Growing Trust In Record Election Year: Businesses' Opportunity To Lead
As voters head to the polls, companies can seize the moment to foster empathy, champion democratic values and collaborate for a more resilient future
This article covers:
- The challenges and opportunities for businesses to rebuild trust amid geopolitical tensions, AI advancements, and disinformation
- Lessons from various regions on how business leaders can navigate election-related disruptions, such as collaborating with local networks and adopting mindful leadership practices
- Key steps for rebuilding trust, including promoting citizen engagement, raising awareness of digital risks, reinforcing democratic values, fostering empathy
The year 2024 marks an unprecedented moment in the history of global politics. Over 60 countries, encompassing roughly half of the world’s population and around four billion eligible voters, are holding national elections.
This record-breaking year presents both challenges and opportunities for businesses to lead in rebuilding trust amid a perfect storm of geopolitics, artificial intelligence (AI), and disinformation.
Crowe Global’s Art of Smart is designed to help business leaders make smarter decisions by informing and inspiring. Undoubtedly, C-suite executives around the globe will need much guidance to navigate what could be the most turbulent 12 months in history.
All four of the pillars on which smarter decisions are founded, according to the Art of Smart’s methodology—boldness, growth, innovation, and diversity—are relevant here. Boldness and innovation are the most important.
Trust around the world
The latest Edelman Trust Index, published in January 2024 and focused on the “Global 28,” found that citizens had the highest trust in the country’s business, NGOs, government and media in China (79 percent), India (76 percent), the United Arab Emirates (74 percent), Indonesia (74 percent), and Saudi Arabia (72 percent).
At the other end of the table were Japan, Argentina, and the United Kingdom (all 39 percent), with the latter dropping four percent in a year, most likely due to recent political chaos. In the UK, for example, 60 percent of citizens said the institution of government was “completely ineffective at pushing through positive change.” Trust in the UK government in 2024 fell to just 30 percent—the lowest level since 2012.
Meanwhile, businesses were trusted in 15 of Edelman’s Global 28, with India (82 percent), China (81 percent), and Indonesia (80 percent) scoring the highest. South Korea and the UK were below half, with 45 and 48 percent, respectively—meaning there was average distrust in those two countries.
Those figures were calculated through answers from over 32,000 respondents in November 2023—months before anyone voted in the record election year. It’s likely that the number of elections, especially where new political parties have taken charge, will have further eroded trust in political institutions. What should business leaders look out for, and how can they take advantage?
A unique chance for businesses to rebuild trust
“Companies have a public-good role at the moment, but first and foremost, they must keep their promises,” warns Azhar, Co-Chair of WEF’s Global Futures Council on Complex Risks. “In a state where [government] trust levels are low, firms benefit from high-trust environments because customers who trust people around them are likely to spend more. If they are nervous, they will hoard their money under their mattress.”
London-based Azhar, author of Exponential, underlines that businesses must be true to their word to take advantage. “It’s imperative to play out their role as meeting their promises and being stewards and nurturers of trust while other parts of society catch up,” he continues. “Companies have to act with probity and clarity. If you say your product will do X, it has to do X.”
To build trust, Azhar emphasizes the critical importance of customer service and engagement, including being laser-focused on improving the company’s net promoter score (NPS)—a market research metric derived from a single survey question that asks respondents to rate the likelihood of recommending a company, product, or service to a friend or colleague.
Azhar points out that when a customer has an issue, particularly if it’s unclear, it is essential to “give them the benefit of the doubt” and address their concerns with empathy. He highlights the shift from focusing on “transactional efficiency, which has been the norm for the past 30 years,” to a more customer-centric approach.
All eyes on the United States
While the US result could arguably have the most significant impact on the world’s future, it is the third-largest election regarding voters, behind India and the European Parliament.
Indeed, South Asia, home to almost two billion people, has the highest concentration of elections this year. Seven of the world’s ten most populous countries, including the biggest, India, with 1.44 billion, are holding national elections.
Trust lessons from Singapore
A general election is expected by November 23. While PAP is all but guaranteed to win thanks to electoral and legal systems weighted towards the ruling party, the affluent island is not immune to the geopolitical tensions the rest of the world is facing.
Jason Lin, director of Lim Wen Heng Construction Pte Ltd, has first-hand experience of how the ripple effects of global “black swan events” can reach Singapore’s relatively stable shores. Like many in construction, his company saw supply chain issues and the cost of labor, logistics, and materials increase astronomically during the coronavirus pandemic. Ultimately, however, they decided to absorb the losses rather than renege on their commitments.
“This worked out for us, as we were able to save on preliminary costs after completing the projects and divert our resources to take on new and profitable opportunities,” Lin says. “Post-coronavirus, we’re glad it boosted trust with our clients, and the company came out stronger.”
With the pandemic now in the rearview mirror, Peggy Tng, APAC Ambassador for the Global Sports Innovation Centre (GSIC), sees what she terms “technorism”—the daily consumption of technology as a way of life, whether it be the way we communicate, shop, or work—as the biggest threat to trust in her home nation.
Noting that “authentic” was named the word of the year by Merriam-Webster in 2023, she says: “In today’s world, where technology is increasingly replacing personal interactions, the need for business leaders to engage with authenticity has accelerated.”
Azhar agrees with this point. In the age of AI being disingenuous and not transparent will damage leadership trust. “You need to be very cautious about ‘faux-thenticity,’ or false authenticity, as it won't be effective for you.”
Singapore has one of the most competitive economies and some of the highest living standards in the world but, despite incredibly low levels of violent crime, the population is plagued by digital scams. “Being a reputable brand definitely helps, as people here appreciate reliability, especially when making a high-value purchase,” says Lin. “The initiative to cultivate an image of trust and stability has to come from the top management, as they control the resources and people.”
Having only recently started in her role for GSIC—an organization that connects a global ecosystem of 1,500 companies around the world and aspires to be the global reference center for innovation in sports—Tng has implanted her tried-and-tested formula for success: Trust = Quality Relationships + Generative Conversations + Business Results.
“Quality Relationships” refer to a company’s shared vision and core values, modeled from the top down. “Generative Conversations” are based on a culture of learning, questioning, and openness to diverse perspectives that raise the level of collective wisdom.
Finally, “Business Results” are gained thanks to increased productivity and product quality due to this collective wisdom. “These business results then feedback into the same loop to engender a higher level of trust among team members, and the virtuous cycle repeats,” explains Tng.
Human-centered approach
This human-centered approach goes further than simply providing products or services. It requires understanding the complex needs, both functional and emotional, of the people being served. "When they're able to take a human-centered approach beyond the functional job that you're solving, that's where loyalty, trust, and relationships are best built," Epperson explains.
The current landscape presents a unique opportunity for businesses to rethink their models and offerings. Companies can create adjacent products or services that directly enable trust by leveraging their capabilities and infrastructure in new ways.
Epperson cites the example of financial institutions, which possess vast amounts of information and are held to high standards related to identification and fraud prevention. "It's not hard to think about what adjacent services or products a financial service provider might be able to provide to enable trust. Things like digital identity, for instance.”
As businesses steer through this uncharted territory, a steadfast commitment to professionalism and a human touch will be key differentiators. Those who embrace a people-first mindset, seeking to address both the practical and emotional needs of their customers and employees, will be best positioned to build enduring trust and loyalty in an uncertain world.
Schick, author of Deepfakes, suggests that businesses can leverage various technologies to demonstrate the origins and history of their content, providing transparency about its source. She parallels how secure websites display an HTTPS lock icon, indicating that the site is protected. Similarly, Schick envisions a future where the internet’s architecture incorporates mechanisms that allow users to identify the provenance of the content they encounter with ease, ensuring trust and authenticity in an AI-generated world.
“Trust is huge because what you see happening in society, with the exponential rate of change, is a decline in trust in our political and public institutions,” continues Schick. “Decades of research show that trust basically distils down to three things. It's integrity, benevolence, and competence.”
She warns: “So just like we trust our leaders to have integrity, benevolence, or be competent, the same will be true for AI systems. Unless they can show us that they have those three qualities, we’re not really going to be able to trust them.”
Smart collaboration with local networks
He stresses that elections come with specific sales and revenue patterns that business leaders can plan for, but it’s not easy. “Everything moves fast and in unexpected directions. We learned the importance of fast action and contingency plans.”
Nigeria’s 2023 election took a turn with highly contested results and violent outbursts in some locations. The economic impact of whoever wins an election takes months at its fastest, but the on-ground experience of election periods is immediate. “Security could never be enough,” says Olanrewaju. Election hotspots in Nigeria erupted, leading to an estimated 39 deaths and an immense loss of properties. ParcelsMart, often tasked with moving precious packages, had to “prioritize high-level security and intelligence for both package and personnel.”
Olanrewaju argues that the biggest lesson, especially in developing communities, is local collaboration. “We’ve always supported our communities and collaborated with local authorities, which helped gather intelligence and create a broad net around you.” The election helped ParcelsMart strengthen its local network, which has continued to help beyond election periods.
Nigeria’s new President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressive Congress, introduced various policies that drastically changed the face of business. The government has doubled down on taxation, increased the foreign exchange rate, and removed subsidies on gas prices, which caused fuel prices to almost triple pre-election prices. All of these made business hard to do. Large multinationals, including British pharmaceutical companies, are exiting the country, citing tough conditions. Small businesses like ParcelsMart have navigated and thrived despite these conditions.
“We’ve learned tough lessons on speed, contingency, and communication,” Olanrewaju says. The smaller and simpler operations remain, the easier it is to plan contingencies, respond efficiently, and communicate effectively.
ParcelsMart delivers to 190 countries worldwide. According to Olanrewaju, over 40 percent of its priority markets, including the US and other major African countries, will have an election in 2024. “We’re transferring the lessons learned from Nigeria’s election, and more, to navigating these situations.”
In many of their election markets, Olanrewaju says they’re building strong relationships with local stakeholders and examining security options in places with volatile security situations. “We’re also stocking up on necessary operations tools, clearing our accounts, and devising communication models upfront because you’re never prepared enough,” he adds. “Stay on your toes.”
We’ve always supported our communities and collaborated with local authorities, which helped gather intelligence and create a broad net around you. We’ve learned tough lessons on speed, contingency, and communication. We’re transferring the lessons learned from Nigeria’s election, and more, to navigating these situations. We’re also stocking up on necessary operations tools, clearing our accounts, and devising communication models upfront because you’re never prepared enough. Stay on your toes.
Mindful leadership in the Balkans
Eli Zhabevska, Principal at South Central Ventures (SCV), a regional venture capital fund specializing in tech, sees the region as a powerhouse for engineering talent that smart leaders can leverage to build international, politics-agnostic businesses. Since the coronavirus crisis, she’s seen business leaders steer away from local affiliations and profoundly shift towards global practices to fight brain drain and retain talent.
“The pandemic accelerated the adoption of improved standards of working in the region, adopting not only higher salaries but also additional perks and benefits, introducing remote work and flexible hours, improving diversity, and paying attention to company culture,” Zhabevska says.
SCV has invested in over 40 companies in the region, from startups to scale-ups with more than 150 workers. Zhabevska states that the fund’s focus on mindful leadership and positive human resources practices has helped it select which companies to back up.
“Staying focused on the mission, promoting transparency, and being respectful of different opinions has proven to be an effective way to manage any risks associated with political changes or disruptions,” Zhabevska says.
This is especially relevant in North Macedonia, which recently underwent presidential and parliamentary elections that brought the right-wing, nationalist VMRO-DPMNE back to power. The elections opened old questions about the party’s impact on the country’s accession talks with the European Union and the local labor market. Like Britain’s EU exit (Brexit), some worry that the new government can further isolate the country and build walls with its neighbors.
Zhabevska, though, believes that politics shouldn’t affect great business ideas in the region. Just like Brexit reduced business investment in the UK only by 10 percent, political upheavals in the Balkans cannot counter the growing wave of young entrepreneurs and business leaders who have their eyes on the rest of the world.
Trust inequality
The 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer highlights the inextricable link between income inequality and trust inequality, a problem not just for low-growth nations but also for the world’s fastest-growing economies. Double-digit income-based trust inequality was found in 23 of the 28 countries studied, up from 21 countries the previous year. Paradoxically, growth appears to be driving this trust inequality, with countries like India, China, and Saudi Arabia experiencing significant trust gaps despite impressive GDP growth.
Astonishingly, the Edelman Trust Barometer found that globally, less than half of people with low incomes trust their electoral system (49 percent) and feel that their current government is fairly elected and legitimate (49 percent). That compares to nearly two-thirds of people with high incomes (64 percent at both). Again, progressive businesses can come to the fore.
To navigate this complex landscape and rebuild trust, businesses must focus on growth, diversity, boldness, and innovation—the Art of Smart’s pillars for successful decision-making—in their approach.
Growth: facilitating inclusive systemic change
To drive inclusive systemic change while maintaining political neutrality, businesses should focus on representing and enabling change rather than taking ideological stances. By using their voice to move regulation in a positive direction and legitimately speaking up on critical issues, businesses can help rebuild trust and drive progress.
This approach involves engaging with public sector leaders, informing and guiding governments toward necessary societal changes, and adopting a macro stewardship framework to navigate the complexities of the trust-building process.
Diversity: embracing inclusive leadership
Fostering trust requires businesses to ensure their leadership is diverse, equitable, inclusive, and empathetic. By creating an environment that rewards inclusive leadership, businesses can embody the change they seek to influence and attract top talent aligned with their values.
This commitment to diversity extends beyond leadership positions, encompassing all levels of the organization and the communities they serve. Businesses must actively work to dismantle barriers to inclusion and create opportunities for underrepresented groups to thrive.
Boldness: proactively mitigating potential harms
As AI continues to disrupt and destabilize public perception, businesses must take bold action to anticipate and proactively mitigate the potential harms of their products and services. This involves collaborating with civil society and other industry leaders to develop AI-powered tools that combat the deceptive use of harmful AI content in elections and enable online communities to respond effectively to misinformation and disinformation.
By proactively addressing these challenges, businesses can contribute to strengthening democratic institutions and ensuring stable elections, which are essential for both business and societal well-being.
As AI advances, governments risk losing the social contract with citizens. Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI and co-founder of DeepMind, warns that as powerful AI tools become more accessible, “conflict is frankly an inevitable outcome” due to clashing ideologies. If governments fail to address the economic and social disruptions caused by AI, they may lose the legitimacy and authority that underpins the social contract. Meanwhile, “the largest corporations in the world are going to function more and more like states,” according to Suleyman.
As trust in governments erodes, businesses that step up to fill the void left by failing public institutions could gain significant influence and power. By providing solutions to the challenges posed by AI, such as job displacement and misinformation, companies may position themselves as more effective guardians of the public interest than traditional government bodies.
Innovation: leveraging technology for trust-building
While AI poses unique challenges to democracy and elections, it also allows businesses to innovate and build trust. By investing in cutting-edge technologies and partnering with experts in the field, companies can develop solutions that enhance transparency, security, and accessibility in the electoral process.
Innovation in this space may include:
- Leveraging blockchain technology for secure voting systems.
- Using AI to detect and counter disinformation campaigns.
- Creating user-friendly platforms for citizen engagement and education.
By harnessing the power of innovation, businesses can play a vital role in restoring trust in democratic institutions and processes.
Key steps for business leaders
To contribute effectively to rebuilding trust in this record election year, business leaders should focus on the following key steps:
- Promote citizen engagement and action
Encourage employees and stakeholders to actively participate in the democratic process, providing resources and support for informed decision-making and civic engagement. Businesses can amplify their communities' voices and drive positive change by unlocking the latent potential in citizen—and employee-led initiatives.
- Raise awareness of digital risks
Educate employees, customers, and the broader public about the risks of disinformation, deepfakes, and other forms of digital manipulation in the electoral context. By ensuring access to reliable information and promoting media literacy, businesses can help individuals make informed judgments and resist the influence of bad actors.
- Reinforce the importance of democracy and the rule of law
Use their platform and influence to champion democratic values, human rights, and the rule of law. By consistently advocating for these principles and leading by example, businesses can help re-establish trust and create an environment conducive to progress on crucial social, economic, and environmental issues.
- Foster a culture of empathy and understanding
In an era of heightened polarization and fragmentation, businesses must actively work to bridge divides and promote empathy and understanding among diverse groups. This involves creating safe spaces for dialogue, investing in cross-cultural training and initiatives, and modeling inclusive behavior at all levels of the organization.
- Collaborate with stakeholders for systemic change
Engage in multi-stakeholder partnerships and initiatives that bring together businesses, civil society, governments, and international organizations to address the root causes of mistrust and drive systemic change. These collaborative efforts can tackle complex challenges and create a more resilient, equitable world by pooling resources, expertise, and influence.
Key takeaway questions
- How will you leverage your company’s influence and resources to promote citizen engagement, democratic values, and the rule of law during this critical election year?
- What strategies will you implement to foster a culture of empathy, inclusivity, and understanding within your organization to bridge divides and build trust among diverse stakeholders?
- How will you proactively address the potential risks and challenges posed by AI and disinformation to ensure transparency, security, and accessibility in your products, services, and communications?
- What multi-stakeholder partnerships and initiatives will you engage in to drive systemic change and create a more resilient, equitable world for your employees, customers, and communities?
- How will you adapt your leadership style and decision-making processes to prioritize growth, diversity, boldness, and innovation in your approach to rebuilding trust and navigating the complexities of the current global landscape?
