All big institutions have faced a crisis of confidence in the past
few years. In fact, in lack of trust, the nation’s banks have paralleled
the Federal government. According to Dennis J. Jacobe, Ph.D., Chief Economist for Gallup,
last November, Gallup found that only 15 percent of Americans had "a
great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the U.S. banking system.
According to Dr. Jacobe, that's a “new low.”
Dr. Jacobe feels that many of the problems banks have with customers
derive from a lack of understanding of “behavioral economics,” i.e., the
relatively new social science that focuses on “the ways emotion affects
how people make decisions and, ultimately, how they behave.” To address
emotional issues with facts and reason is not likely to be very
successful. On the other hand, engaged employees who can act as brand
advocates can have a major impact, one person at a time.
How did you feel when you heard your bank was going to charge you a
fee for using your debit card? Would you feel any better if you knew
that the banks were merely passing on a cost that they themselves felt
was being unfairly imposed by the Federal Reserve and the Dodd Frank
Act, an act with the good intentions of improving competition? Probably
not. As Dr. Jacobe points out, a major principle of behavioral economics
is that people don’t like paying for services that once were free.
(Think about Southwest Airlines and their effective commercials about
paying for baggage.)
A consumer backlash resulted from the debit card incident, and the
fees disappeared. But the story highlights how, in an atmosphere of
distrust, people are ready to believe the worst. Moreover, they tend to
react rather than carefully consider the other side.
The Federal brand: reason, emotion, and listening
In the January 2012 Government Executive article on restoring the Federal brand, three experts weighed in on the challenge. All indicated an emotional factor:
- Mark Holzer, dean of the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University's Newark campus:
"Trust in the federal government has been falling from a high in 1963
of about 80 percent to around 30 percent today. This is discouraging to
people who work for the federal government. The public is upset about
taxes, but federal employees are spending efficiently and wisely, for
the most part. What they do is not clear to people who are paying their
salaries." (Emphasis supplied.)
- Karlyn Bowman, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute:
Negative stereotypes derive in part from the expansion of government's
role in American lives. "When government gets involved in moral issues
such as abortion and gay rights, it tells some people that their views
are not acceptable. It was easier to be good citizens when government
did a lot less."
- Lara Shane, vice president for communications and research at the Partnership for Public Service:
Many observers distinguish between the behemoth of government in the
abstract and the good deeds of specific agencies and civil servants.
"The American people don't have a solid understanding of the difference
between state, local and federal governments. They're all painted with
the same brush, and Congress' ratings are at an all-time low."
One might answer each of these comments with a rational response:
Federal civil servants don’t make laws and usually don’t even fashion
policy. They implement what Congress and the President direct them to
do, regardless of who gets elected. They work for you, and through your
elected representatives you can change their priorities, roles, and job
titles. That’s because almost every Federal job has its origin in
agencies and programs, funded by Congress. And if they are the
implementers of what “we the people” want, don’t we want them to be the
best and brightest, most competent people we can find?
Make sense? Probably. Will it change minds and instill trust? Probably not.
In The Language of Trust: Selling Ideas in a World of Skeptics,
Michael Maslansky, one of America’s leading researchers, points out
that most advocates look at communications backwards. We’re caught up in
what we want to say, which may be a far cry from the real concerns of
our audiences. Perhaps that’s the context for evaluating any effort at
“restoring the Federal brand.” It won’t grow out of long meetings and
intense policy discussions. It can only come from the more painstaking
process of listening non-judgmentally to your audience.
How many Federal employees have taken the time to engage in dialog
with someone who wants to know what they do and why they do it? How many
can personally and simply answer the questions of the distrustful
skeptics? In short, how many are brand ambassadors for the United States
Government?
Brand ambassadors: person-to-person communications
TMP Government and our parent TMP Worldwide have long encouraged
clients to look at brand ambassadors, not digital or traditional
materials, as the ultimate end of employer branding. Materials can set
the themes and tell the stories. Yet the moment of truth for any
employer brand is when someone asks the employee, “How’s work?” If they
look at their shoes, trail off and change the subject, the questioner
will leave with the sense of “not very good.” On the other hand, if they
answer squarely and enthusiastically, they have made a friend for the
organization and extended the brand.
Engaged employees naturally make the best ambassadors. So part of
developing ambassadors involves the thorny problem of engagement.
Dr. Jacobe expresses this point well with respect to banking:
“Employee engagement is more important today than at any time since the
Great Depression because of lack of confidence in the banking industry
and the declining confidence in individual banking companies. Most
Americans don't seem to fully recognize the vital role our banking
system plays in the success of the U.S. economy. Fully engaged bank
employees can be important advocates for banking and their institutions
by explaining to consumers and small-business owners alike not only the
key role banking fills but also why banking needs as many advocates as
possible right now.”
The interesting thing is that these conversations can take place
anywhere: at work or social occasions, wherever people pass the time by
sharing their lives.
Can something so simple be an antidote to skepticism and hostility?
Let’s put that another way: Can any genuine and good idea move in any
other way than person-to-person. People, even with all their frailties,
are easier to trust than institutions. And what is the civil service
after all but people?
For information on how TMP Government can help your agency develop brand ambassadors, contact John Bersentes at john.bersentes@TMPGovernment.com or call him at 703-269-0092.
Follow the author, Ellis Pines, on Twitter (@EllisPines) and blog at http://www.meshworking.com/home/author/ellisppines
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