Peeling an Onion–a Reputation Introspective

When I facilitate my reputation management training, I always relate that building the reputation of an organisation is like layers of an onion.

The more layers of protection there is, the less chance of damage in a crisis. On the other hand it is also vital to look for potential vulnerabilities and concerns that can penetrate these layers.

These are the questions that I give out to participants with the following instructions – Here is a list of the questions that we need to answer/investigate in order to manage Reputation adequately in in an organisation. Let this partial list govern your thinking during this workshop and when we prioritise a list of action items to manage.

Questions:

  1. What kind of company do we want to be? What are our defining traits?
  2. How distinctive is our Reputation from the rest of the Industry’s reputation?
  3. How accurate and consistent are the images that we project to our different stakeholders?
  4. How can we strengthen our relationships with these various stakeholders?
  5. Evaluate the way your organisation currently manage Reputation Risk. Is it still appropriate?
  6. What are the issues and problems at Business Unit level that can impact reputation? 
  7. How do our internal features correspond to current perceptions of our Company by the different stakeholders?
  8. What policies, systems, procedures, rules, regulations, actions and behaviour are not consistent with the organisation’s desired reputation?

What are the issues/Problems affecting each Reputational Driver?