You Think They Like You? Reputation Measurement Defined

In an environment where true product differentiation is difficult, the regulatory landscape is difficult, global partner ecosystems are vulnerable, and the pressure to hire high-potential talent is intense, a company’s reputation is increasingly recognized as a business asset that is critical to maintaining and growing business value.

Despite this understanding, business reputation measurement capabilities frequently lag. “How do you assess business reputation?” even CEOs with sophisticated and clever market research portfolios wonder. Here is points where firms should focus to build a better reputation:

• Business growth: Like any other asset, your company’s reputation should be assessed and evaluated in relation to its business objectives. When reputational equity and risk are clearly connected to business outcomes of business-relevant stakeholders and their particular, measurable business-supportive actions, reputation assessment and management are most successful in the long run. The stakes are too high in these organizations for reputation to be measured only for the purpose of achieving a better rank or score. Scores are effective rallying cries, but they take on even more weight when they are linked to the company’s future plans.
• The Point of view of a larger group of people: Most market research is conducted with a specific stakeholder in mind, as well as specific concerns such as “How can we convert non-customers?” and “How can we enhance our connection with distributors?” However, reputation assessment necessitates a company’s consideration of all stakeholders throughout its reputational landscape, even if just for a brief instant.
• It’s not yours, but their lens that you’re seeing through: The axiom that each stakeholder sees your company’s reputation through the prism of what important to them must be taken into consideration when measuring reputation. There are probably certain aspects of your organization that you are proud of, but they are unlikely (extremely unlikely) to drive your reputation in the eyes of your stakeholders. A regulator’s perspective differs from that of an investor or a potential future talent, and all of these perspectives differ from your own. This means that the assessment program must be constructed with sufficient breadth to allow it to determine the lens through which they assess you using their yardstick.
• Prioritizing: Reputation managers should be given the gift of concentration via reputation measuring analytics. Reputation research should shed light on where resources should be allocated and how existing programs and initiatives should be nuanced to best lead to successful stakeholder relationships by providing a concise and actionable view of what drives your reputation (in the context of real business plans, for a specific stakeholder, in light of what matters to them, to lead to the behaviours you need).

Readiness of the organization: Measuring a company’s reputation in the best possible way necessitates widespread participation from all levels of the organization. Although corporate communications or a similar team is frequently in charge of activities, such work cannot be done successfully in isolation. This is true both on the front end when it comes to reputation management and on the back end when it comes to reputation measurement.

Measuring business reputation properly provides organizations with tangible techniques for proactively managing one of their most valuable assets and sources of risk. This allows for research-based judgments to be made in a subject that is otherwise vague or historically “program-driven.” As firms across the world attempt to connect their research insights portfolio with the acknowledged value of reputation in preserving and driving corporate success, reputation assessment is at a productive and crucial time.