Cultivating a culture of trust through internal communications.

It can’t be overstated, but it’s often overlooked: Building trust with employees is fundamental to a company’s success.

Research shows that “employees in high-trust organizations are more productive, have more energy at work, collaborate better with their colleagues, and stay with their employers longer.” 

It can even impact the bottom line: A PwC study found 91% of executives believe trust improves profitability, while a lack of trust can hurt financial performance, weaken brand value, and limit the ability to attract and retain talent.

Clearly, trust is a business imperative. But a sense of trust in an organization can be hard to define or cultivate.

Internal communications (IC) is a great place to start. In this post we’ll look at the elements of organizational trust, how IC can help build a culture of trust in the workplace, and five steps to create a holistic IC strategy to maintain and enhance trust over the long term.

What we’re talking about when we talk about IC.

Whether you call it internal, corporate, or employee communications, it goes beyond transmitting information to your workforce or dictating directives from leadership. 

IC should be an ongoing, two-way conversation incorporating a variety of communication types to match employees’ working environments, styles, and even schedules. These range from emails and newsletters, to in-person and virtual events, to workplace signage, to digital platforms and apps.

Determining the right mix of IC tools and channels starts with developing an IC strategy that considers both business objectives (such as increasing awareness about the company mission or encouraging participation in specific programs) and employee needs and preferences. It typically includes targeted IC campaigns designed to provide the appropriate flow of content at the right times, to the right people, in the right places and formats. 

A mix of roles and departments may be involved with IC planning; even dedicated IC groups often collaborate with HR, marketing, and senior leaders.

If done well, an IC plan is a roadmap for clear, consistent employee communications—and a powerful trust-builder for the organization.

The critical role of IC in making—or breaking—organizational trust.

A Forbes Advisor survey found that 40% of workers feel poor communication reduces trust in leadership, negatively impacting collaboration, job satisfaction, and productivity.

But what do employees really mean when they describe having (or lacking) trust in their employers? 

Here are four key ingredients of organizational trust, and how internal comms can strengthen them.

 

• Transparency. When it comes to building trust, transparency—the ability for employees to see and understand the company’s goals, challenges, plans, and other things that impact the organization and its people—matters.
  
  A study commissioned by Slack found that 80% of employees want to know more about how their company makes decisions, and 87% prioritize transparency in considering a potential new employer. And according to Deloitte, 86% of HR and business leaders see a connection between transparent communication from leaders and employee trust.
  
  IC provides the opportunity to share “behind-the-scenes” information in an open and transparent way that makes people feel included and empowered. Communicating candidly with employees—even about difficult decisions or company missteps—also signals that leadership trusts their people, which in turn inspires trust in the organization.

 

• Consistency. Trust isn’t built in a day. It’s nurtured over time through consistent, reliable communication. One study showed that employees at companies with consistent communication practices have higher levels of trust in their organizations and are more satisfied with their jobs.
  
  A regular communications cadence—with messages that align with the brand’s purpose, mission, and values—helps employees feel confident that they understand company plans and priorities, and are being kept in the loop as they evolve.

 

• Clarity. It’s difficult to foster trust with employees if they don’t understand what’s being communicated, or they’re inundated with too much irrelevant information.
  
  Keeping messages brief, simple, and relevant to employees’ interests and concerns makes it more likely they’ll have trust in the company and what it’s telling them.

 

• Authenticity. Trust must be earned, and can be quickly lost. If a company’s internal communications are at odds with its external actions—or messages about company culture or practices don’t match employees’ own experiences—people lose trust in their employers.

Sharing employee stories is another way to weave authenticity into the company’s internal messaging and make them feel more connected to the culture and each other. 

5 steps to a holistic, trust-inspiring IC strategy.

1. Craft a compelling story. Gartner research shows that performance improves when employees understand company goals and have context for policies and decisionsStart by clearly defining your company’s purpose, mission, and values, and create key messages that explain how they guide your priorities and actions. Consider also developing a succinct employee value proposition (EVP) that highlights the unique value you offer as an employer and what employees can expect from your company.Bring all these elements together in an emotionally driven, value-focused manifesto that will become the narrative “red thread” that runs through your internal communications.Finally, create an IC playbook with guidance for using these statements to tell a clear, consistent, compelling story across all your internal communications (adapted to specific campaign goals and employee audiences)—one that inspires trust and motivates action. And implement training to ensure that everyone creating internal content understands how to use it.
2. Tune into the right channels. One approach usually doesn’t fit all. Tailor your internal comms plan to the main employee audiences within your company and their preferred internal communications channels. These may be influenced by their roles, work settings, and schedules.For example, warehouse workers may not have computers, but their managers can share information at the daily morning huddle. Those on the sales floor may be most easily reachable by text and breakroom signage, while corporate staff (both in-office and remote) rely on email and instant messaging.Also consider the right channel for each message. Sending an email may be the fastest way to get the word out—but if you’re announcing a major change, a town hall provides a better opportunity to address fears and concerns.By communicating with employees in ways that are the most convenient and comfortable for them, you can make them feel informed, understood, and valued—a recipe for increased trust.
3. Foster feedback. Trust is a two-way street, so think of internal communications as internal conversations.IC’s major functions include helping employees understand what’s expected from them and motivating them to take action, whether it’s completing required training or signing up for a volunteer activity. But if those communications come across as commands, people are less likely to respond positively (or at all!).So where possible, invite employees to ask questions and offer feedback. This could take a variety of forms, such as a standard “let the IC team know what you think” link in each email, a virtual suggestion box on your intranet, and team meetings with managers.Better yet, use IC channels to solicit input on new initiatives before they’re finalized. Providing the opportunity to participate in the planning will go a long way toward getting broad buy-in from your workforce.The benefits go beyond timely responses and higher program participation. Research shows that workers who feel their voice is heard—a building block of trust—are nearly five times more likely to feel empowered to perform at their best.
4. Make it interesting and intuitive. Internal comms messages are most effective when employees find them engaging and easy to understand. So grab—and hold—their attention by presenting data and information in a clear and visually engaging way.Examples include converting metrics and numbers into infographics, using imagery to bring messages to life, and creating short videos instead of lengthy written pieces. (Video content has been shown to achieve higher engagement.)Making your messages more interesting and understandable helps increase employees’ trust in them—and by extension, in the people sending them.
5. Play up the personal. Highlighting employee stories, tailoring messaging to specific employee groups, celebrating individual and team successes… they’re all great ways to make internal comms feel more personal. And when people see themselves or their colleagues in company communications, they’re more likely to trust and feel connected to them.

A few ideas to get started:

• • Create a short survey for employees to describe a recent accomplishment (work or personal); use the results to highlight a variety of these “wins” across roles and departments in the company newsletter.
  • Ask employees to make smartphone videos of themselves answering a question, giving an opinion, or describing their participation in a company program; share them on the company intranet.
  • Produce a company podcast featuring leaders answering employee questions. One IC manager who implemented this idea found that “the ability to ask challenging questions was a strong metric of trust, as it reflected employees’ confidence in the organization’s openness.”

Cultivating a culture of trust is ultimately about creating an environment where people feel a sense of confidence, connection, and comfort.

Using the power of emotion and storytelling in internal communications—and ensuring that company messages are transparent, consistent, clear, and authentic—can help instill those feelings in employees and set the stage for long-term business success.

Ready to unleash the power of your company’s internal comms? Let’s talk.