‘People like me’ should be in the boardroom

So we see that trust in ‘People Like Me’ and employees is higher than the CEO of an organisation, according to our Trust Barometer 2012.  This may come as no surprise on the back of a year of public and indeed Government disquiet around executive pay, with calls for greater transparency at the highest levels of business.  It is felt that the leaders of big corporates no longer represent the best interests of the average person and it is now the public who are mobilising and calling for change.

Combine this with the fact trust in social media has increased significantly (admittedly from a low base) and we can see the democratisation of a company’s corporate reputation – meaning these are no longer built within a boardroom. More than ever before the general population feel they should have a say in how businesses are governed, how they should perform and how they engage with ‘People Like Me’.

This has long been the case for many a consumer brand, but is still proving to be new territory for big business where opinion-formers and elites were traditionally the most critical audience in influencing corporate strategy.

The rapid mobilisation of groups such as the global Occupy movement continue to illustrate the level of disquiet amongst the public.  Whilst it remains to be seen what impact these will truly have on business practices and governments in the long-term, there is no doubt that the strength of feeling behind these groups have changed the perception of the role of business in society.   The summer riots in London also amplified a feeling of ‘them’ and ‘us’, resulting in higher levels of distrust surrounding our big institutions.   There is a feeling that businesses could and should do more.

Big business has some ground to make up to bridge the perception gap between expectation and performance, but this is by no means insurmountable.  The opportunity here is significant for business – to shift from maintaining a license to operate to creating a license to lead.  Positively contributing to society rather than reacting to it will create new operating environments for business and will restore levels of trust with consumers. 

It seems that understanding that a company’s corporate reputation is not shaped by an elite few or maintained within a boardroom is a good, albeit rudimentary, place to start.  The next step will be ensuring that a ‘Person Like Me’ is represented throughout an organisation and indeed, that this takes place from the bottom right up to the boardroom.

Image Credit: (KJGarbutt), (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjgarbutt/6619231515/in/photostream/).