Building trust is not rhetoric or one more phrase within the purposes of corporate communication, it is a true call made to those who today exercise the role of communicators.
To generate relationships of trust, it takes more than extensive technical knowledge or a specialized background about the work our organizations carry out. To build relationships of trust, a high dose of humility is needed, to see people in the public of interest and not just what they represent.
One of the tasks that most concerns us from corporate communication is the relationship with the media, to which have been added the so-called influencers who with great scope can influence what thousands of people perceive of our organization.
How long does it take to build trusting relationships? A lot. We cannot expect that the simple fact of assuming the role as strategic communicators of one or another organization or entity, covers us by itself with reliability.
Trust is earned by hand, not only by sharing timely and truthful information, but also by establishing permanent communication channels beyond the day-to-day news.
If a journalist is asked to be a good person before being a journalist, the organizational communicator is not exempt from said condition.
Being a true corporate communication strategist implies understanding that this role demands simplicity to establish close and trustworthy relationships, getting away from the egos into which any human being can fall when holding certain positions of privilege, and a deep sense of humanity to connect with those so-called "publics of interest" that become the purpose of our work.
Not prioritizing trust relationships as one of the musts of our mission in organizations and seeing the complexity that this entails, will not allow us to move forward or make a difference in our relationship.
As communicators of a social organization, the call is to make a difference, to build solid bridges that last over time no matter what organization you represent.
Written by Jackeline Pájaro López, Communications Coordinator at TRASO.
TRASO is a social, civil and business collective that develops initiatives, articulates efforts and manages alliances in search of raising people's quality of life, generating prosperity in communities and reducing the inequality gap.
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