INTHEBLACK May 2025 - Magazine - Page 24
F E AT U R E
They might blame an algorithm,
for example.”
Tesoriero agrees. “The pitfall is that
when organisations encounter a serious
issue or a crisis, they’re not always focused
on unravelling what the problem was
to ensure that it never happens again.”
When leaders acknowledge how trust
was lost, Tesoriero says they must clearly
explain how they will fix the problem.
“You can’t just restore things to how they
were,” he says. “You need to go above
and beyond. What can you do as a business
to demonstrate that you really care about
the damage that has been done through
the erosion of trust? How can you go one
step further to become an exemplary
business and raise the standards for everyone?”
While trust can be lost overnight, Ramanna
says it must be rebuilt in increments.
“The most effective way to build trust
is to do something that improves the
situation, and that often means starting
small, being humble, delivering something
demonstrable and then using that as
leverage for the next thing you can deliver,”
he says.
“Time and again, when we study
organisations that have had to rebuild trust
after a disaster or crisis of their own making,
it has involved being incremental, modest
and humble about the process.” ■
HOW TO MEASURE TRUST
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24 INTHEBLACK May 2025
Trust is a valuable asset, so how can it be measured with rigour and how should
businesses monitor its progress?
Some companies, such as RepTrak,
publish reports on the reputation
of large companies, based on consumer
surveys and media coverage. This can
help them to understand public
perceptions of their brand and the
extent of public trust. For smaller
businesses, Nino Tesoriero, chief counsel
at Ogilvy PR, advises exploring customer
perceptions more directly.
“Customer surveys that specifically
delve into the issue of trust are very
helpful,” he says. “They should look
at what’s working well and what you
could do better. If you’re not talking
to customers about this today, you won’t
really understand their level of trust
in your business. This is a good way
of measuring and monitoring trust.”
Tesoriero adds that internal surveys
are also a valuable way of gauging trust.
“Your employees are your most
important ambassadors and advocates,
and if they don’t believe and trust
the values of the leadership and the
organisation, then your customers won’t
either,” he says.
“Start with your employees,
your stakeholders, your partners.
Find out how they feel about you,
and then ask your customers as
well. From there, you can make an
assessment about where you need
to improve or where you’re doing well.”
