How Are Companies Identifying Their Reputation In 2019?

Corporate affairs leaders are ‘over’ spending 2018 hosing-down issues and papering over their company’s reputation cracks. Even their executive peers are demanding they graduate to a more strategic approach to managing the company’s reputation. So how do these companies identify their reputation in the community and fully understand any reputation risks that emerge?

Gathering informed perceptions

Progressive companies and corporate affairs leaders are doing this by using proven ‘reputation research’ methodologies that enable them to develop an up-to-date and candid perspective of their organisation, its reputation and risks based on the informed perceptions of relevant stakeholders.

To do this, these corporate affairs leaders are exploring the perspectives of between 15 and 40 key stakeholders who are well informed about how their organisation really operates, senior individuals who are well positioned to observe the behaviour, decision-making, culture and leadership.

Why listen to key stakeholders?

This reputation research methodology deliberately focuses on an audience of well-informed key stakeholders rather than the general public. Invariably, the general public are likely to hold only superficial perceptions of your company; they are not particularly well-informed and their views are likely to be ‘lagging’ perceptions based on media sources. But key stakeholders include senior leaders of your significant stakeholder organisations, those knowledgeable about your company’s industry, strategic position, culture, performance, strategy, impact and progress.

These key stakeholders are invariably senior, well-informed, strategic thinkers. They operate in your sector; they understand the challenges, complexities and trade-offs confronting your organisation and witness how you navigate that path. They deal with you on strategic issues, are informed about your capability and decisions, and have seen you both triumph and fail in a range of circumstances. As leaders in their fields they are also familiar with organisations like yours around the world, they consider and discuss your company in the context of global peers.

Who are these key stakeholders?

Key stakeholders will include investors, suppliers, clients, regulators, analysts, media, community leaders, think tanks, peers and many more. Executives and directors within your own company, seeking to understand how their company is perceived, should listen to those best placed to provide an informed, insightful and strategic perspective. Skilful reputation research will explore their perceptions, expectations and insights to discover your company’s underlying reputation.

Reputation research methodology

Once every two years these corporate affairs leaders use an independent research specialist to meet with the key stakeholders and fully explore their perceptions and expectations of the organisation. These confidential conversations represent candid, insightful and forthright dialogues with those that know the way the organisation really operates. Their individual comments are never attributed but their opinions and insights represent an informed evidence base. When these conversations are analysed and summarised the key findings to emerge, identify the reputation risks facing the organisation.   

Using reputation research reveals a lot about the company’s underlying reputation and the forces that have the potential to damage it. Most importantly these findings will be ‘leading insights’ not ‘lagging perceptions’

Using reputation research

By understanding the background, events and history that have shaped these stakeholder perceptions, the company can make informed, evidence-based decisions about what they need to do differently. Performed well, reputation research will also gather the views of stakeholders about how the company should make change. Providing the company with a pathway to improvement, endorsed by those stakeholders.

Who uses reputation research?

All sorts of organisations use reputation research whether they are public, private, State-owned or not-for-profit. Any organisation that values its reputation and stakeholders, will benefit from being fully informed about how stakeholder groups think, feel and speak about it.

How do you get the best out of reputation research?

Brave organisations embrace reputation research, they abandon any fear of what the research may show and rely on their independent research partner to ask the questions of stakeholders, that matter. They commit to the research with an open mind and a willingness to learn from both the process and their key stakeholders. They place their trust in that skilled research partner to bring important stakeholder themes to the surface through proven questions, tactful probing and a strategic dialogue.

Most importantly these executive teams take on board the research findings that emerge, acknowledge the informed insights of key stakeholders and commit to change.

What are the costs and benefits of reputation research?

Like all evidence-based management information, reputation research comes at a cost, but to perform in-depth interviews with 25 key stakeholders need not be expensive. The benefits of reputation research can be vast, with executive teams and boards becoming better informed about the factors working for and against their company’s reputation. Plans to address issues are informed by reputation research findings, with the execution steps very often suggested by key stakeholders themselves, during the in-depth interviews.

David Armstrong is Director of Reputation Research Pty Ltd, which focuses exclusively on reputation and stakeholder research. With the experience of completing over 50 major reputation studies, involving 1500 in-depth interviews with key stakeholders including over 300 CEOs, this proven approach will illuminate your reputation journey and inform your next steps.

Visit the Reputation Research website: reputationresearch.com.au