In the Deloitte Global Boardroom Program’s latest Frontier survey, both board members and executives agree trust is important and think it’s their responsibility. But few include stakeholder trust-building in their corporate governance strategy. What’s stopping them?

Trust is at the core of all great human relationships. For businesses, earning and protecting stakeholder trust is fundamental to ongoing viability and success, not just in terms of reputation, but as an important driver of financial performance. Recent Deloitte research revealed that trustworthy companies outperform their peers in market value by up to four times, and that 88% of customers will return to buy from a brand they trust. Our research also found that customer perceptions can sour when companies fail to build trust, negatively impacting brand value. Workforce research uncovers the powerful link between trust and employee engagement: We found that 79% of employees who highly trust their employer feel motivated to work.

To better understand how companies—and boards, in particular—are addressing trust as a critical agenda item, the Deloitte Global Boardroom Program surveyed 177 directors and C-suite executives across 30 countries. We also spoke with business and academic leaders and subject matter specialists to get their insights on what is being done in boardrooms around the world, where the obstacles lie, and where boards could do more to help build and nurture stakeholder trust.