Reputation failure is no longer a threat that looms large for companies only in high-risk industries and activities. It has become an all-too-familiar scenario for all companies in all corners of the world.
A Weber Shandwick proprietary analysis revealed that over three-quarters (79 percent) of the world’s number-one most admired companies lost their crowns over the past five years in their respective industries.Over three-quarters (79 percent) of the world’s number-one most admired companies lost their crowns over the past five years in their respective industries.
The corporate reputation “stumble rate” continues to rise. Recent corporate crises have demonstrated that a company’s reputation can be destroyed in seconds. A mishandled response, inappropriate act, product tampering, or poorly timed financial disclosure all have the power to instantly tarnish a respected reputation. However, the well managed and reputation-conscious company does not need to stand defenseless when faced with a damaged reputation.
Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross is leading a Communitelligence webinar July 9 titled: GLASS HOUSES: HOW TO SAFEGUARD AND RESTORE YOUR CORPORATE REPUTATION IN A ROCK-THROWING WORLD. This web conference will identifiy and describe the actions companies and their leaders can take to safeguard their corporate reputations, and rebuild their reputations and restore their good names after a crisis.
Here Dr. Gaines-Ross answers three questions that should be on the minds of PR pros.
Q: How long does it take a company to recover its reputation today?
A: What has been proven time and again is that reputation recovery is neither easy nor short term. As revealed in Corporate Reputation, reputation recovery is perceived to take approximately three and one-half years, with it taking 3.2 years in North America, 3.6 years in Europe and 3.5 years in Asia. In addition, executives believe that repairing reputation is six times harder than building reputation.
Q: What are the primary triggers that place a company’s reputation in danger today?
A: According to global business executives, leading triggers of reputation failure are financial irregularities, unethical behavior and executive misconduct — all issues that could be prevented if companies had better controls in place. Other frequently mentioned strikes against reputation are security breaches, environmental violations, and health and safety product recalls. Interestingly, the latter reputation threat about product recalls surfaced in our research prior to the recent rash of product recalls that dominated headlines this past year.
Unfortunately, despite hard-hitting media and blogosphere coverage, and in some cases severe consequences for any wrongdoing, many key triggers continue unabated. What is interesting is that many of the reasons causing companies to suffer reputation loss are self-inflicted.
Q: What triggers stands out as the greatest threat to reputation in the future?
A: Online scrutiny and exposure pose the greatest challenges for effectively managing company reputation in the future.
Learn more and register for: GLASS HOUSES: HOW TO SAFEGUARD AND RESTORE YOUR CORPORATE REPUTATION IN A ROCK-THROW.
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