CFOs have a tremendous responsibility to ensure trust and the ethics around it across the business. As Steve McNally, CFO of PTI, wrote in his column on Global Ethics Day last year when writing about the integrity and trust of finance professionals, "professional ethics is in our DNA."
However, new data from PwC suggests not only are executives grossly overestimating the trust others have in them, but they are more likely to “trust to a great extent” someone outside of the C-Suite than within it. In a U.S.-based survey pool mixed between 548 executives, 2,515 consumers, and 2,039 employees, less than half (44%) of executives said they trust one another, with more than half (53%) saying they trust non-C-Suite members.
Trust With Customers, Employees, and Stakeholders
Customer engagement is an area of trust that over 42% of business executives cite as the biggest risk their organizations face. Executives also reported poor trust leads to an inability to expand in new geographic markets (41%) and overall profitability (38%).
Trust between employees and their organization isn’t pushing employees out the door, but it may lead them to participate in current labor trends including quiet quitting and coffee badging. Forty-two percent of employees reported productivity as the most impacted area if they don’t trust their employer, topping the list. Operational efficiency, once again hinting at productivity concerns, was named by 40% of employees too.
A large majority (86%) of executives said they highly trust their employees, but by contrast, only 60% of employees think leadership trusts them. Additionally, 86% of executives believe employees trust them, but just over two-thirds (67%) of employees said they actually do. This trust gap has increased to 19% from 14% a year ago.
Additionally, 41% of executives said the cost of capital is at risk if investors don’t trust the company. A nearly equal amount (38%) said access to capital and market value can also be impacted. As the M&A and IPO markets face their own challenges, CFOs who can build trust with stakeholders may put themselves in a better position for future inorganic growth.
Employers Trust Remote Employees
Despite return-to-office initiatives driving disagreements and negative culture in some companies, more than two-thirds (68%) of executives said they have equal trust for remote and in-person employees. Only a fifth (20%) said they trust in-person employees more.
However, many employees displayed a considerable amount of productivity paranoia in the data. Nearly a third (31%) of employees said they think their leaders trust in-person employees more. This is contrary to some companies who said remote employees are unlikely to get promoted if they do not have some type of office commitment.
Responsible AI and Data Approach
Responsible AI (RAI) is an area where executives can help create trust between employees while also moving the business forward. Nearly four in 10 (39%) said they have a strategy in place around RAI already. Surveyors added this number may be inflated if executives are including cybersecurity approaches in their RAI efforts.
When it comes to disclosures on AI governance framework, only 33% said they do so. Employees and consumers (69% and 66%, respectively) said disclosure is an important issue for them.
Data privacy is also a concern and an important element of organizational trust. Major portions of employees and consumers (89% and 88%, respectively) said they feel it's important for companies to disclose policies around data privacy. However, executives don’t agree — less than a third (32%) said they should disclose their data privacy policies.
PwC surveyed 548 business executives, 2,515 consumers, and 2,039 employees in the United States across various industries. It was fielded January 12-17, 2024.