Trust gives social license to operate

Pedro Torres
Global Director of Communication and Institutional Relations at Gerdau

Pedro began his career in communication agencies, later moving on to Sadia (currently BRF) and Suzano to Gerdau – a path with extensive experience in the area of corporate communications for large companies. He was elected, in 2022, by popular vote, Communicator of the Year in Brazil at the Aberje Awards and, in 2023, according to a PR Scope survey, listed among the five most admired Corporate Communication professionals in Brazil. Journalist by training, specializing in Branding, through Kellogg School of Management, Sustainable Management, by Fundação Dom Cabral, in Government Relations, by Insper, and an MBA in Marketing from FGV.

No company reaches 103 years of age without establishing ties with its audiences, says the global director of Communication and Institutional Relations at Gerdau – giant with around 30 thousand employees, annual net revenue of almost R$ 70 billion, presence in seven countries and 29 steel producing units. According to Pedro Torres, trust with stakeholders gives social license to operate, generates engagement, respect and participation in the market.

In three questions about trust, Pedro Torres also explains the essential fronts of action to gain this asset for companies. Check it out below:

1. When you think of trust, what three words come to mind?

The three words that come to mind regarding trust are truth, reciprocity and transparency.

2. Thinking about the gains generated by trust for Gerdau, which ones would you highlight as the most relevant?

When a company manages to establish bonds of trust with its audiences, the gains are multiple, but I will mention three. When we talk about society in general, trust gives us social license to operate. Especially in a heavy industry like ours, when you establish trust with stakeholders, it generates a gain. With employees, it generates engagement and productivity. When a person trusts, they have engagement and respect. And, obviously, when we look at a more marketing aspect, when we look at customers, one of the gains is market share.

3. Among everything Gerdau does to gain and maintain trust, what are the three fronts/actions that you consider essential?

It may seem like no more than an obligation, but it is important to say that the first issue is to be a company that has ethics as its central pillar. This is the first step to establishing trust with anyone. We are a very correct company, and ethical conduct is the first thing so that we can establish bonds of trust. Second, and this has a lot to do with communication, is transparency. We have evolved a lot in this, in providing transparency not only for the good things, but for the challenges and dilemmas that an industry like ours also has. And that establishes trust and admiration, even when you have problems to solve. And the other is the quality and excellence of Gerdau's products and services. A company, if it does not establish ties with its audiences, will not reach this age (Gerdau turned 123 years old in January). Trust is a difficult process to gain, but easy to lose; Therefore, these behaviors and characteristics have to be maintained very frequently and consistently, because there is no point in gaining trust and not keeping it. This is the big challenge.