Reputation Question to Ask at Meetings “Here’s a question to ask at meetings: What policies, systems, procedures, rules, regulations, actions and behavior are not consistent with our desired #reputation?” The answers will provide lots of insights about gaps and vulnerabilities and potential for improvement.

The post Reputation Question to Ask at Meetings [Tip] appeared first on Deon Binneman.

Over the past few months I have followed articles in the newspapers about incidents at schools with interest.

My take is that many School Management teams fail to understand what incidents are, how to define and track them, and why the reporting and recording of them are so vital.

This blog post may shed some real insights.

What is an Incident?

The word Incident is defined by the South African Occupational Health & Safety Act, Nr. 85 of 1993 as any unwanted or undesired event (Sections 24/25, GAR8/9, GMR7).

Incidents can also be defined as “near-misses” or “near-hits” i.e. something that nearly happened but did not have an impact. Near-misses are often ignored but they serve as omens – signs that something could have potentially happened.

It is important to understand that the word incident does not signify magnitude, shape, size or impact of the incident. It merely says “Unwanted”. It therefore implies that all incidents no matter how small should be reported and recorded.

This is a well known concept in child care facilities, as teachers know that parents will be every upset when say for instance, a child is bathed at night, and mother spots an unreported graze or unreported bite mark.

In many schools there seem to be unreported and unrecorded cases of bullying and other issues. This is unfortunate and many times only come to light when a child stabs or shoots someone, or when a child tries to commit suicide or the matter goes public

And, often teachers pick up on interactions and behaviours that may indicate problems, but they do not see the potential danger nor threats nor the necessity to report.

Over the past 20 years in my assignments as lead part –time trainer for Scott-Safe, an ISO 9001:2008 Legal Compliance company, I have repeatedly shared with my audiences that “ Nothing is too small to report!” Why?

Example 1: If a nurse is drawing blood and the needle slips and pierces the plastic glove that she is wearing, she would need to report that immediately as she has come into contact with potential contaminated blood. Her life might be at stake.

Example 2: If a child is stung by a bee, would they need to be carefully monitored? Most definitely, because when children are small, it is unknown to parents that they might be allergic to bee stings. Bee stings often can be fatal.

Lesson 1: Nothing is too small to report.

Why Record and Report? 

The Health & Safety Act is very clear that employees should report incidents and potential hazards, and that management should record.

Unfortunately, many staff members do not realize the value of such reporting. They think that they might be seen as whistle blowers or snitches. They do not want make waves. They might be afraid to do so in fear of retaliation. Many reasons abound for the lack.

This lack of understanding Why, can be costly.

The real reason why incidents should be reported is that it prevents future events and enhances control and investigation purposes. The correct recording and reporting procedure will assist in efficient investigations and ultimately, the prevention of incidents to happen.

How can School Management act preventative, if they are not informed?

The lesson – Prevention is better than cure. Report things no matter how small they may seem, could prevent a tragedy from happening.

Scott-Safe uses a proprietary process /system which we teach to clients. Part of this system is the use of a document called a NIR Notifiable Incident Report) that will greatly assist in the reporting process.

Lesson 2: Rather report and deal with issues whilst they small, before they impact and cause loss of property or human life.

Improving their reporting and recording processes and ensuring that teachers and staff know and understand the value of such reporting can go a long way to prevent unnecessary incidents at schools, and ultimately prevent reputational damage and protect the good name of the school.

The post Incidents at Schools- Lessons and Tips for Better Recording and Reporting appeared first on Deon Binneman.

With Reputation Risk inherent in just about all processes in a company, Reputation and Risk Managers sometimes find it difficult to determine where the sources of reputation risk resides.

Not only can these risks be unpredictable but they are also extremely varied in nature due to the uniqueness of each company.

However I would like to provide some general guidelines about the generic types of risk. Using these definitions and examples can assist in the development of a reputation risk profile for any brand or reputation.

The examples below are worthy of further discussion and exploration in Social And Ethics Committees, Corporate Affairs meetings and gatherings, and by Organizational Behavior experts and Internal Auditors. Different Disciplines influence and exercise control over the drivers of reputation.

(In order to do this properly, the Reputation Manager should have had training in Critical Incident Analysis and Reputation Root Cause Analysis).

Complete a Reputation Risk Example Checklist

Instructions

1. Read through this checklist and try to think of specific examples that match each of the categories in your specific organisations.
2. Describe these in terms of Critical Incident Analysis.
3. Get together in groups and share your examples.
4. Play What if Games – What could be the impact on your organisation if this had to happen?

Thoughts to Ponder

Please note – this list is not exhaustive and any other areas that come to mind should be noted and explored in the same manner. Each company is unique.

Reputation Risk Examples

Brand attack: where the brand or image is knowingly attacked by others who might have a vested interest in the demise or decay of your business.

Example – The Gordon Ramsey Kitchen nightmare incident with the bakery in Nevada, where the owners misunderstood his advice.

Price wars: where the competition undercuts profit margins that prove to be unsustainable and your company cannot compete.

Brand confusion: where one brand is confused with another and suffers as a result of the confusion.

Slip of the tongue or “finger”: where a casual or flippant remark in a conversation or on Social Media can lead to a detrimental interpretation.

Example – The Peggy Sparrow tweet incident in South Africa.

Health and safety issues: where the brand or image is likely perceived to be harmful.

Examples – Ford Kuga recall. Companies found not be compliant with OHASA and the impact of the DEpt. of Minerals and Energy’s requirement when there is  fatality on a mine.

Quality issues: where doubts are cast on the suitability of the product or service or the value for money it represents.

Example – See Ford Kuga above.

Legislation: can affect the brand or image in all sorts of ways. Infringements of existing legislation are one aspect and changes of legislation are another.

Examples – The application of the Consumer Protection Act in South Africa and the rise of the role of Compliance Officers in companies.

Trade barriers: where restrictions are imposed or removed. This may be a direct impact where a company’s products are subjected to changes or it an indirect impact where someone elset products or services are subjected to changes.

Example – In South Africa we refer to sherry but in Europe we can only sell it as fortified wine.

Translation problems: often occur when a namef a phrase or a title has a rather unfortunate meaning in another language. They can also occur when the quality of the translation is poor and the meaning gets lost or distorted.

Example – The story goes that the late Louis Luyt tried to market a brand of beer in West Africa that could not sell, until research revealed that the name of the beer meant weak in local dialects.

Economic Forces: those local or international forces that may have serious financial consequences beyond our direct control. Often the brand can suffer as a result of the response to such variations.

Example –  The Downgrades by the Rating Agencies.

Religious issues: where the product or service has a religious connotation. Sometimes this is intentional by the nature or design of a product or it may be purely accidental though incomplete knowledge of others’ beliefs.

Example – The rise of anti-american sentiment in the Middle East impacted Cooc-Cola’s sales.

Racial issues: those where the product or services has a racial connotation this would normally be purely accidental through lack of knowledge or it might occur through some change of fashion or custom.

Example – This could also refer to issues of gender. Racial issues currently are top of the mind awareness in South Africa, and many times there are cases where racist remarks has impacted speeches, sentiment and product usage.

Environmental issues: where the public, or sections of the public, have real or imagined concerns about the environmental impact of a product in its manufacture, distribution or its use.

Example – The rise of activists campaigning in South Africa. Activists assist with water quality issues, land misuse and even the relocation of spiders as in the Eskom Medupi spider relocation.

Animal rights issues: where the public, or sections of the public, have real or imagined concerns about the impact on animal life. These issues are often concerned with research and development programmes which may, or may not, use animals for experimental purposes.

Example – Social Media is rampant with abuse of anmal cases and outcries.

Human rights issues: where the public, or sections of the public, have real or imagined concerns about their rights or the rights of others.

Example – The South African Government tightening up on passport controls to reduce human trafficking.

Implication by association: where a company, its products or services are deemed to be in league with others who have a poor image some reason or another.

Example – The South African State President Zuma is tainted by his close relationship with the Gupta Family.

“Acts of God” or Forces of nature: where the destructive forces of nature have a detrimental effect on the way in which a company sources its materials, creates its products or delivers its services. In a long and complex supply chains there are often many opportunities for nature to interfere.

Example – Earthquakes or inclement weather.

Personal issues: where the brand, or image, is liable to suffer simply because of its association with an individual who appears to have offended the public though his or her actions, words or beliefs.

Criminal acts: where someone closely associated with the brand or image appears to have committed a criminal act.

Power and Misuse of Influence: where people with vested interests use their positions such as money to unduly influence situations.

Example – The Gupta “ State Capture” and the constant interventions by the Competition Commission.

Application

• Use the information gathered to develop a profile of potential threats to your brand and reputation.
• Develop a list of mitigation strategies on how you will overcome each challenge.

The post How to Identify Sources of Reputation Risk Using a Checklist appeared first on Deon Binneman.