In today’s fast-changing world, people are finding it harder than ever to trust institutions and leaders. Instead, they are looking to businesses to speak out on important issues.

The Edelman Trust Barometer 2021 reveals that trust in government, the media, and non-governmental organizations is falling around the world, while faith in business is holding up.

Many factors determine the way that institutions are perceived. In the era of so-called ‘fake news’, people are less trusting of news outlets and more likely to seek out news that confirms their own beliefs. Social media and so-called ‘echo chambers’ exacerbate the issue. This cultural divide also influences attitudes towards social issues, including race, inequality, and immigration.

Reduced trust translates into greater social and economic volatility. From a consumer perspective, trust means not having to carry out extensive research and checking before buying a product or service. Only 34% of consumers say they trust the brands they use, although 81% say trust is a deciding factor in purchasing decisions.

Businesses are being called on to fill the void left by ebbing trust in governments and other institutions. 

With the competitiveness of the retail and tourism industries only set to increase, many businesses need to find new ways to connect with the needs of their consumers and deliver consistent and high-quality products and services.

To read more on the topic of organizational resilience within the retail and tourism industries, click here.

How can standards help improve trust?

Consumers look for quality, value for money, and transparency when deciding whether to trust a brand or company. 

In a world where disinformation makes it more difficult to discover concrete facts, using a standard can demonstrate an objective characteristic of a product, service, or process. Standards apply equally to all organizations and are an easily identifiable way to demonstrate trustworthiness.

The kinds of areas where standards can improve business performance include:

• Quality management – make sure your services are as good as you’d like them to be

• Customer satisfaction – don’t just hope, make sure you’re serving your customers

• IT service management – you rely on them, so make certain your IT services are truly reliable

• Project management – learn how to get things done on time and on budget.

Standards supporting trust in the retail and tourism industries

There are several areas to consider that can help increase trust in organizations from consumers. These include; providing quality products and/or services, providing consistent service and/or products by making your supply chain more resilient to disruptions, meeting the needs of customers through advancing technology and improving brand integrity through improving sustainability practices, and embedding corporate social responsibility into the heart of your organization. 

Standards can help achieve each of these.

The world’s most widely adopted quality management standard is BS EN ISO 9001, used by organizations from all sectors and of all sizes to boost customer satisfaction. It sets out what’s needed to implement a quality management system – the purpose of which is to improve overall performance in your supply chain. Adopting BS EN ISO 9001 will help keep your operating costs low without sacrificing quality.

Another key standard is BS EN ISO 22301. This is the international standard that specifies the requirements for a business continuity management system. It helps you to identify potential threats to your retail or tourism supply chain. It allows you to put plans in place ahead of time to ensure your business doesn’t come to a standstill.

BS EN ISO 14001 standard provides guidance on how to consider multiple aspects of your business procurement, storage, distribution, product development, manufacturing, etc.- so that it reduces its impact on the environment. It also drives you to evaluate how you manage emergency response, customer expectations, stakeholders, and your relationships with your local community.

Whilst BS EN ISO 26000 outlines international recommendations for making your organization more socially responsible. It will guide you in building and delivering a long-term social responsibility strategy, whatever the nature of your business. BS EN ISO 26000 can help you address everything from working practices to environmental policies, sustainable development, and the communities that your organization impacts.

Standards are also critical in the commercialization of new technologies, building trust, and supporting the creation of new markets at home and internationally. BS EN ISO 56002:2021 helps organizations implement an innovation management system to be more flexible at adapting to new and efficient changes in the provision of their goods and/or services. 

Make vital improvements to the way your organization operates and inspire the trust of your customers by adding these standards to your collection today.

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Over 100,000 internationally recognized standards are available for simple and flexible access with a BSI Knowledge subscription. In your trust-critical industry, our subscription service puts the control in your hands, with traceability to monitor and demonstrate your business's compliance to standards, and self-serve functionality that enables you to manage your subscriptions, standards, users, and content quickly and simply. Request to learn more.