Waikato Business News April/May 2019

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS April/May 2019
11
Can I trust you? Should you care?
Our society is becoming more mistrustful.
We don’t believe every
media headline we
click, we take world
leaders’ words with a grain of
salt and we know we’re being
fed a whole lot of garbage on
social media.
So, what does this current
environment of mistrust mean
for your business? Companies
need to be proactive and intentional
about gaining respect.
Trust doesn’t “just happen” as
a result of doing good business.
But first, you have to ask
yourself: should you care if
people trust your company?
Well, let’s take a look at why it
might be a good thing:
The more people trust you,
the less you have to do a hard
sell and the more people will
seek out your products.
Trust makes it easier to
attract and retain great staff.
When your community
trusts you, it becomes easier
to work through a disruption
such as an expansion or construction
project that requires
consultation and consent.
With increased trust, influential
people begin spreading
positive word-of-mouth and
doing the trust-building work
for you.
And, perhaps most importantly,
a high trust quotient
means when you screw up –
and you will, we all do – it will
be easier and quicker to rebuild
trust.
I was recently listening to
a podcast featuring University
of Houston research professor
Brené Brown. She was dis-
cussing an excerpt from her
book, Rising Strong, about
how individuals can earn trust.
Her recommendations got
me thinking of some essentials
that corporates must follow if
they need to build more trust.
Here are a few things I personally
think are quite important:
Protect and build your circle
of trust
You become a trusted organisation
when you have other
trustworthy, respected organisations
working with you and
around you. Be purposeful in
fostering great relationships
with good organisations.
Don’t associate with companies
with shaky reputations
– over time, it will rub off on
you.
Under-promise and overdeliver
We learn to trust organisations
over time who do what they
say. If you promise your staff
you’ll celebrate when KPIs are
achieved, you’d better do it. If
you say you’ll meet an important
deadline, do it and tell people
you’ve done it.
When your staff, customers
and corporate friends see your
word is gold, trust will follow.
Say sorry when you screw up
Your mum’s advice works in
the corporate world too. If
you’ve done something wrong,
own up to it quickly. Say
you’re sorry, tell people how
you intend to fix it, do it and
tell people when you’ve fixed
it.
It’s a pretty simple formula
on paper, but tough to implement
when crunch time comes.
However, watch the trust bank
fill up quickly when you’re
able to eat a bit of humble pie.
Practise integrity
At a basic level integrity is
about demonstrating externally
who you are internally. So, as
a company, that means having
strong values. And then the
second step is demonstrating
those values to and through
your staff, to your customers,
suppliers, partners and community
over and over again.
Integrity is an action word.
How do you know if you’re
a trusted organisation? Ask.
Ask your staff, ask your customers,
ask influential people
in your community.
Then, once you have a
baseline measurement, create
an action plan to build
more trust if necessary. Or if
you’re where you want to be,
put some purposeful activities
in place that serve to keep you
in a healthy trust maintenance
mode.
PR AND COMMUNICATIONS
> BY HEATHER CLAYCOMB
Heather Claycomb is director of HMC Communications, a
Hamilton-based, award-winning public relations agencys.
Ardern: ‘The world looks to us
for solutions’ in primary sector
Numerous issues are
affecting the world’s
agriculture and horticulture
industries – including here
in New Zealand, where primary
industries are of paramount
importance. At a time where
concerns are arising about environmental
issues and sustainability,
food safety and country
of origin, and fair trade and
labour shortages, the Te Hono
Volume to Value Forum, held at
Zealong Tea Estate last month,
facilitated a much-needed discussion
around the future of
New Zealand’s primary sector.
Guest of honour Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern returned
to her home region to speak to
leaders in the agricultural and
horticultural sector at the event.
Though New Zealand is one
of the most efficient food producing
countries in the world,
she agreed that “intensive volume-driven
bulk commodity
models have brought along
issue of economic and environmental
sustainability”.
However, she also said that
due to New Zealand’s reputation
for being able to adapt and
adjust to changing demands, the
world is looking to us for solutions.
As well as a volume-tovalue
approach, she also praised
Agriculture Minister Damien
O’Connor’s “volume-to-values”
stance, which considers
values held by both producers
and consumers, such as quality
nutrition, environmentally
sound practice, traceable and
ethical labour supply chains,
and produce free of pests, disease,
and other contaminants.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and
Zealong general manager Gigi Crawford.
Fittingly, these issues were
addressed while looking over
New Zealand’s only commercial
tea estate, which has been
championing this approach
since its beginning more than
20 years ago. Zealong general
manager Gigi Crawford also
spoke of their volume-to-value
journey during the event.
Crawford touched on current
issues in tea producing countries,
such as fair trade and low
pay for tea pickers, high levels
of pesticides and residues, and
traceability, before sharing how
Zealong has found a solution.
By growing tea in a new, clean
environment, with 100 percent
organic certification and international
food safety standards,
it has ensured complete traceability
from soil to sip for consumers’
peace of mind.
Zealong’s organic and full
traceability certifications are
unique in the tea world, providing
third-party credibility that
their tea meets the high production
values for which New
Zealand is known. Crawford
added that New Zealand is one
of the few developed countries
which has no regulation of the
term “organic”, so certification
is essential.
Over the 10 years since
Zealong’s official opening,
they have opened a Tea House
restaurant, various function
and event spaces, and started
guided tours to give an insight
into the production of their tea.
These experiences have helped
Zealong demonstrate the value
of their tea: Crawford said that
their annual 40,000 visitors take
Zealong’s story and values out
to the world.
Following the lead of Zealong
and other innovative New
Zealand agribusinesses, Ardern
asserted that industry collaboration
and sharing of New Zealand’s
unique story and values,
such as kaitiakitanga, would
help our primary sector appeal
to markets willing to “[spend] a
little more on products that are
natural, wholesome, good for
them, good for the world”—
showing once again that New
Zealand is a world-leading
innovator.
KPT 19|160
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