Nine dimensions of reputation management
employees, asking the hard questions. It’s about really knowing what is going on with your team, reading the nuances. It’s about consistency, keeping the relationship going and flowing.
Second is business performance, the “business case”. In the end this is about the bottom line, and how it might be improved. Intrinsically linked to this is marketing and sales effectiveness. Often businesses need to look at how they are advertising and marketing themselves, what the key messages are and who they are communicating to. Are you reaching the right stakeholders? Are you marketing business-to-business when you need to be marketing more to your consumers? What is the plan, and if it’s not working optimally, why not?
These questions are important, because marketing and brand awareness today i s c o mp l e x . Awareness is more about organisational and product perceptions and not just the product itself. A company’s reputation takes years and dedication to build. Strong relations with customers and all stakeholders need to be fostered and maintained to avoid the devastating results of brand reputational damage which, once lost, can take from weeks or months to five years to rebuild.
The next dimension is social responsibility. What are you doing to upskill your people? And is your organisation involved in any upliftment or charity programmes socially? Leading with heart is the new wave of management today, and it is gaining momentum.
Fifth is ethical business practices, which speaks to corporate governance, your hiring policies (the kind of people who are on board), the company’s culture and value system, the policies and procedures in place to ensure the company’s code of conduct is upheld. Good governance is of paramount importance, and it is not just a paperbased issue. There needs to be accountability and fairness, proactively pursued, from the cleaner to the board.
Linked this is the sixth dimension, transparency. Again, communication is key, and it needs to be driven from the top down. Senior management, however uncomfortable they may feel at times, should be regularly interacting with all members of staff, especially in crises situations.
Social media alone is a large and growing focus of transparency. A set of key messages should be drafted to drive engagement, irrespective of the platform. The priority here is to unpack the issues, determine a strategy, and in a crisis, set the record straight as soon as possible. Show an appropriate sense of urgency and be clear on what you are doing to resolve the matter.
Employer attractiveness is the seventh dimension of reputation management, and one that some companies would shy away from, given the poor environment they provide for their employees. The companies where staff are happiest are those in good locations, where their health needs are considered. The workplace and its facilities demonstrate the corporation’s attitude to its staff.
The last two dimensions are innovation and quality of products and services, for example Uber, which has revolutionised the taxi industry with its cutting-edge digital booking format. The question is, do you have your finger on the pulse of what is happening in your industry? Do your products or services still fit the market? Is your distribution mechanism still optimal? No one thought Blackberry would be yesterday’s news at the time when everybody had one. You need to sex up your business all the time.
When the dust has settled, it’s critical to review what has happened, how it was handled and to learn from mistakes made. Monitoring feedback during a crisis allows you to adapt your strategy and tactics. It could also be an opportunity for the entire organisation to undertake new thoughts and implement addi- tional measures that address the issues that the crisis has revealed.