Proof that TRUST results in financial performance

Most of us know intuitively that trust, collaboration, and leadership make for more successful organizations. But what if we could prove it? The great news is, the data is IN! When we get rid of fear based behaviors, when we can trust and collaborate and work from a positive perspective, that UNFEAR results in increased shareholder value.

Interaction Associates launched a powerful survey in 2009 on Trust in Business. To take this year’s survey click HERE.

There are several significant differences between high-trust organizations and other organizations. High-trust organizations scored “extremely or very effective” in the following important performance areas, as compared with other organizations.

High-trust organizations are:

Better able to attract deploy and develop talent
 
 Better at achieving innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship
 
 More likely to exhibit organizational behavior that is consistent with company values/ethics
 
 Better able to retain key employees
 
 Better at developing customer loyalty/ retention
 
 More likely to be effective at people and process aspects of collaboration than other organizations.

In addition, high levels of trust correlate with high levels of effective leadership and collaboration inside organizations.

High trust organizations are much more likely to describe their organizations as “highly collaborative” (87 percent vs. 24 percent others) and as organizations with “effective leadership” (91 percent vs. 35 percent).
 
 In addition, 93 percent of respondents from high trust organizations trust others based on “their contribution to our shared commitment and responsibility” vs. 52 percent of other organizations.

The most exciting thing to come out of this research in my perspective is that there is now proof that high trust, high collaboration organizations create more positive financial outcomes.

Interaction Associates looked at the seven publicly traded companies in both the top 10 percent and bottom 10 percent of the surveyed companies. In an analysis using Yahoo! Finance, data drawn from portfolios of these publicly traded companies showed sharp differences in the earnings and P/E ratios over the past year. On average, high performing companies had earnings and P/E ratios superior to those in the bottom 10 percent, and the numbers were significant.

Earnings
 
 Low Performers – $.21 High Performers + $2.72

Price/ Earnings Ratio
 
 Low Performers 14.67 High Performers 18.85

That amounts to a 28.5 percent premium for the seven highest performing companies.

For more information or to download last year’s research results, visit this page: Building Trust In Business