CEO’s Message

Measuring Trust

Why is it so important and how to go about it

In an industry where our customers rely on us 24/7 to protect their life and property, trust is of critical importance. A relationship of trust with public safety is also of great importance.

There has been signifi cant research undertaken by organizations and consultancy fi rms in relation to the trust consumers place in the businesses from which they buy goods and services. One such organization is Trust Across America (TAA), which helps to enhance trustworthy behavior in organizations. One of their initiatives identifi ed that the TAA top 10 most trustworthy U.S. public companies outperformed the S&P 500 by 30%.

With the most recent world-wide Edelman Trust Barometer highlighting how businesses are now more trusted (61%), than government (53%), NGOs (57%), and media (51%), it is critically important for companies to be purposeful in how they manage trust as a key performance indicator.

The consulting company Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (Deloitte) defi nes trust as the foundation of a meaningful relationship, which is built through actions that “demonstrate a high degree of competence and the right intent, which result in demonstrated capability (possessing the means to meet expectations); reliability (consistently and dependably delivering upon promises made); transparency (openly sharing information, motives, and choices in plain language); and humanity (genuinely caring for the experience and well-being of others).

The Trust Framework A February 2023 Deloitte article provides a framework to help you measure and manage such an important strategic and critical asset. Based upon a statistical study of over 3,000 executives around the world, Deloitte identifi ed 17 domains (many interrelated) that can be measured and infl uenced to increase the level of trust among your stakeholders.

17 Domains Identifi ed by Deloitte as Critical to Trust: (in order of importance to building trust according to the executives surveyed) • Product quality • Customer experience • Financial integrity and health • Authentic and resilient leadership • Innovation, intelligence, and technology • Ethics • Culture and purpose • Compliance • Data integrity and protection • Strategic governance • Workforce experience • Conduct • Digital engagement • Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) • Environmental social and governance (ESG) • Cyber • Crime (fraud and abuse)

As I mentioned before, the domains are interrelated. For example, “cybersecurity actions can be closely linked with data privacy and protection, whereas ethics can be refl ected in an organization’s culture, values, and mission statement.”

The importance of each domain to building a company’s trust is also related to the industry in which it operates. For instance, a bank will rate fi nancial integrity and health, crime, data integrity, conduct and ethics higher than other domains.

The importance of each domain is also a function of the perspectives and expectations of stakeholders. Employees’ congruence between their values and their employer’s culture and purpose, for example, will impact their trust and therefore their commitment to the organization.

Companies tend to spend more effort in building up actions in domains where they feel they have more familiarity. In the Deloitte study, crime showed up as the top domain that executives felt more capable of controlling, due to their familiarity with actions geared to avoiding it; in contrast, innovation,

CEO, continued from page 5 intelligence, and technology were at the bottom in terms of familiarity and capabilities.

Building Trust As we all know, “what gets measured gets done ... If you know the impact you want to create and how much of it has already taken place, then half the battle is knowing what further changes need to be made.”

The fi rst step to enhance your company’s trust factor is to measure it. Identify the various different stakeholder audiences and survey them to identify the trust behaviors within each domain they expect from your company.

Next, you must identify trust gaps in areas within your organization by comparing expectations with reality. If it is impractical or unfeasible to tackle these gaps at the same time, prioritize which area should be addressed fi rst. Choice is typically related to the strategic priorities of the organization.

Next, engage in activities that will drive trust. For example, if customer experience is key, what steps can you take to ensure that every customer contact in your company is carried out at the highest levels?

And lastly, create a close loop system where your company continuously measures trust to proactively identify and address any potential issues that may lead to signifi cant trust gaps.

The predominant portion of TMA member businesses provide services designed solely for the purpose of securing life, property, and information. Both commercial and residential customers place an enormous amount of trust in the highlytrained professionals employed by members and rely on their knowledge, experience, and expertise to reduce or eliminate the risk of loss when every second counts.

In essence, trust is the actual foundation of the goods, products, and services our members sell. It is vital, as research has repeatedly demonstrated, that business owners continually assess and measure the degree to which its customers feel secure and trust that when an intrusion, fi re, or other threat arises, they can be confi dent in the security your team provides when it matters most. Celia T. Besore, CAE CEO, TMA

1Lawrence A. Cunningham, “Opinion: Why high-quality, trustworthy companies have beaten the S&P 500 by 30%-50%”, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-high-quality-trustworthy-companies-havebeaten-the-s-p-500-by-30-50-11625020379. 2https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/fi les/aatuss191/fi les/2021-03/2021%20Edelman%20Trust%20 Barometer.pdf 3Deloitte, “A new measure of trust for consumer industries”, https://www.deloittedigital.com/content/dam/ deloittedigital/us/documents/offerings/offering-20200706-hub-trust-hx.pdf 4https://www2.deloitte.com/xe/en/insights/topics/leadership organizational-trust-measurement.html 5Sandra Sucher and Shalene Gupta, The Power of Trust, How Companies Build It, Lose It, Regain It (Public Affairs, 2021), p. 136. 7918 Jones Branch Drive, Suite 510 McLean, VA 22102 703-242-4670; Fax 703-242-4675

About TMA The Monitoring Association (TMA) is the trade association representing the professional monitoring industry. Our membership community is composed of companies spanning all industry sectors, including monitoring centers, systems integrators, service providers, installers, consultants, and product manufacturers. TMA is dedicated to the advancement of the professional monitoring industry through education, advocacy, standards, and public-safety relationships.

Our Mission Our mission is to promote and advance professional monitoring to consumers and fi rst responders through education, advocacy, and the creation of standards.

Our Vision A safer world through professional monitoring.

Copyright 2022 The Monitoring Association All rights reserved.

TMA Offi cers

President Morgan Hertel, Corona, CA

Vice Presidents Steve Butkovich, Charlotte, NC Alan Gilmore IV, Cleveland, OH Steve Walker, Plymouth, MN

Secretary Justin Bailey, Ogden, UT

Treasurer Shannon Woodman, Seattle, WA

Immediate Past President Don Young, Boca Raton, FL

TMA Staff

Chief Executive Offi cer Celia T. Besore, FASAE, MBA, CAE

Vice President of Meetings and Conventions John S. McDonald

Vice President of Education and Training Julie N. Webber

Director of Membership and Programs Illeny Maaza

Director of Marketing and Communications Leigh A. McGuire

Information Systems Manager, ASAP Service Manager Bryan Ginn

Programs and Administrative Coordinator Tara Compher

President, continued from page 4 providing notifi cation to retire copper lines in various states and localities for several years. Accordingly, companies should put procedures in place to ensure they are aware of any notifi cations regarding the retirement of copper lines and/or the discontinuance of TDM services. Most of the time these notices come in very small print on the fi vepage bill you get every month, and that for the most part we throw away and never read.

It’s important to understand several things, Carriers have no choice but to move all voice calling to packet-based facilities. There are several reasons for this, the fi rst is that the old TDM central offi ce switches have not been made for over a decade, and parts and service are just not available any more. Second, underground and pole-mounted copper is so old that it’s no longer reliable; it is breaking and wearing out. With the cost of copper compared to fi ber, there really isn’t a choice but to install fi ber. And lastly, the cost of moving voice traffi c is so much more effi cient when using packet-based services that, in order to stay competitive, carriers have to move in that direction. Make no mistakes; the POTS that we knew in the 70s and 80s is a thing of the past, and is going away every day across the country.

Now that for the most part the 3G sunset is behind us, the next big thing is to get your subscribers off POTS and on to other technologies. This is so much easier than before, with lots of options and choices. It’s time to get them moved to either IP, Cellular, or Private Mesh Radio.

Special thanks to Mary J. Sisak at Blooston Law for getting this materially correct.

Morgan Hertel President The Monitoring Association