/4 institutions in NZ are distrusted according to 2017 #TrustBarometerNZ @EmmaMellow Comms Manager for ANZ.

#TrustBarometer shows more than half of the 33,000 respondents believe the overall system has failed them – it is unfair and offers little hope for the future – while only 15% believe it is working and about one-third are uncertain. That mistrust extends to elites with 51% of top quartile income, tertiary educated, well-informed individuals agreeing the system has failed.

“The implications of the global trust crisis are deep and wide-ranging,” said Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman. “It began with the Great Recession of 2008, but like the second and third waves of a tsunami, globalisation and technological change have further weakened people’s trust in global institutions. The consequence is virulent populism and nationalism as the mass population has taken control away from the elites.”

This is reflected by current populist movements which are being fuelled by a lack of trust in the system and economic and societal fears, including corruption (40%), immigration (28%), globalisation (27%), eroding social values (25%) and the pace of innovation (22%). This is evidenced by the findings from the UK, US and Italy where a lack of faith in the system combined with these fears has seen the election of Donald Trump, the Brexit vote and the failed Italian referendum.

Distrust is being magnified by the emergence of a media echo chamber that reinforces personal beliefs while shutting out opposing points of view. Respondents favour search engines (59%) over human editors (41%) and are nearly four times more likely to ignore information that supports a position they do not believe in. Furthermore there is evidence of a further dispersion of authority, ‘a person like me’ is now just as credible a source of information about a company as a technical or academic expert and far more credible than a CEO and government official.

People view business as the only institution of the four that can make a difference. Three out of four respondents agree a company can take actions to both increase profits and improve economic and social conditions in the community where it operates in addition to its core business-as-usual operations.

When you google “public relations”, Wikipedia’s definition will be the first thing thrown at your face: the practice of managing the spread of information between an individual or an organization and the public. Never did I think that bringing together profit and social purpose could make clients stand out and more importantly, purpose-driven programs and campaigns can really help organizations crystalize their purpose. In a transparent and interconnected world, consumers, employees and other stakeholders are demanding that brands stand for something beyond the bottom line. Edelman’s Business + Social Purpose practice helps clients bring together profit and purpose by delivering authentic programs that make a real impact.

As a B+SP intern

I was an intern in the B+SP team at Edelman and it is quite remarkable how much I can say I have learned in the past two months. It happened to me that Jeremy Cohen, Global Director of Strategy and Operations for the Business + Social Purpose practice, has come to visit Hong Kong and conducted a “Lunch & Learn” session with the whole office. From this session, I now have a clearer picture of where the take of Corporate Social Responsibility stands in the multifaceted public relations industry and the historical campaigns that Edelman has launched. A successful campaign is not measured on the output (amount of work produced) but rather on the impact created.   By trying to count outputs, we were missing what was really driving the business i.e. the outcomes with customers. Measuring the right thing, i.e. people based-results or outcomes can concretely capture the real societal impact.

Sustainability Roundtable

I was assigned the task of preparing a briefing kit upon Jeremy’s arrival and manage the logistics of a roundtable facilitated by Jeremy. Through managing the RSVP and liaising with the venue, I acknowledged the importance of crafting a formal, audience-focused email and learned how to effectively manage a project. The event is a roundtable with a selected group of regional marketing, sustainability and business leaders to share and discuss how sustainability and purpose strategies can drive growth by deepening consumer engagement, sharpening competitive differentiators and bolstering brand trust. This lively discussion sparked interesting conversations around Edelman’s proprietary research, Trust Barometer, on how a company can attract millennials to think from a sustainability perspective when they enter the workforce.

Global findings can be found on global findings and 2015 Hong Kong findings.

Pro-bono work

Citizenship is one of the core values of Edelman. In Hong Kong, staff including interns are being offered an opportunity to support a local non-profit organization (NGO) of their own choice from the selected groups. I chose HandsOn Hong Kong as my charity team. As part of its pro-bono support to HandsOn Hong Kong, Edelman will work with the NGO to raise its profile among the general public. Also to enhance its communications with its stakeholders.

There are various activities that we have to conduct and one of them I have engaged with clients is the messaging workshop. Our regional training & crisis management director, Ray Rudowski, led the planning workshop and I have learnt how to develop an effective messaging that can lead to the development of a communications strategy.  I realized how crucial it was to prioritize targeted stakeholders and influencers before deciding on and positioning with relevant follow-up actions. I was also assigned to do the communication blueprint and work with an awesome team to develop a strategic action plan.

During the brainstorming of possible campaigns, we came up with many eccentric ideas and filtered them through the “feasibility lens”. I have had so much fun discussing all the possible ideas whilst my colleagues could find proof points and create scenarios from my ideas.

I am beyond thankful for this opportunity to work with all these amazing colleagues and how well they embraced me and taught me valuable skills over the past two months. If you want a career in a workplace that is both empowering and fun and celebrates diversity – of culture, of background, of thought… Edelman is the best way to go.