Trust, risk and resilience: How can we combat the global crisis of confidence?

You don’t need a PR expert to tell you that the past decade has been pretty strange. Indeed, cataclysmic acronyms have become all the rage – be it VUCA, RUPT or BANI – as polarisation, misinformation and disinformation run amok.

From Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to energy price hikes, global hyperinflation and the cost of living crisis, it’s almost as if Murphy’s Law – that if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong – has somehow become engrained.

For a sense of how “the new world disorder” – to use Ipsos’ term – is translating into real world impacts, Gallup’s latest 160-country ‘State of the Global Workforce 2023’ report notes that “the percentage of employees thriving at work has reached a record high in 2022”.

And yet, that total percentage is just 23% – fewer than one in four employees – with levels of “daily stress” also at record high of 44%. With quiet quitting now endemic, Gallup estimate that low employee engagement costs the global economy $8.8 trillion, equivalent to 9% of global GDP.

So, what do we know about the nature of the crisis in trust and confidence, and how can we best tackle the fallout from Collins’ ‘Word of the Year’ – permacrisis?

Some answers can be found in a report called ‘Trust, Risk and Resilience: Where Are we Now and Where Next?’, which I released in early February. In it, I summarised and analysed the 280 pages-worth of the five key, global, pre-Davos reports on trust and risk – from The World Economic Forum, Ipsos, Edelman, The Page Society and the Conference Board.

So, what did I conclude and what practical steps can organisations take to mitigate risk, manage uncertainty and foster greater trust? On the one hand, the analysis revealed a wall of interconnected economic, geopolitical, environmental and structural risks. Taken together, these risks contribute to a deepening sense of political polarisation, social division and economic inequity.

On the other, there’s a widespread realisation that a commitment to consistency, transparency, responsibility and truly putting people first holds the key to making an ESG-centred approach to stakeholder capitalism a success. And yet, for all the awareness of this acute risk environment, many organisations still lack a systematic approach to risk mitigation, crisis preparedness and resilience-building.

Within those overall umbrella findings, a series of ‘red thread’ conclusions ran through the five reports:

1. All organisations should place the highly personal, human impact of the cost-of-living crisis on employees, customers and communities at the heart of their strategy.  Doing so is just one example of making trusted internal and external relationships should be a cornerstone of every organisation’s approach, with one eye firmly on consistency, transparency and responsibility.
    
2. Business is increasingly expected to stand up and speak out on societal issues of the day, actively tackling political polarisation, social division and economic inequity. But they should only do so when it is in line with their specific business, reputational and brand strategies.
    
3. The existential threat posed by the climate emergency is the issue of today and tomorrow, making proactive involvement in this central challenge non-negotiable. In parallel, being fully alive to varying forms of potential geopolitical conflict – and preparing accordingly – should be a critical element in the assessment of key risks and opportunities.
    
4. With stakeholder capitalism universally viewed as the bedrock of the global economy, truly embedding ESG and stakeholder value will be a form of invaluable differentiation. Against that backdrop, considering how to recruit, retain and engage a genuinely diverse, inclusive workforce will be a hallmark of those organisations that survive and thrive.
    
5. The growing ‘intersectionality’ of risk means that considering the interplay and mutual reinforcement of risks will be ever-more essential in quantifying, qualifying and prioritising risk scenarios. Indeed, with CEOs feeling woefully underprepared for major sources of risk, making a systematic, measurable approach to crisis preparedness a centrepiece of corporate resilience, performance and valuation is crucial.
    

Building on those common imperatives, I concluded with 10 practical recommendations for managing the risks – and capitalising on the opportunities – inherent in those conclusions. To each, I have added an intentionally provocative ‘challenge question’: 

1. Crisis as a turning point, not a disaster:  Does your preparedness for permacrisis consider the potential positives of critical situations, as well as the downside risks, including a proper ‘lessons learned’ review process? Or is your approach to crisis based on stopping bad things happening and limiting the damage if they do?
    
2. Trust is as much about relationships as reputation:  As you work to foster trust, are you focusing on building and maintaining positive, lasting relationships, rather than just obsessing with reputation? Or is your reputation the only north star that matters?
    
3. Trust is everything, everywhere, all at once: Are you considering trust and delivering leadership at every level of – and through every touchpoint with – the organisation? Or do you view senior management as the only real drivers of reputation?
    
4. Speak up fearlessly, but thoughtfully: As part of your trust armoury, do you have a clear process for qualifying which issues are right to address publicly – whether proactively or reactively – in a way that avoids creating damaging dissonance? Or are you pretty clear instinctively what will work for the organisation and what won’t?
    
5. You are defined not by the behaviours you promote, but those you tolerate: What steps are you taking – operationally and culturally – to avoid damaging ‘say-do’ gaps that can erode trust? Or do feel your words and your actions are generally consistent?
    
6. Risk management and organisational preparedness are team sports: Is your approach to reputation risk management and crisis preparedness a systematic and truly whole-team exercise, involving all the organisation’s key business functions? Or do you just leave preparedness for ‘PR crises’ to your comms team?
    
7. Focus on real-world scenarios, not paper risks: Are you systematically and imaginatively preparing for potential real-world crisis scenarios, not just mapping paper risks? Or do you think your risk register and risk appetite statement will do?
    
8. Listen first and then lead: Do you have the listening systems, processes and mindset in place to track emerging issues and understand your key audiences’ human needs, wants, values and beliefs – both internally and externally? Or do you think you’ll see a crisis coming and have a good handle on what your key stakeholders think?
    
9. Organisational resilience depends on human preparedness: Is the development of genuine human preparedness – through training and stress-testing – a centrepiece of your approach to risk management and resilience-building? Or are your technology systems and technical processes enough?
    
10. No plan of action survives first contact with the enemy:  Have you put your full, integrated team through the pressure of a real-time crisis simulation, to assess strengths and areas for development? Or are you confident that you don’t need a simulation to know how you’d respond?
     

There are certainly no quick fixes or overnight answers. However, the conclusions and practical recommendations in ’Trust, Risk and Resilience’ provide clear guidance on mitigating risk, enhancing preparedness, developing resilience and building sustained trust. After all, if we think that a 23% engaged workforce is the basis for a healthy future, we need to think again.

Rod Cartwright, Founder and Principal, Rod Cartwright Consulting and Special Advisor, CIPR Crisis Communications Network