Or at least the word does. As Neil Morrison so accurately puts it in one of his recent posts:

“I have a confession. Never… absolutely NEVER in my life have I woken up and thought….”I wish I was more engaged”. Moreover, I can guarantee that there is not a single employee within your organisation that has either.”

Fact. Neil Morrison speaks the truth. It’s bullshit bingo. Consultant bollocks.

Most businesses have built the myth of engagement into an entity in itself, totally forgetting that it is a state, an outcome, a result of other things.  Other things like Trust. As a business leader, ask yourself how much money you are spending on engagement – if you are in the FTSE 250 I can tell you that number is going to be huge. Now ask yourself how much money and energy you spend each year on Trust.

Yep. Don’t worry, I’ll fill the silence for you…

Now step out of your corporate role for one minute and put yourself into the role of citizen. Family member. Friend. Mum or dad. Think of people you trust. And, more importantly, those that trust you. What did you need to do to build that trust with others? And how did they build that trust with you?

Here’s the irony – it didn’t cost you anything. Not in money terms anyway. Trust builds in a number of ways – through actions congruent with intent, underpinned by honesty and authenticity.

Trust is big. Check out the latest Edelman Trust Barometer and you will see that for the second year running CEO’s and Government Officials come bottom in the list of credible spokespeople. Notice that your peers (a person like me) is up there at number 3 for the second year running, largely driven in my view by the rise of social. (Note to all CXO’s who feel the social phenomena is a passing fad!)

There is science behind it too. Watch this cracking Ted talk from Paul Zack about the science behind trustworthiness. (Second note to CXO’s, check out what Paul says about the impact of using social media).  The video features in this excellent presentation from Scott McArthur – Building and maintaining trust – which is also well worth a review.

So, if you think you have an engagement problem in your organisation, you should consider a couple of things. First, it’s not an engagement problem. It’s a trust problem. And not just trust in you, the wider leadership of the ‘organisation’. It’s likely you are also having problems trusting your people.

Second, you should rethink your budget. You can’t buy trust.  Turns out one of the quickest and easiest way to release the trustworthiness molecule is also free. Give someone a hug. Yep. A hug. According to Paul, 8 hugs a day would make you a lot happier and the world a better place. Maybe, just maybe, it could do the same for your organisation too.

Gareth Jones