Building trust in a polarised world — culture, communication and the 'Bank of Goodwill'

Warren Buffett, the Sage of Omaha, once said, "Trust is like the air we breathe. When it's present, nobody really notices; when it's absent, everybody notices".

Research consistently warns that trust is in decline amid concern over societal threats and establishment leaders misleading us. [1]

The low-trust environment is exacerbated by false or incorrect narratives, often spread through social media and supercharged by the explosion of generative artificial intelligence (AI).

In a record year of elections around the world, AI was leveraged to sow disinformation at a nation-state scale.

"AI means that content can be made cheaper and produced on a mass scale," observes Laura Hawkes, head of Intelligence at AnotherDay, a Gallagher Company, in Caught in the Crossfire: Preparing for Cyber Warfare and Disinformation in a Record Election Year.

"As a result, the public is going to lose trust in what is being put out there."

In such an environment, the business sector needs to go even further to build and retain goodwill. As Gallagher's report on Preserving Reputation in an Era of Mistrust considers, setting the right tone within the organization is a good place to start.

Why it's important to build trust in an inclusive culture

Around the world in 2024, voters were asked to trust political leaders and parties. Unfortunately, public trust is increasingly scarce for politicians and media outlets reporting on elections.

In a more polarised world, people are more likely to trust their first-hand experience and information from people like themselves more than what those in charge tell them. This tendency applies to their experience of their workplace and the organisations they interact with regularly.

People are generally more inclined to trust their peers above authorities, so companies that empower their staff to share the company message will reap the benefits.

For business leaders, the message is clear: It's never been more important to have a strong culture if you want to build trust within an organization and generate trust in your brand externally.

A firm that can build up a "well of goodwill" — both internally and externally — can draw on this resource in times of need.

Higher-trust businesses tend to emphasise improving overall communications, starting within the organisation. As a result, communication is becoming a more direct, two-way dialogue.

This trend is backed up by findings from Gallagher's 2023/2024 State of the Sector survey of the internal communications industry.

When asked about the purpose of communications within the organisation, internal communicators rank "culture and belonging" as the most important.

"There is already a kind of inbred degree of mistrust," observes Kathleen Schulz, Global Innovation leader, Organisational Wellbeing, Gallagher. "So, managers and leaders need to be very effective at understanding how you build trust and what's going to get in the way.

"Conflict in the workplace is on the rise because conflict in our world is on the rise, and everything cascades down," she continues.

"There is a need for manager training on communication, trust and handling difficult conversations. With so many conflicting political issues and the state of our world right now, there's a lot of volatility, and we're seeing that play out within the workplace. Managers need to know how to diffuse that."

Building an inclusive culture in a hybrid environment

While communication challenges associated with a hybrid environment have declined, adapting the internal channel strategy remains among the top internal communications priorities.

In a hybrid or remote work environment, organisations must be more intentional in fostering an inclusive culture and communicating authentically. The most authentic messaging often occurs during casual interactions that are harder to facilitate online.

Gallagher's Communications Consulting practice suggests a five-minute "coffee and catch-up" time to check in on team members at the start of a meeting.

"Connect on recent announcements and invite employees to share their thoughts and how it impacts them," says Farzeen Mawji, national practice leader, Inclusion and Diversity, Gallagher in Canada.

"Don't limit the conversation to work-related topics," he adds. "Think of this time as a work break when employees might chat about the latest Netflix sensation."

Take advantage of anchor days, when most employees are in the office, to create moments of connection. Draw people together in a common area for an informal meeting.

This gathering can help create a sense of belonging and an incentive to come to the office or at least derive added value from the time they're there.

Check that your message resonates

Communication needs to be authentic — and authenticity only works when your people can tell the story in their own way.

However, when giving staff agency to shape an authentic version of the company's narrative, leadership must accept that they lose some control over the messaging.

"Words help us envision what is possible and connect to the organizational vision," says Farzeen Mawji, national practice leader, Inclusion and Diversity, Gallagher in Canada.

"Actions cause us to engage and feel a part of something. Leaders must consistently model authentic behaviors that build trust — including allowing employees to share their experiences in their own way."

Disagreement in an inclusive environment is acceptable if there's respect for differing views. When leaders consistently and authentically model this respect, the narrative is collective, not individual or top-down.

Employees who feel a part of the organisation are more likely to share positive experiences in their voice, becoming powerful brand ambassadors and giving the organisation a competitive edge in reputation management.

It's important to check that the message resonates: Build feedback loops that run in all directions to know when information isn't cutting through and equip frontline managers with the necessary soft skills to elicit employee engagement.

When authentic messaging fails to reach frontline workers, organisations should investigate the reasons. Typically, senior leaders rely on managers to understand the "why" of the message, communicate it and respond to frontline questions.

"Where the message hasn't been fully received, employees fill the information gap with their narrative," says Mawji. "This can lead to conflicting and potentially damaging messaging put out into the world by frontline employees, who may have the loudest bullhorn and largest audience."

The pros and cons of social media

Creating a strong culture involves having the risk appetite to invite open dialogue, even when discourse is becoming more polarised within society in general. Actions must reinforce communications for the desired culture to take hold.

Social media was a game changer, shifting corporate reputation management from a reactive approach to a proactive, ongoing process demanding transparency. While transparency makes organisations more vulnerable, employers can enhance their brand using company review sites.

Most organisations have appropriate guardrails in place regarding work-related posts. Mawji notes that some companies err on the stricter side of policy and the threat of resulting disciplinary action for violating the rules.

"A more strategic approach is to create an environment where employees want to share authentic stories in their own voices about why the organisation is a great place to work, reinforcing the desired organisational culture and supporting recruitment efforts," he says.

Of course, misinformation is not just an issue online. Unsubstantiated rumors can spread in the workplace if left unchecked in an information vacuum.

Creating a trusting work environment involves addressing speculation head-on, promoting transparency, focusing on facts and encouraging positive engagement.

This article first appeared on the Gallagher Re website and is reproduced here with permission.