Corporate Reputation Management is the Key to Responsible Capitalism
24/01/2012 10:22 am
David Cameron’s recent speech launching the Co-operatives Bill made it a full house of party leaders endorsing ‘responsible capitalism.’
However, while big on rhetoric, Nick Clegg’s call for a ‘John Lewis Economy’, Ed Miliband’s attack on fast buck capitalism and David Cameron’s call for the greater involvement of employees, have all lacked any specifics on how companies should apply this thinking.
A practical solution can be found in the principals of corporate reputation management.
A fully rounded reputation touches on all the areas addressed by Cameron, Clegg and Milliband – fairness, transparency, employee engagement, proportionate executive pay, long-term thinking preferred to short-term profit taking.
It also places significant emphasis on more the commercial areas that ensure financial success – meeting market needs, innovation in products and services and a constantly improving bottom-line.
To embed corporate reputation management into its culture an organisation needs to do the following:
- Listen acutely: audit corporate reputation to see how it is perceived by key stakeholders.
- React effectively: address areas of weakness and build on strengths.
- Be clear and consistent: both in how it communicates and how it behaves.
- Be constantly vigilant: tracking corporate reputation and responding quickly when required.
Contact us to find out how this approach can give your business a competitive advantage.
