Forrester’s 2023 predictions: Trust will be at the forefront of organizations’ business operations

Forrester’s North America Predictions 2023: To Thrive, Organizations Will Make Consumer And Employee Trust Their Business Imperative

According to Forrester’s (Nasdaq: FORR) 2023 predictions, released on October 25, trust will be at the forefront of organizations’ business operations in the year ahead as business and technology leaders focus on prioritizing long-term growth. Current factors, including economic and financial instability, geopolitical uncertainty, company scandals, and climate change, are undermining consumers’ trust in organizations — nearly 40% of US consumers will stop doing business with a brand following a damaging headline.

Firms that earn greater trust with consumers and employees drive loyalty behaviors such as retention and advocacy, helping to ensure resiliency and long-term growth. As customer and employee distrust continues to rise, in 2023, regulators will step in and crack down on greenwashing, misinformation, and employee surveillance practices. Forrester predicts that multiple companies will incur millions in greenwashing fines, while a C-level executive will be fired for their firm’s use of employee monitoring.

Forrester’s predictions analyze the dynamics and trends in different topics and industries, including technology and innovation, customer experience (CX), the metaverse, artificial intelligence and automation, and the future of work. These insights help business and technology leaders see around the corner and gain a competitive edge to thrive in the year ahead.

Highlights from Forrester’s 2023 predictions include:

• Trust in consumer technology companies will decline by 15%. Waning tech dependency, combined with tech company scandals, an inability to protect users from emerging risks, and lack of effective ethical measures in their digital environments, will progressively erode consumers’ trust.

• At least 10 companies will incur $5 million or more in greenwashing fines. Greenwashing scrutiny from distrustful consumers and empowered watchdogs will significantly increase, pushing regulators to target companies that spend more time and money on marketing themselves as environmentally conscious than actually minimizing their environmental impact.

• AI usage to monitor work-from-home productivity will batter employer trust. Rising firm and business-leader usage of AI to track knowledge worker productivity will result in more than half of employees actively seeking new opportunities at new organizations in the next year, Forrester finds. Employee distrust will be further fueled by 40% of hybrid-working companies attempting — and failing — to undo their anywhere-work policies.

• Banks will lose consumer trust during economic turmoil. Consumer trust in banks is falling for the first time in several years, as many consumers believe that their bank lacks empathy and isn’t following through on lessons learned from the pandemic, according to Forrester.

• People’s trust in government will increase in the US. In 2023, the US will build on dependability — the ability of a government to keep people safe, foster economic growth, and ensure an effective recovery from crisis — as a core lever of trust while also investing heavily in trust levers such as accountability, competency, and transparency.

“In 2023, successful leaders will focus on eliminating wasteful efforts and prioritizing long-term growth,” said Sharyn Leaver, chief research officer at Forrester. “Building trust among customers, employees, and partners is a critical component to that long-term growth. When individuals have greater trust in companies, they are more deeply engaged and more willing to forgive a company’s mistakes. In making smart investments, focusing on their organization’s mission and strengths, and establishing long-term trust with customers and employees, leaders will fuel their firms’ resiliency for the future.”

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Download Forrester’s 2023 Predictions complimentary guide, covering 12 big-impact predictions for the coming year.

• 12 research-led predictions guiding 2023 success.

• Business priority shifts to plan for now.

• Technology adoption for outpacing disruption.

• Changes in teams and talent that are making a big impact.

• Missteps and business risks to avoid.