Trust is one of the essential values within human social interaction; It is based on a gradual construction of links, and, as such, it does not happen overnight.
As between human beings, in the process of building trust a company needs to establish and test links in different contexts (for example with its employees, suppliers and customers).
From the quality of the experience resulting from these links, it will be possible to establish whether or not the company will have confidence in its internal or external allies.
A reliable company is one that, throughout its history, has demonstrated its ability to respond, resolve, understand and accompany different types of situations through its brands, products and services.
As we see, trust is an active valuenot something abstract, as if it were a dictionary definition.
Trust is fostered in small actions repeated over time; for example, compliance, good treatment, providing several alternative solutions to the same problem for the client to choose from, taking responsibility for problems and what may arise, assuming the costs of their mistakes and sharing achievements .
Any company or organization needs trust to act with integrity and generate positive perceptions and realities around its daily management. This value is part of an essential aspiration to which every individual and company aspires.
Generating trust is a maximum value, highly appreciated and that directly influences your reputation and image.
As the term indicates, it generates reliability, the ability to know that the company and its members are supported, and to know that they will be able to count on it in different contexts and circumstances.
It is known that, just as it is built, any minimal intentional or accidental act can cause it to be lost, quickly and inevitably affecting multiple organizational dimensions.
It is common to see how companies lose credibility, image, ethics, reputation, positioning, and the constructed chain of other values such as respect, seriousness, loyalty, constructed history and sense of transcendence is dismantled.
When trust is broken it cannot be patched; It was broken, and it is the same as in relationships or friendships: you can continue, although there will be something that has been broken and cannot be completely repaired.
For example, as a social group, in practically all countries in the world politicians are not believed: they are associated with the stain of corruption, of living off the state with citizens’ taxes. And that (until now) they have not known how to assume or correct. Their egocentrism does not allow them, and, protected by what they call “the system”, they continue in the same wheel, although no one believes them and they have completely fallen into the lowest threshold of consideration that a human can have, which is being a person you can’t trust.
The process of loss of trust occurs due to several factors. Fundamentally, for violating the ethics of their activities, acts of corruption, scams, abuses, poor treatment by employees and officials, failures in their promises and fulfillments and for disappointing the expectations that they themselves had generated.
Although a single detail can completely affect that construction that has taken years and even centuries.
To regain trust, if the case is very serious, the stage of that brand or company is usually terminated; and start another similar activity, with the cost that this entails not only in money but in time.
If there has been a trust problem that broke out and is sporadic (a unique case, for example), it is advisable to immediately implement the crisis management protocol that every small, medium or large company must have.
This protocol defines the steps to follow, the decision levels, the main actors in crisis management and the measurement of internal and external implications.
For example, one of the main failures due to which companies lose trust is the lack of humility to accept mistakes. In my opinion, this is often based on the arrogance of managers and lawyers, who want to cover the sun with their hands, with money or with power.
The act of humility of acknowledging a mistake can overcome the crisis of confidencealthough efforts will have to be made and demonstrated over a long period of time that the course has been rectified so that those who feel involved trust again.
1. Continuous training at all levels: Train your managers and teams in values and new types of leadership, such as collaborative and conscious.
2. Communication: Communicate permanently; transparency and clarity at all levels. This implies a genuine open door policy inside and outside the company.
3. Coherence: Actions consistent with what is promoted.
4. Total responsibility: Be socially responsible, assume the consequences, and not just pretend.
5. Detect needs and satisfy them to measure: Customize the links. Act in the social fabric by detecting people’s primary needs, and looking for ways to satisfy them to measure.
6. Open dialogue: Open dialogue channels with your internal and external audiences (honest, serious and solid channels). Assertive communication; quality feedback (not just satisfaction surveys).
7. Humility and registration of the other: Have humility and recognize mistakes, taking corrective actions that exceed the expectations of those who are affected. This involves registering the other; maintain quality links, and when errors appear, take charge of remedying what is appropriate.
These are practices that, sustained over time and embedded in the company culture, result in the generation of trust in people.
