Let’s talk about trust. We’ve talked about it before. Several times, actually.
But in the current age of the Internet of Things, a new level of trust has to be achieved between humans and their technology. Trust has to be established when making new connections. These connections range from new friends, strangers, employers, or even robots.
Making connections with enterprising strangers
You blindly trust that the exchange you make with someone from Craigslist will go smoothly. Or trust the Uber driver whose car you just got into will take you safely to where you’re asking him or her to go.
My parents taught me not to talk to strangers, now I get in stranger’s cars all the time. Plus, my @uber driver just gave me candy. pic.twitter.com/B9ld1ZKDx4
— Travis Wright (@teedubya) September 28, 2016
Making connections with machines
We trust that technology itself will work exactly as it’s been designed to do. This seems be the biggest hurdle driverless cars will have to face in order to gain consumer acceptance. Early users might have difficulties relinquishing control and trusting these robot cars will operate safely.
Making connections with your company
Technology has enabled us to bridge the gap between employer and employees. Trust in your company relies on a multitude of things: culture, history, policy, and transparency. When your employer provides you with a company laptop, phone, or even specific instruments or tools, you are trusting them that these are given to you to help you do your job better.
Here are some principles to remember as described in an HBR article about proven ways to earn your employee’s trust:
Do:
- Emphasize what you have in common — it helps employees believe that their goals are aligned with yours
- Share whatever information you can — when people feel trusted, they’ll trust you back
- Admit mistakes and accept responsibility
Don’t:
- Give orders — motivating employees to succeed on their own will earn you trust
- Badmouth anyone — people will automatically assume you’ll also speak poorly of them when their backs are turned
- Fake knowledge — employees need to see you are competent enough to admit what you don’t know
We aim to build trust and transparency not only with our own employees, but with our customers as well.
This is why we go out of the way to alleviate any concerns users have about how much data Red e App is using and explaining why it is requesting specific permissions.
We want our customers to be successful. In order to do so, we help them strengthen the connection of trust with their employees.
Trust me. ????
