The Complexity of Trust: PwC’s Trust in US Business Survey

Agreement on the foundations — and little else

As a business executive, when you think about trust, you’re likely thinking many of the same things as your employees and customers. When asked what comes to mind when they think of trust, all three groups agreed on the top four items: data protection and cybersecurity, treating employees well, ethical business practices and admitting mistakes.

But past these top four elements, divergences grow. Business leaders tend to take a broader view of trust. They’re more likely to include both responsible artificial intelligence (AI) and several elements that relate to broader social impact (such as sustainable value chain management and ESG reporting) in their definition of trust. Employees, however, are more likely than the other groups to emphasize holding leadership accountable. These disconnects can also be opportunities. Businesses can better communicate how their disparate priorities collectively tie into trust. They can also lead with true accountability. That includes both transparency for mistakes and sustained, equally transparent efforts to make things right.

The pandemic’s impact on consumer and employee trust

It’s been a rough stretch for business with COVID-19, but there’s a bright spot: Consumers and employees both say they trust business more now than before the pandemic. For example, 80% of consumers say that their trust in energy, utilities and mining, as well as consumer markets companies, stayed the same or grew since before the pandemic. This rise in trust was hard earned, as many companies pulled through for consumers during a time of crisis. Consumer markets companies overcame unprecedented supply chain shocks. Healthcare companies produced tests, treatments and vaccines. Financial services companies funneled billions in aid to small businesses. Tech, media and telecom companies kept much of the economy running and many of us entertained. Today, over half of consumers have at least “a fair amount of trust” in companies in every industry. Consumer markets (68%) and healthcare (65%) lead the pack, while private equity (56%) and government (54%) rank lowest.

Employees also report gains in trust. An impressive four out of five (80%) employees report trusting their company the same or more now than before the pandemic. A slightly higher number, 84% report trusting their direct manager the same or more now.

When asked who in their company they trust the most, trust levels seem to rise with proximity. Employees cited the highest levels of trust (either trusting them completely or a fair amount) in their direct managers, coworkers and companies (all 77%) compared to 71% for their CEOs, 67% for their company’s board and 59% for other companies in the industry.

Unfortunately, considering that 88% of executives in our recent Next in work survey report higher turnover than normal, many companies may not be taking the right actions to turn employee trust into employee loyalty. To create that loyalty is challenging, since that same research indicates that employee expectations are shifting. They want not just competitive pay and perks but schedule flexibility and expanded benefits such as career growth and upskilling opportunities. The good news is that, since treating employees well is so high on consumer definitions of trust, more loyal employees may make your customers trust you more too.

Too much talk and little ownership: disconnects and consequences

Consumers are voting on trust with their pocketbooks — and employees are voting with their feet. Almost half (49%) of consumers have started or increased purchases from a company because they trust it, and 33% have paid a premium for trust. On the flip side, 44% have stopped buying from a company due to a lack of trust. When we look at employees, 22% have left a company because of trust issues and 19% have chosen to work at one because they trusted it highly. In other words, one out of five of your employees who leave don’t do so primarily for a better salary or position. They leave because they don’t trust your company.

How to build trust that will win over consumers and employees? Top choices for drivers of trust among consumers were accountability, clear communications and admitting mistakes. In a sign that trust in theory and trust in practice aren’t the same, data protection (their top definition of trust) came in at sixth. That doesn’t mean that consumers don’t care about their data. On the contrary, we think they consider data protection a basic necessity, and you don’t get extra points for simply doing what’s expected.

In another break between theory and practice, business leader actions on trust often don’t match what they deem “extremely important” — and these actions often don’t address consumer priorities. For consumers, the top trust driver is accountability, but only 56% of business leaders deem it “extremely important.” Only 46% say that their companies have implemented it.

When it comes to environmental, social and governance (ESG), 45% of business leaders have implemented transparent ESG reporting — but only 19% of consumers list it among the top five drivers of trust. This disconnect between consumers and businesses may be more complex than it first appears. Consumers care deeply about ESG initiatives such as climate change. But they may not fully understand what ESG reporting entails, or they may consider it as part of their top two trust drivers: accountability and clear communications. ESG skepticism may also be a problem. Only 24% of consumers say the main reason for ESG pledges is to do good. Far more (39%) say that the motive for companies is self-interest: to build trust with them, the consumers.