Why our firms need to ‘junk the jargon’ to build trust
How companies act and behave has the greatest effect on their reputations, according to new research on public attitudes towards business.
Everyone’s Business, a study conducted by the CBI in partnership with Porter Novelli and research company Opinium, found that people value job creation and want business to take action to “junk the jargon” and treat their employees well.
Business is a powerful force for good, making a massive contribution to people’s lives. Firms across the UK employ almost 27 million people – that’s nearly 2 million more than they did five years ago. In Wales the private sector employ over 1.1m people – over 100,000 more than five years ago.
Last year businesses paid £205bn taxes in the UK that pays for nearly one in three teachers or hospitals.
In Wales just one business tax – non-domestic rates – raised almost £1bn last year.
The study found that here in Wales 58% of employees say they have a good relationship with their employer compared to 67% across the UK. The CBI has set business a target of increasing this to 80% in five years’ time and we’d welcome your views on how we can reach that target together.
However, it is concerning that 66% of respondents in Wales view CEOs as far removed from the world of ordinary people – although this figure is lower than the 77% average across the UK and the lowest percentage of all UK regions and nations, we must not be complacent. This figure needs to be reduced as the relationship between business and society has never been more important.
Businesses are taking this issue seriously and know they can and must do more to restore public trust. While there will be sectoral variations, the research shows that firms feel more concerned about good customer service than members of the public, and can go further by treating people as individuals.
Let’s remember that the overwhelming majority of businesses are a force for good, creating jobs, economic growth and contributing taxes that help pay for our schools, hospitals, roads and much more besides.
Firms of all sizes and sectors, like Airbus or GE for example, can be proud about their role in powering our economy and providing fantastic goods and services that make a positive difference to people.
People tell us they recognise the importance of business – particularly in providing jobs – but there is still a reputation challenge and a clear disconnect between what businesses do and what people believe.
To tackle this, businesses need to improve the way they interact with employees and customers, to show they are more than faceless machines motivated by profit.
Treating employees and customers well is the starting point for improving people’s relationship with business, accompanied by clear communication.
That’s why the CBI calling on business leaders to think about ways to improve their interactions with employees and customers and junk the jargon.
To make good on our aim of improving people’s relationship with business, we’ll publish a twice-yearly tracker of attitudes towards business to measure progress.
This is a big moment for the UK, and business has the ideas, evidence and solutions to help navigate the country through these choppy waters. But to be truly effective business needs public support, generated by building trust with its employees and customers.