Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™

Who are America’s Most Trustworthy Public Companies for 2013?

Trust Across America picks up where the “other” list leaves off, looking at 5 indicator of trustworthy business from three independent data sources.

Here’s our latest press release.

What stops companies from building a culture of authentic long-term trust? As transparency increases, so does the ability of every citizen to look behind the curtain, with the click of a Google search.

I’m not trying to win a popularity contest with this blog post, at least not with corporate America. But hey, ask most C-Suite folks about trust issues in their organization and they won’t hesitate to emphatically tell you they have not a single one.

Last week I attended an event featuring two guest speakers (also sponsors) from large global companies in different industries. At the end of their respective speeches everyone in the audience applauded loudly except for me, and one other attendee. The other attendee “gets” trust like very few others. Based on their professional credentials, it’s understandable. Think nurse or military leader.

What made these speeches so excruciatingly painful?

First the canned, compliance-approved content, and second, the cult-like focus on the corporate responsibility programs of both organizations. While Trust Across America’s FACTS® Framework shows us that no company is perfect, both of the sponsor firms have recently paid massive fines for, let’s (politely) say, ethics violations. Not the first fine for either, and probably not the last, and just a mere “blip” on the quarterly earnings radar. So whom are they kidding? Judging from the applause, the vast majority of the audience.

As transparency increases, so does the ability of every citizen to look behind the curtain, with the click of a Google search.  All it takes is a few minutes and a curious mind. Corporate responsibility is an important component of a trustworthy organization but it’s only one component. I’m not suggesting that companies air their dirty laundry in public. What I am suggesting is that they stop using the corporate responsibility officer as a public relations pawn.  It may work now, but it is a short-term, unsustainable strategy.  When the next ethics “oops” occurs, it may be the one that brings down the house, and nobody is going to care about the organization’s philanthropic efforts.

What if the C-Suite were to lead with a culture of trust by creating a long-term trust-building strategy and sent their CR officer into the field to talk about that instead? What if they discussed the company’s values statement or corporate credo, and how it meets the needs of all their stakeholders?  What’s stopping companies from building their culture around authentic long-term trust? Is it the legal department?

And finally, the cherry on the weekly “trust cake” is contained in this article in which the author suggests that telling the truth undermines trust.

Next week is the start of spring. It’s also my birthday. Maybe the cake will be a bit less stale. Maybe the most popular flavor will change from artificial vanilla-coating to trust.

For more information on building trust in your organization you can read our new book, Trust Inc., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset.

Trust Inc.

Earlier this week I was given a gift, the opportunity to chat about trust with 150 very smart college kids, members of the millennial generation. 

A small group met for dinner before class, including two international students who shared their stories about trust and cultural differences. For example, in some countries it is impolite to make eye contact with someone who is older. This is viewed as disrespectful and untrustworthy. Imagine walking into a job interview in the US and being unwilling to make eye contact with the interviewer!

We began our class discussion by asking three questions but ran short on time before the third topic.

Question #1: Whom do you trust the most?

Answer #1: Family- Mother, father and siblings. We discussed the special bonds among family members that create trustworthy relationships and how these same characteristics translate into larger organizations.

1. Familiarity
2. Longevity
3. Common values
4. Having “your back”
5. Culture

Question #2: What company do you trust the most?

Answer #2: Google and Apple- The water became a bit murky as the students  explored differences between “liking a product” and “trusting a company” and between consumer perceptions and organizational trustworthiness.

We discussed the lack of transparency at these particular companies and the chapter in our book Trust Inc., addressing Apple as a case study in trust. Several students shared their strong beliefs about corporate responsibility vs. corporate window dressing.

The discussion then turned to:

Target’s security breach: The majority concluded that the breach will not inhibit them from shopping at Target.

Trust in government:  The students felt strongly that our government does a good job to protect its citizens. They accept that lying is the “norm” in politics. Many said they would vote for Chris Christie even if a determination is made that he lied about the lane closures in Fort Lee.

Wrapping up, we reminded the kids that they live in an era of radical transparency. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to hide bad behavior.

We emphasized the importance of entering the work force with not only a clean slate, but also knowledge of the importance of leading with trust.

Bottom line, the students were very engaged in the “trust conversation.”  Perhaps it should be held on more college campuses. What do you think?

Share your comments with me. barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Are your actions ethical? What impact are they having on others? Is unethical behavior just “business as usual?”

I recently followed a LinkedIn group thread containing the following discussion topic: In the personal life of an ethics professional, do the same standards apply as in their professional life? A debate ensued, with many taking the position that “it was just a job” no different than any other profession. In other words, “all bets were off” outside the office. As disappointing as this might seem, it was not particularly surprising.  I see similar attitudes and behavior among trust professionals. Maybe we all need an occasional reminder of what makes for ethical and trustworthy behavior, both in and outside the office. Here are a few thoughts taken from real-life examples:

1. Lose your “me first” attitude.
2. Stop belittling others.
3. Don’t claim honors and awards that you did not earn.
4. Don’t make “side deals.”
5. Do your own “dirty work.” Don’t send a soldier to do it for you.
6. Don’t help yourself to the copyrighted content of others without asking.
7. Leave your ego at the door. You may not be the smartest person in the room.
8. Tell the truth.
9. Keep your word.
10. If you are not sure your actions will be viewed as ethical or trustworthy, ask before proceeding.

I believe we all have a personal and professional obligation to hold ourselves to high standards, to be role models and to exhibit integrity and character. We have an obligation to walk our talk. We have an obligation to lead with trust. Stop and consider whether your actions are ethical and the impact they will have on others.  A lack of trust and ethics should not be viewed as “business as usual.” It’s just bad business.

For more information about organizational trust, please visit our website at www.trustacrossamerica.com You may also be interested in our new book, Trust Inc.: Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset

Trust Inc.

What are some additional trust busters that you would like to see added to this list? Feel free to leave a comment!

Barbara Brooks Kimmel, Executive Director, Trust Across America-Trust Around the World

Building organizational trust requires leadership “buy-in.” The payoff includes a happier and more stable work force; faster decision making and innovation; and long-term sustainability and profitability.

This list compiles some of the myths surrounding organizational trust and leadership.

1. Trust is “soft” and does not increase profitability.
2. If an organization complies with the law, it is trustworthy.
3. Leaders need not have integrity in their personal life as long as they act the part at work.
4. Writing a corporate values statement or having a credo is a waste of time and resources.
5. Building trust into the corporate DNA will not result in faster crisis recovery.
6. Short-term profitability trumps long-term trustworthiness.
7. It’s not leader’s job to ensure that trust-building is an organizational priority.
8. Shareholders are more important than other stakeholders.
9. Corporate responsibility need not extend beyond philanthropy.
10. It’s okay to tell an occasional lie.

What myths would you add to this list? Leave a comment.

These myths and other are discussed in our new book, Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset.

Trust Inc.

February is Leadership Transformation Month

according to Trust Across America’s

2014 Calendar

Productivity and execution begin when the leader creates a set of values and goals that are shared, accepted and adopted by all stakeholders.

Leaders must regularly communicate with stakeholders about the steps being taken to build trustworthy behavior within the organization.

Leaders must not confuse trust with compliance. The latter is situational. The former is not!

During the  52 weeks of 2014 you can build trust in your organization by thinking about, discussing and following the advice of the experts. Here are the suggestions for the 4 weeks in February 2014.

Week 1: A person “like yourself” is now trusted nearly two times as much as a CEO or government official. Ben Boyd, Edelman

Week 2: When deciding whom to trust remember this, people who will lie for you will lie to you. Lea Brovedani

Week 3: When I trust you, I empower you to influence me.  Elaine Cohen, Beyond Business Ltd.

Week 4: When achieved, organizational trust is validated externally in corporate reputation and performance. Mark Coleman, Convergence Mitigation Management

Please share your comments and suggestions! Email: barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Barbara Brooks Kimmel, Executive Director, Trust Across America – Trust Around the World

Editor  Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset

Why does corporate America continue to turn a deaf ear when profitability need not be sacrificed in the name of trust?

The daily headlines are packed with stories about ongoing distrust in business, and rarely do we see indications that the tide is shifting.   Perhaps it’s because business leaders continue to question the relationship between trust and profitability. We’ve aggregated recent data in this article, thereby making The Case for Trust more difficult to ignore.

The Hard Costs of Low Trust

• Gallup’s research (2011) places 71% percent of U.S. workers as either not engaged or actively disengaged.
• The price tag of disengagement (Gallup) is $350 billion a year. That roughly approximates the annual combined revenue of Apple, General Motors and General Electric.
• The Washington Post reported that “the federal government imposed an estimated $216 billion in regulatory costs on the economy (in 2012), nearly double its previous record.”
• The cost of the tort litigation system alone in the United States is over $250 billion. – or 2% of GDP (Forbes, January 2012)

• The six biggest U.S. banks, led by JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. have piled up $103 billion in legal costs since the financial crisis (Bloomberg, August 2013)

• According to The Economist Intelligence Unit (2010), 84% of senior leaders say disengaged employees are considered one of the biggest threats facing their business. However, only 12% of them reported doing anything about this problem.

• According to Edelman globally, 50% of consumers trust businesses, but just 18% trust business leadership.

• And finally, in the United States, the statistics are similar, but the story is a bit worse for leadership. While 50% of U.S. consumers trust businesses, just 15% trust business leadership.

This trust gap negatively impacts a company’s revenue, market share, brand reputation, employee engagement and turnover, stock price, and bottom line profitability.

The Low Cost of Hard Trust

Building a trustworthy business will improve a company’s profitability and organizational sustainability.

A growing body of evidence shows increasing correlation between trustworthiness and superior financial performance. Over the past decade, a series of qualitative and quantitative studies have built a strong case for senior business leaders to place building trust among stakeholders high on their priority list. While none of these studies are perfect, over the next decade their results will be increasingly difficult to ignore.

In a Harvard Business School working paper from July 2013 called The Impact of Corporate Sustainability on Organizational Processes and Performance, Robert G. Eccles, Ioannis Ioannou, and George Serafeim provide evidence that High Sustainability companies (those integrating both environmental and social issues) significantly outperform their counterparts over the long-term, both in terms of stock market as well as accounting performance.

According to Fortune’s  “100 Best Companies to Work For”, based on Great Place to Work Employee Surveys, best companies experience as much as 50% less turnover and Great Workplaces perform more than 2X better than the general market (Source: Russell Investment Group)

Forbes and GMI Ratings have produced the “Most Trustworthy Companies” list for the past six years. They examine over 8,000 firms traded on U.S. stock exchanges using forensic accounting measures. The conclusions they draw are:

• “… the cost of capital of the most trustworthy companies is lower …”
• “… outperform their peers over the long run …”
• “… their risk of negative events is minimized …”

FACTS®. After years of reviewing such studies and vetting independent data providers, Trust Across America – Trust Around the World (TAA-TAW) has been blending five indicators of trustworthy business in its unique FACTS® Framework: Financial Stability, Accounting Integrity, Corporate Governance, Transparency, and Sustainability

The FACTS monthly (rebalanced) portfolio of 25 trustworthy companies significantly outperformed the S&P 500 index (64.3% vs. 30.9% from August 2012 through November 2013).

Numerous indirect indicators of trust also show a direct correlation to superior financial performance.

From Deutsche Bank:

• 100% concurrence on Lower Cost of Capital
  (“… academic studies agree that companies with high ratings for CSR (corporate social responsibility) and ESG (environment, social responsibility, governance) factors have a lower cost of capital in terms of debt (loans and bonds) and equity.”)
• 89% concurrence on Superior Market Performance
  (“,,,studies indicate companies with high ratings for ESG factors outperform market-based indices”)
• 85% concurrence on Greater Performance on Accounting –Based Standards
  (“… studies reveal these types of company’s consistently outperform their rivals on accounting-based criteria.”)

From Global Alliance for Banking on Values, which compared values-based and sustainable banks to their big-bank rivals and found:

• 7% higher Return on Equity for values-based banks
  (7.1% ROE compared to 6.6% for big banks).
•  51% higher Return On Assets for sustainable banks
  (.50% average ROA for sustainable banks compared to big bank earning 0.33%)

These studies are bolstered by analyses from dozens of other respected sources including the American Association of Individual Investors, the Dutch University of Maastricht, Erasmus University, and Harvard Business Review.

Business leaders may choose to continue to challenge the business case for trust but the evidence is mounting. There is not only a business case but also a financial case for trust.  Trust works.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is Cofounder and Executive Director of Trust Across America –Trust Around the World and editor of Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset. In 2012 Barbara was named one of “25 Women who are Changing the World” by Good Business International. For more information, please contact: mailto:Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Copyright © 2014 Next Decade, Inc.

Would you like to help us build our Case for Trust? Enter our Case for Trust Challenge!

January is Trustworthy Leadership Month

according to Trust Across America’s

2014 Calendar

A culture of trust cannot exist with an untrustworthy leader.

Trustworthy behavior must start at the top and flow down through every manager in any organization.

Over the next 52 weeks, you can build trust in your organization by thinking about, discussing and following the advice of the experts. These are the suggestions for the 5 weeks in January.

Week 1: Cultivate trust by deepening the conversation. Patricia Aburdene @PatriciaAburdene

Week 2: Employees learn to trust when leaders provide adequate information about decisions they’re making. Andy Atkins @InteractionAsc 

Week 3: What new or enhanced behaviors will you commit to practice to engender trust? William Benner wwconsult.us

Week 4: Without trust, people give up on relationships and leave organizations. Ken Blanchard  @KenBlanchard

Week 5: Trust, like culture,  begins and ends at the very top. Andrea Bonime-Blanc @GlobalEthicist

Please share your comments and suggestions! Email: barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Barbara Brooks Kimmel, Executive Director, Trust Across America – Trust Around the World

Editor  Trust Inc. Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset

Trust Inc.

How does one say “Thank you” to friends and colleagues who have helped foster trustworthy relationships?

We hope you enjoy our 2014 Weekly Reflections on Organizational Trust, another collaborative effort of the contributors to our new book  Trust Inc., our Alliance of Trustworthy Business Experts, and friends of Trust Across America – Trust Around the World. (Listed alphabetically)

If you are receiving this gift, we know that trust is important to you, and we hope you will share it with your audience.

Thank you to all who have assisted Trust Across America – Trust Around the World in building organizational trust.

May we continue to make progress in 2014.

With much gratitude and trust!

Barbara Brooks Kimmel

PS- This poster prints 11×14.

 2014TrustPoster

With the right plan, any leader can build trust!

Trust Across America – Trust Around the World offers this 2014 gift to all leaders – twelve months of trust-building activities. Help us elevate trust by incorporating these strategies into your own organization.

January: Trustworthy leadership – A culture of trust cannot exist with an untrustworthy leader. Trustworthy behavior must start at the top and flow down through every manager in any organization.

February: Transformation – Productivity and execution begin when the leader creates a set of values and goals that are shared, accepted and adopted by all stakeholders. Leaders should regularly address all stakeholders about the steps being taken to build trustworthy behavior within the organization. Trust should not be confused with compliance.

March: Tools – There are many trust “tools” leaders can use to build trust with their internal and external stakeholders. These run the gamut from metrics and assessments to online surveys and training.

April: Treatment – The Golden Rule says to “treat others the way you want to be treated.” This certainly holds true for trust. The leader that extends trust to his or her stakeholders is more likely to have it returned.

May: Teamwork – Teamwork leads to better decisions and better outcomes. Teams create trust, and trust creates teams, especially when silos are broken down.

June: Talk – Your stakeholders need to know what steps you are taking to build a trustworthy organization. Quarterly numbers are no longer the “be all and end all.” In fact, evidence is mounting that a trustworthy culture and profitability go hand in hand.

July: Truth – Truth-telling is at the core of trust. Any leader who wants to build a trustworthy organization must have an extremely comfortable relationship with the truth. No company is perfect and it’s not necessary to air all the dirty laundry – just don’t lie about it or intentionally mislead. In times of crisis, a habit of truth telling yields particularly good returns.

August: Transparency – Merriam Webster defines “transparent” as visibility or accessibility of information, especially with business practices. A leader who thinks he or she can still hide behind a veil of secrecy need only spend a few minutes on social media reading what their stakeholders are saying.

September: Thoughtful – Not all stakeholders need to know the company’s trade secrets, or what the CEO had for dinner. But if your company is serious about increasing trustworthiness, consider engaging all your stakeholders in rich, thoughtful conversations. View them as vital contributors to a better organization.

October: Tolerance – A trusted leader is open to new ideas that may not align with his own. Tolerance empowers stakeholders with ownership and leads to higher engagement at all levels.

November: Time – Building a culture of trustworthy business does not happen overnight. It takes time, maybe even years – but not decades. The leader who invests the time to educate himself or herself about how to build trust with teams and stakeholders — then develops a plan, communicates and implements it – will be rewarded with greater stakeholder trust. When a slip-up occurs, those who “banked” trust will recover faster.

December: Trust – Don’t forget that trustworthy business is not about quarterly earnings and international expansion, but rather about building long-term trust.

Yours in trust! Barbara Brooks Kimmel, Executive Director

Trust Across America – Trust Around the World

Barbara has edited a new book called Trust Inc., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset, bringing together over 30 experts who offer advice and suggestions on elevating trust in any organization.

Copyright © 2013 Next Decade, Inc.