Change, for most peopl,e and for most large institutions, is scary. The fear that accompanies any notion of large – or even incremental change – has the power to arrest progress. 

The 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer found that trust in business is stronger than it is in other institutions, like the media and government. Not surprising, considering the global crises that have pervaded in the past few years, from the Ebola virus to terrorist attacks to weather phenomena to disruptive technologies. The barometer says 61% of the public things business is most trusted to recover from and manage the rapid change occurring worldwide. Additionally, 80% think business can improve its trust levels and increase profits by improving the economic and social conditions of the communities in which they operate. Trust can also be harnessed to rebuild trust the business’ relationship with the public and external stakeholders. That process just requires business to overcome its fear of change.

Financial services institutions seem to be leading the charge in the recovering of trust. The sector has experienced an eight point rise since 2010 (now at 51%), higher than any other sector. The opportunity for business lies in its ability to lead people through change. Governments are less trusted than in the past, leaving a leadership gap open for businesses to fill.

Kathryn Beiser, global chair of Edelman’s corporate practice, says, “A small cadre of enlightened companies are excelling [action, values, employee advocacy and engagement], and their leadership no doubt has helped business begin to climb out of its distrusted status. Others must join them, however, or the business sector as a whole risks losing a vital connection with the mass population, one that’s essential to their future financial performance.”

Yet, only 65% of employees trust their employers to do the right thing, the study says. The trust gap varies widely across different countries, yet the gap exists, indicating that businesses have to better engage with their employees to turn them into brand advocates. For companies that have a strong standpoint in terms of ethical practice have more engaged, supportive employees. In fact, 84% are more motivated to perform for these companies, as opposed to just 62% of employees in other organisations.

The barometer showed the rise of personal recommendations and trust in individuals, rather than institutions – a trend that has been occurring for some time. Christopher Hannegan, executive vice president and U.S. practice chair of employee engagement at Edelman says companies should be encouraging their employees to act as experts on the business and to speak on behalf of the organisation in their own circles more often. He says, “Companies can best harness and amplify the employee voice by creating convergence opportunities in which employees can be viewed through multiple lenses. Imagine the multiplier effect of companies sharing information via employees who are also positioned as technical experts who happen to be people like yourself. It’s no longer enough to think about ‘employees’ as a category in isolation.”

Despite the subpar trust levels between businesses and their external audiences, the Edelman Trust Barometer found that most companies have a surplus of trust among their internal audiences. Employees are ranked as among the most influential with regards to an organisation’s engagement, integrity and operations.

However, in an early Edelman survey, the consultancy found that business leaders are not placing a priority on employee engagement. Two years ago at a human resources event, Rich Baker, communication consultancy the andpartnership’s internal communications and employee engagement director Rich Baker discussed the relationship between trust and employee engagement. He says that at the time, trust in CEOs was at 39%, according to that year’s barometer.

“At the time, 56% of people surveyed said that trust was important to business,” Baker says, “Those same people said that only 21% trusted in their organisation. Richard Edelman said, ‘CEOs must become chief engagement officers.’ And he was right.”

Mobile and social have brought employees into direct contact with consumers and other stakeholders in a personal, individual way. Often, this is simply through customer service channels or message boards, but it also means a disgruntled employee can spread dissatisfaction about a company on his or her channels, which are then accessible by the general public. However, this technology also allows for positive communications between employees and the public. To achieve this, the company must build trust between its workforce and their corporate leaders.

Asda, is no stranger to difficult moments regarding employee use of social media – the ‘chicken licker’ incident is most prominent in that respect – but its social media policy is fairly lax. It encourages employees to share, and share they do. The Asda Green Room is a publicly-visible board that allows employees to post stories, photos and other content about life at Asda.

Kevin Ruck, founding director of the PR Academy, wrote in Share This Too – the 2013 treatise on social media in communications – that a strong internal culture is one of the keys to the successful implementation of social media in the workplace.

Measuring and understanding one’s employees is the first step to this. Asda has long had a strong approach to social analytics and runs a 24/7 listening room to monitor brand sentiment. Ruck says transparent communications with the internal audience can build trust, “These conversations are happening anyway, social media enables them to get involved and develop a closer, more trusting relationship with their staff both online and face-to-face.”

Building an open, transparent internal culture with trust between leaders and employees can help pave the way for positive communications between employees and customers, eventually garnering that holy grail of trust – a recommendation from a company expert or ‘people like us.’ “Trust is critical for engagement because it is the foundation for any relationship,” Baker says, “It underpins the unwritten psychological contract at work and as a result, it’s what makes us give more of ourselves than those who aren’t engaged.”