In this post, I will look at an important factor in deciding how well a company will be able to communicate with its stakeholders. For a company to be successful in creating an atmosphere where employees and customers feel comfortable
collaborating with each other, they must first build and maintain trust in order to have successful relationships with their publics.
In her 2003 article titled Guidelines For Measuring Trust in Organizations, Katie Paine mentions ten dimensions of trust that are necessary in building mutually beneficial relationships. These dimensions include competence, integrity, dependability, honest, vulnerability, concern for employees, identification, control mutuality, satisfaction, and commitment. These dimensions shape every stage of the relationship between an organization and its employees. The company must be transparent, which is reflected in Paine’s dimensions of honesty, integrity and dependability. I believe that control mutuality one of the more important dimensions in building trust. While it would seem that the company would have most of the control in company/stakeholder relationships, it is just as important that they recognize how important the stakeholders are in allowing them to be successful.
Once all of these components of trust are in place, the organization may begin to effectively collaborate with its publics. When deciding on which social media tools to use, the company should keep their stakeholders in mind. Decisions should not only be made on what would be easiest for the company, but more importantly, on what their publics feel would be the most effective way to communicate. Whether it be a blog, wiki, social network, podcast, or video podcast, the consumer must be kept in mind.
After the company has implemented the tactics that they feel will promote the most collaboration, they must continue to evaluate the relationships they hold with stakeholders to ensure they maintain them. It makes sense that there are definite overlaps in maintenance and quality indicators, including control mutuality, trust, and commitment. The better that companies are able to maintain their relationships with their stakeholders the more likely they will be of better quality. While social media tools are making it easier for companies to collaborate with internal and external publics, in order for these tools to be successful the company must ensure that they are engaging in mutually beneficial relationships with the stakeholders.
Thomas McHardy's Blog 