Reputation Gurus

While many companies are waking up to realize that their overall reputation management is as critically important as managing their bottom lines, some still see it as more of an art than a science.  That’s where they’re mistaken.

Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying … there is a tremendous amount of art and creative strategy that goes into managing a corporate reputation.  But, without the scientific part — the quantitative and qualitative research that grounds the art and science with true insights into the company’s stakeholders expectations, the corporate reputation efforts can be likened to chasing fireflies.

Solid reputation research should start with the company’s employees — what do they want the company to stand for?  What’s important to the DNA of the company?  And, then it should move to external stakeholders — analysts, community leaders, customers, etc.  The employee research should serve as a foundation for exploring what those external stakeholders expect from the company — what’s important to them so that they will recommend the company’s stock, or buy the company’s products, or allow the company to operate in their community.

Once the research is conducted, then it’s important to examine the gaps between what the company wants to stand for, and what stakeholders expect.  Ideally, those gaps are not too large.  If they are, then the company must do some true soul searching to determine if there are operational issues that need to be resolved.

This research not only helps to ground the reputation strategy, but it also helps to serve as a benchmark for measurement, as well as the foundation for a solid issues and crisis management program.