January means a few things: bowl games, snowstorms and….the Edelman Trust Barometer.

Welcome to January.

The Edelman research is highly anticipated because it systematically measures trust, which lies behind nearly everything that happens in business. What is credit except for trust? What is engagement except for trust? What is a purchase except for trust?

There’s nothing without trust. If you doubt that, look around you.

To that point, do you remember when the President would do the State of the Union and he always started with “the State of the Union is strong.”?

Well, the "state of trust is not good.”

In fact, Edelman calls this year’s report “the cycle of distrust.”

You can see the report or the top ten findings here. It’s compelling and relevant, as always. It is not a feel-good story. You can see trust decline across the world, especially in the US, where it is at an all-time low.

I had three specific insights when I read the report.

“Societal Leadership is Now a Core Business Function”

That phrase comes directly from the report. The research shows that all stakeholders—including institutional investors—are holding businesses accountable for societal leadership.

Related point: More than eighty percent (81%) say their expect CEOs to be “personally visible” with external stakeholders. And 60% of job seekers expect CEOs “to speak publicly about controversial social and political issues….”

All of which I suspect is less than welcome news in the corner office. Sadly, as Napoleon said, “you may not have an interest in war, but war may have an interest in you.”

Organizations—including non-profits—who are competing for revenue, talent, internal alignment, etc., are going to have to answer this call.

And you’re going to want to do it on your terms. In this sphere, if you are being reactive, it’s never good. Strong initiatives on ESG, D&I, and employee experience are vital. It cannot be solely a communication function, but a critical element is telling the story of how a company has chosen to lead, including documentation and transparency. An approach to this is found in our Resilient5 program.

Trust is with the Familiar, the Local, and the Smaller

• Globally, 77% of people trust their employer. Only 61% trust business and 50% trust the media.

• 65% of respondents trust their employer either immediately or hearing information once or twice, the highest of any information source.

• Only 9% of people don’t trust their employer ever, by far the lowest ranking.

• People report closer relationships with neighbors and co-workers, and falling trust in people from other countries as well as other areas of the same country.

• Family-owned businesses were most trusted.

This is a tremendous opportunity for small and mid-size employers, who have the opportunity to create relevant and transparent relationships within those close to them. Each side is receptive to this communication and it can build understanding among employees, customers, vendors and your community.

You’re trusted. Use it to create a stronger organization.

Information Quality is “Most Powerful Trust Builder”

The research shows that high-quality information builds trust across sectors. This should be encouraging for ambitious communicators. At the same time, it is a signal for leadership at organizations to expect more from their communicators.

What are some ways communications can exhibit higher quality? A couple of ideas:

• Combine narrative stories with data.

• Use more infographics.

• Include organizational challenges, negative information, setbacks,—whatever—in the communication. Purely positive stories are not going to work.

• Communications have to employ compelling storytelling while also being relevant and transparent. They should be nutritious and delicious.