EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT 2016 Executive Summary
Table of Contents The Edelman TRUST BAROMETER 2016... 2 The trusted employee advocate or detractor... 3 Beyond the grand illusion... 3 Illusion in the workplace... 4 Consumers care about your employees... 5 Consumers and employees two sides of the same coin... 6 The financial services paradox... 6 Harnessing employee trust... 7 A seven-step plan... 8 For more information... 9 The Edelman TRUST BAROMETER 2016 Online Survey in 28 Countries 16 Years of data 33,000+ respondents total All fieldwork was conducted between 13 October and 16 November 2015 General online population Five years in 25 markets 1,150 respondents per country Ages 18+ 64% employed Informed public 90% employed Eight years in 20+ markets 500 respondents in US and China; 200 in all other countries Represents 15% of total population Must meet four criteria: Ages 25-64 College educated In top 25% of household income per age group in each country Report significant media consumption and engagement in business news and public policy Mass population All population not including informed public 59% employed Edelman TRUST BAROMETER 2016 Employee Engagement Executive Summary 2
The trusted employee advocate or detractor The Edelman TRUST BAROMETER 2016 is a wake-up call for every business leader who fails to consider the importance of trust. There is a link between the behaviours of leaders and the willingness of employees to advocate for their company. And the employee is the most trusted spokesperson on how businesses perform, operate, manage crises and treat their people. The implication is clear. Employees who trust their leaders will be more likely to say good things about their employer. And consumers will believe them. By the same token, employees who don t trust their leaders will be less likely to say good things about their employer. And they too will be believed by consumers. Your employees are credible sources of information about your company. For better or worse. Beyond the grand illusion The broader TRUST BAROMETER findings are deeply disturbing. They point to a yawning trust gap emerging between elite and mass populations. The global survey asks respondents how much they trust the four institutions of government, business, nongovernmental organisations and media to do what s right. The survey shows that trust is rising in the elite or informed public group those with at least a college education, who are very engaged by the media, and have an income in the top 25 percent. However, in the mass population (the remaining 85 percent of our sample), trust levels have barely budged since the great recession. Edelman posits that there is a grand illusion at play a lingering notion that elites will lead and the masses will follow. The historic model of influence was predicated on the belief that elites have access to superior information, their interests are interconnected with those of the broader public, and that becoming an elite was open to all those who work hard. But rising income inequality, high profile revelations of greed and misbehaviour, and the democratisation of media have flipped the classic pyramid of influence. The trust of the mass population can no longer be taken for granted, and any continuation of the grand illusion is dangerous for leaders in today s world. Edelman TRUST BAROMETER 2016 Employee Engagement Executive Summary 3
Illusion in the workplace A similar illusion is at play in the workplace. Many leaders still believe that they speak and their employees follow. That the hierarchical, non-democratic structures of the organisation result in obedient employees who toe the party line and automatically extol the virtues of their employer. The truth could not be more different. What the TRUST BAROMETER data tells us is that leaders have lost control over the provision of information about their organisation. There is now a disconnect between authority and influence. The employee is the most trusted spokesperson for your business. And as long as employees don t trust their employers, employers cannot trust what their employees say. As with the broader public, there is a disconnect between executives and their employees. Those who trust the system to deliver and those who are more sceptical. In fact, the Edelman TRUST BAROMETER 2016 shows that one-in-three employees doesn t trust his or her own company. There is a trust disconnect between executives and employees. 64 percent of executives trust the company they work for compared with only 48 percent of non -management employees. This has profound implications for workforce relations and the ways in which senior leaders present themselves to employees. They should display highly ethical behaviours. Take responsible actions to address crises when they occur. And behave in a way that is transparent and open. Interestingly, like the broader public, employees want their most senior leader, the CEO, to have something worthwhile to say about societal issues. Like those outside the company, employees believe that organisations and the people who lead them should be motivated by more than just profit. And if they are (and they visibly do Edelman TRUST BAROMETER 2016 Employee Engagement Executive Summary 4
something about it), then they are more likely to be trusted. And employees are more likely to advocate for them. Consumers care about your employees The EDELMAN TRUST BAROMETER 2016 shows that the broader public feels there are several areas where business is underperforming against their expectations. Consumers (who, of course, may well be employees themselves) feel that a trustworthy company is one that treats its people well. And who do consumers trust as the most credible source to determine if this is the case? The employees of that company. Similarly, consumers feel that a trustworthy company is one that listens to their customers. As the main customer touch point in most organisations, employees have a pivotal role in making customers feel they have a voice. And who do they trust as the most credible source to determine whether their voice is heard? The employees of that company. There is a significant gap between what consumers expect and how companies are performing. Employees have a pivotal role in influencing many of these areas. Ethical business practices are another area that consumers feel is important and leads to them being more likely to trust a company. Again, who do they trust as the most credible source of information about a company s business practices? The employees. While this sounds obvious, it s surprising how many companies have not realised this powerful, trust-building link. Treat your people well. Support them to talk about the kind of Edelman TRUST BAROMETER 2016 Employee Engagement Executive Summary 5
employer you are, how you value your customers and the kind of business you are. Consumers will trust you. And, as the TRUST BAROMETER also shows, when consumers trust you they are more likely to buy from you and recommend you to others. Consumers and employees two sides of the same coin Could it be that the link between consumers and employees is more profound that just the service provider/purchaser relationship? At Edelman we believe so. We posit that employees and consumers feel the same way about business and, in many cases, the individual companies and brands that they work for and interact with. We believe employees and consumers are closely linked by the attributes of companies and business leaders that inspire trust. Treating employees well. Ethical business practices. And meaningful involvement in societal issues. The Edelman TRUST BAROMETER 2016 suggests that this link extends to the way people communicate and the communications content they create. That there is a significant opportunity to harness the trusted advocacy status of employees who are people like me through peer-to-peer and social communications. The financial services paradox Financial services continues to be the least trusted of industries at 52 percent. Yet 80 percent of TRUST BAROMETER 2016 respondents who said they work for a financial services company say they trust their employer the highest of any industry. How to explain this significant difference? We believe it reflects the great strides that many financial services companies have taken to rebuild trust with their own employees. Clearly, they haven t yet had the same success with the general public. There is therefore a significant opportunity for financial services companies to harness the trust of their own employees, and the trust that others have in employees, to tell their story to the wider world and build new levels of trust. Edelman TRUST BAROMETER 2016 Employee Engagement Executive Summary 6
Harnessing employee trust So what should companies do to take advantage of the findings of the Edelman TRUST BAROMETER 2016? First, let s restate the issue at hand. Consumers trust employees. Yet one out of every three employees doesn t trust his or her own company. If they don t trust their company, they won t advocate for it and consumers won t hear them saying good things. Employees are credible spokespeople on issues that build trust among consumers. Employee trust and advocacy is driven by the same things that drive consumer trust. Treating employees well, ethical business practices and a business and CEO that have meaningful engagement in societal issues. And finally, consumers trust peer voices when they communicate on social networking sites, content sharing sites and online-only information sources. Consumers trust social networking, and online content created peers. Edelman TRUST BAROMETER 2016 Employee Engagement Executive Summary 7
A seven-step plan So here s Edelman s seven-step plan for building employee trust and harnessing it to turn your people into your strongest advocates. 1. Start by thinking about your employees and your customers in the same way. Don t accept that the quality of the ways you engage your own people should be any less than the ways you engage your customers and the wider world. 2. Support your leaders to be better at engaging employees to build trust. In particular, and especially for your CEO, help your leaders describe to employees the ways in which the company is a positive force for good in society. 3. Develop an easy to remember and repeat story that has this positive force for good at its heart. Don t settle only for describing your strategy to employees. Show them how this strategy delivers something truly worthwhile to the world, beyond corporate profit. 4. Bring this story to life with real proof points that are evidence of your good work. Make sure these stories recognise your employee heroes those whose actions and behaviours are evidence of the value you bring to the world. 5. Help your employees to share your story and proof points with each other and the wider world. Give them shareable content and a simple platform that lets them seed it onto their own social networks where they can advocate you with pride. 6. Track how you re performing on an ongoing basis. Listen continuously to your employees. You wouldn t gauge your customer engagement efforts on a wing and a prayer, so adopt the same rigour and discipline when it comes to your employees. 7. And, finally, make sure your communications and engagement team has the required capability, resource and structure to make all this happen. Recognise that this may be a quite different type of team than you may have needed only a few years ago. Edelman TRUST BAROMETER 2016 Employee Engagement Executive Summary 8
For more information If you would like to know more about the employee engagement aspects of the Edelman TRUST BAROMETER 2016 or the ways in which EdelmanENGAGE may help you improve engagement with your employees, please contact: Nick Howard Nick has 20 years experience advising business leaders in Europe, North America and UAE. Before joining Edelman he was Retail Communications Director for Lloyds Banking Group, where he led the successful communication of Europe s biggest financial services integration Lloyds TSB and HBOS. Before that he led Mercer HR Consulting s European workforce change and engagement business, with a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions. nick.howard@edelman.com +44(0)20 3047 2395 or +44(0)7790 552 216 Dr Andy Brown Andy has worked in organisational research, people strategy and leadership consulting for almost 25 years. He has lived and worked in both the US and Europe and his client work has been mainly for FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 global organisations, focused on improving business performance through improved leadership effectiveness, employee engagement and communication. andy.brown@engagegroup.com +44(0)20 3047 4127 or +44(0)7776 143 854 Edelman TRUST BAROMETER 2016 Employee Engagement Executive Summary 9