New Stakeholder Group–Corruption Watch poses Reputation Risk Threat

Readers of my blog may recall that I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that organisations should monitor the formation of new alliances and associations in their field, so that they can pre-empt and where necessary, engage with and build relationships with these stakeholders to protect their reputation.

Yesterday, a new stakeholder group was launched that will specifically target corruption in South Africa. Corruption Watch is an autonomous watchdog that will enable victims of graft and ordinary citizens to make reports that will be swiftly attended to by independent professionals, and is supported and financed by some corporate foundations and companies including Aveng, Ernst & Young and the Industrial Development Corporation. It will have its own staff, including lawyers, auditors and accountants as case officers.

The Cosatu-initiated organisation will gather, analyse and expose information.

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ annual survey of CEOs released this week found 66% of South African bosses were concerned about corruption, compared with 34% in other countries.

Corruption Watch’s executive director, David Lewis, said at the launch of the unit in Johannesburg yesterday that it would attack private-and public-sector corruption equally. He also said that the organisation had a website to enable victims of corruption to lodge complaints.

The body will be independent of the government and organised business. Part of Corruption Watch’s work would be to strengthen the accountability of those – in both the public and private sectors – who are in a position to influence the deployment of, and access to, public resources.

The watchdog collects information from victims, accomplices and whistle-blowers, documents media reports and research studies in other public sources, gathers information through its online reporting form, analyses data to identify patterns and endemic sites of corruption, and investigates and publicises research reports on hotspots of corruption.

Already Corruption Watch has suggested the JSE suspend corrupt firms’ listings, impose fines for illegal behaviour and create other prohibitory measures.

The unit would outsource investigations of corruption brought to its attention to lawyers, accountants, auditors and other professionals.

These professionals will most certainly include the Media & Social Media players like bloggers and other influentials. Using the Media to expose and create exposure and awareness is a technique that has been used to great effect by people like Elliott Spitzer, the ex- Attorney General of New York.

This watchdog body will have to be on the radar screen of not only Corporate Affairs Managers but also Compliance Officers, as its formation poses a significant reputation risks for companies who do not act quickly & significantly to weed out corruption in their own organisations.

Reputation Managers will need to work closely with their in- house counterparts to prevent unnecessary reputation risk by not only talking about weeding out corruption, BUT running programs that will show stakeholders their interest and commitment to deal with issues like corruption.

Who – or What is right? Just a Random Thought

Who – or What is right?

Just because you are right, does not mean that you need to exercise that point or view.

We are not fish who have to take a bait. What is more important- Winning the War or winning a battle?

We have choice, and I think that a lot of people have lost that ability to think about the decisions they make. As Postman & Weingartner said in Teaching as a Subversive Activity….we need to become crap detectors.

Even Anthony Robbins indicated that it is useful to sometimes check your own values and beliefs, to see if they are still relevant.

But anyway, I just thought I would share this story.

An old man and a young boy were travelling through their village with their donkey. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked.

As they went along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding.

The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.

Later, they passed some people that remarked, “What a shame, he makes that little boy walk.”

They then decided they both would walk!

Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey.

Now they passed some people that shamed them by saying “how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey”.

The boy and man said they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and drowned.

The moral of the story?

If you try to please everyone, you might as well kiss your ass good-bye!

Corporate Reputation & Product Reputation (Brands)Now Nearly Indivisible

Corporate reputations impact brand and product sales performance. That’s one of the key findings from a recent global study by Weber Shandwick called The Company Behind the Brand: In Reputation We Trust.

As the survey report states, “As consumers around the world have greater online access to a brand’s lineage, the influence of the brand parent, or company behind the brand, matters even more.”

The study identified Six New Realities of Corporate Reputation, which the PR firm says serves as reminders that business leaders cannot view their company’s reputation and their product brands as separately as they once did.

These six “new realities” are:

1. The corporate brand is as important as the product brand(s). For instance seventy percent of the respondents said they avoided buying a product if they dislike the company behind it.
2. Corporate reputation provides product quality assurance.
3. Any disconnect between corporate and product reputation triggers sharp consumer reaction.
4. Products drive customer discussions, with reputation close behind.
5. Consumers shape corporate reputations instantly.
6. Corporate reputation contributes to company market value.

In actuality, none of these are truly “new” realities, other than perhaps the ability of consumers to now shape corporate reputations instantly via social media.

What is also very clear from the survey is that Crises like product recalls or any incident involving the company can cause irreparable damage to the brand and reputation.

In reading the report, the value of minimising potential reputation risk became apparent. For instance, if a Reputation Manager paid attention to the top 5 talking points that the research revealed, he or she could develop strategies to minimise the risk before it occurred.

These five talking points are customer service, how employees are treated, company scandals or wrong-doing, and their feelings about the company as a whole (its reputation).

Understanding Reputation Risk and what could destroy value is now a vital competency for any Reputation Manager.

The report also clearly shows that Reputation Matters now even more than ever, with more than 60% of a company’s market value attributed to it.

The report which makes for excellent reading, is available online here

Your Name is a Precious Commodity

Your name will arrive at a destination long before you do, so best make sure you have a good name, so the old adage goes.

I was reminded of this last year when I arrived in Beijing to facilitate a Crisis Management & Crisis Communication for Reputation Protection seminar at the Grand Millennium Hotel.

There were a number of delegates that had flown in from places as far as Hong Kong and when I asked the audience what brought them there, the delegates specifically replied. ‘My Reputation’

This just reminded me again of the importance of reputation in marketing & communication. But this subject also worried early authors and philosophers. Here are a few selected quotes worthwhile of thinking about:

“Early impressions are hard to eradicate from the mind. When once wool has been dyed purple, who can restore it to its previous whiteness.”–St. Jerome.

‘Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of – for credit is like fire; when once you have kindled it you may easily preserve it, but if you once extinguish it, you will find it an arduous task to rekindle it again. The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you desire to appear.” (Socrates – 469 BC – 399 BC)’

Individuals sometimes forget that they themselves have a reputation- just like their organization. Countless studies show that Corporate Reputation is an organization’s biggest asset, yet most dangerous risk in the marketplace.

It is no different for a person. In fact depending on your chosen career, position and stature, it becomes your stock in trade and a lever for success. For consultants and professional service providers reputation is sacrosanct.

It boils down to three crucial elements:

1. Know-how (Your intellectual capital i.e. what you know);

2. A Network of contacts (Social Capital – who you know);

3. Your Reputation (Reputational Capital – who trusts you).

The key for any person who is interested to build their own reputation is to work on these 3 elements as part of their own career development plan.

Many years ago someone shared the concept of the 3 E’s with me. I think it is a Dale Carnegie concept that I am sure you will find valuable in the building of your reputation.

The Three E’s:

E – Earned the right. You can only address a person or a group if you have earned your “stripes” be it through qualifications, experience, and preparation. Doing research, reading and studying your chosen field adds to this. It is about what you know.

E – Be Enthusiastic. Will you buy from a salesman whose product does not generate enthusiasm in himself?.

E – Be Eager to share. Are you eager to share your knowledge, the gem or nugget of wisdom that you have with the person you are talking to or the audience?.

In my own life experience I have found the concept of the 3 E’s incredibly helpful. If you go to my personal profile at http://za.linkedin.com/in/deonbinneman and read the recommendations by other experts you will see how the three E’s have manifested themselves in my career and how they added to the 3 key elements of building a reputation.

The implications of these words is that reputation is something that needs constant work just like a gardener attending to his flower beds. Like as in gardening it does not take much for weeds to grow, pests to come and flowers to wilt.

Constant attention and vigilance is needed if you want to maintain and safeguard your reputation. Do you know what drives your reputation? Do you know what can add or subtract from that reputation?

In an area of instant information exchange, where new technologies support new ways of working and communicating, the task of managers is to develop good interpersonal skills and the ability to use new communications technology appropriately.

This use should include an understanding of the misuse and dangers inherent in social media. These days there are companies that for instance specialise in online reputation management — companies that attempt to remove damaging Web content for embarrassed clients.

Just as everyone was once promised 15 minutes of fame, each of us can now expect to have our own “WikiLeaks moment,” the CEO of The New York Times.

Social media expert and former dating columnist Julia Allison likens bad news on the Net like a digital tattoo. It’s like tattoo removal, Allison tells the Times. Although it is possible to erase, it’s expensive and painful and it may always leave some kind of mark.

This implies that companies and individuals need to be more organised and think strategically about the messages that they communicate, advertently or inadvertently. In today’s knowledge economy your reputation and name is your stock-in-trade. Manage it carefully.

My Stakeholder Reputation Group on Linkedin

I started a Stakeholder Reputation group on LinkedIn last year, aimed at anyone that is working in and grappling with Stakeholder Management & Reputation related issues.

To date there are 345 members (and growing) which includes a number of senior communication and local and international consultants that I have come across.

The collective experience and expertise that resides within the group will enable any organisation to develop and execute a successful stakeholder engagement and reputation management strategy.

The primary aim of the group is to encourage the sharing of information amongst members such as the introduction of new ideas, concepts and tools, sharing personal experiences of things that work or do not work, overcoming resistance to stakeholder relationships in the market and within companies and asking for assistance for problems being experienced.

If you are interested in learning more about Stakeholder & Reputation Management and where it is going, I encourage you to join our group, participate and share. Here is the group link – http://linkd.in/aRGqiF to join.

Recently, I received a notification from Linkedin that I was one of LinkedIn’s first 100,000 members (member number 28959 in fact!*). In any technology adoption lifecycle, there are the innovators; those who help lead the way. That was me.

More than 100 million professionals have joined that site. If you are not on Linkedin, you are doing yourself a disservice. LinkedIn is changing the lives of millions of members by helping them connect with others, find jobs, get insights, start a business, and much more.

Thinking Quickly – A Quick Reframe

The ability to think on your feet is an important skill, as this story illustrates:

Two lawyers arrive at the pub and ordered a couple of drinks. They then take sandwiches from their briefcases and began to eat.

Seeing this, the angry owner approaches them and says, ‘Excuse me, but you cannot eat your own sandwiches in here!’

The two look at each other, shrug and exchange sandwiches.

Test your Ability to Communicate

A Primary Skill for a Reputation Manager is the ability to communicate professionally in many circumstances and conditions.

However we all think we are capable communicators whilst the receivers of our communication sometimes differ from opinion.

Let’s really see just how valid this contention is.

Here is an oldie but goodie self – test that you can take to measure your ability to communicate.

Instructions for Self-Test

Print yourself a copy of the test. Then complete it within 4 minutes. This is sufficient time if you concentrate and work rapidly. Let’s go.

Action

1. Read everything before doing anything.
2. Print your name in the upper right-hand corner.
3. Circle the work “name” in sentence two.
4. Draw two small squares in the upper left-hand corner.
5. Put an X in each square.
6. Sign your name under the title.
7. After the title, write “yes”.
8. Put a circle around each work in sentence six.
9. Put an “X’ in the upper left-hand corner of this paper.
10. Draw a triangle around the “X” you just put down.
11. On the reverse side of this paper, multiply 703 by 9,805.
12. Draw a rectangle around the work “paper” in sentence nine.
13. Callout your first name when you get to this point in the test.
14. If you feel that you have followed directions up to this point, callout “I have”.
15. On the reverse side of this paper add 8,850 and 9,805.
16. Put a circle around your answer in No. 15, put a square around the circle.
17. Count out loud in your normal speaking voice, backwards from 10 to 1.
18. Now that you have finished reading carefully, do only sentences one and two.

How did you fare?

10 Compelling Reasons Why You Should Attend The Reputation Risk Management Masterclass

If you have not yet registered for my Reputation Risk Management Masterclass in Johannesburg, you will reconsider after reading the following ten reasons.

Now I know that you are extremely busy, but it is a fact that successful people MAKE TIME to spend time on their own development & increase of knowledge, and knowledge of minimizing and mitigating reputation risk in today’s connected society is vital.

You choice. Your decision.

Here are TEN compelling reasons why you should attend it:

1. ‘A Company’s Reputation is its greatest asset and risk, and it should be protected at all costs’. Mr David Glass of Wal – Mart. This course takes a close look at how to protect and defend this asset.

2. Warren Buffet, the world famous investor and richest man has on numerous occasions said these famous words: ‘It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it and if you understand this you will do things differently’ . Why? Well, Mr Buffet understands that money can always be made, but that a reputation, once lost, is not easily restored. In fact, some studies show that it can take between 3.5 to 11 years to restore a damaged reputation. Want to prevent reputation damage before it even gets public?

3. Reputation Risk is listed in more than five international surveys as a company’s most dangerous and volatile risk, yet, less than 43% of companies surveyed had a plan to deal with reputation risk both from a mitigation and reputation incident perspective. Question: Is your Company ready to deal with a Reputation incident? If you are not sure, take this survey – http://bit.ly/d5ej9s and attend to learn more tips and strategies to protect your organization.

4. As part of your company’s planning for crises and dealing with reputation risk, have you embedded Reputation Risk into your Enterprise Wide Risk Management system and have you defined reputation risk in 4 different ways so as to determine and implement different perspectives and mitigation strategies? Would you like some assistance with that process? I can guide you.

5. Did you know that this Class integrates best practice and thinking from many disciplines including Reputation Management, Public Relations, Risk Management, Corporate Communications, Corporate Responsibility and Strategic Management, and is a must attend for Corporate Affairs, PR, Risk Managers, Compliance Officers and any staff member responsible for maintaining and protecting a company’s fine reputation. Attend to get a systemic view of this asset and risk.

6. The damage of a reputational crisis can be direct and indirect. These costs could include penalties incurred because of a lack of legal compliance, litigation, media conferences and advertising costs, hiring of crises communication consultants. BUT what about the indirect costs, the effects on various stakeholders? The increased scrutiny leading to additional problems? The customers that do not return? Does your plan of action include both Reputation Incident and Reputation Erosion possibilities?

7. Do you know how to identify reputational risks including the gap between stakeholder’s perceptions/beliefs and the company’s actual performance, areas of vulnerability and current & emerging issues? (Studies show that perceptions and concerns of stakeholders was an extremely or very significant issue, making Stakeholder Reputation Risk the highest-ranked challenge – This is one of the definitions we will explore).

8. What is your organization doing to prioritize reputation risks and assessing the probability and the impact of the risk on reputation? Reputation Risk is extremely difficult to quantify. What efforts are being made in your organization to quantify the value & risk of reputation. I will take a look at alternatives exist?

9. Did you know that you and your organization be Googled, Facebooked, Twitter searched & measured by what you share & who you know? Does your Reputation Risk framework and Response plans take the impact and intricacies of Social Media into account?

10. Reputation recovery is a function of pro-activeness, communication and readiness prior, during and after a crisis. We will take a look at each of these steps.

Your Choice to attend.

Book now, by e-mailing reputationeducation@icon.co.za or by registering online – http://reputationriskmasterclass.invite43.com/

I love Evernote – what an useful tool in my arsenal!

Reputation Risk now regarded as a "Meta" Risk

A new white paper by Deloitte developed in collaboration with RiiЯ Ltd entitled ‘A Risk Intelligent view of reputation – An outside-in perspective’ has once again highlighted the strategic importance of reputational risk.

The report highlights the fact that Reputational Risk is now regarded globally as a “meta risk, “standing at the forefront of key strategic and operations concerns, right alongside new competition, technology failures, talent issues, and changing regulations.

As executives in the study recognized, reputation, quite simply, can make — or break — a company. Reputation is an important factor across all four major risk areas of the Risk Intelligent Enterprise — strategic, operational, financial, and compliance — particularly of the former two, strategy and operations, because it is a constantly evolving and fully embedded part of why and how the company achieves its objectives.

This catapults reputational risk to what the writers call a meta risk, or a potential menace to fundamental business strategy, and possibly an even greater hazard to organizational survival than a financial restatement or problematical findings in a compliance report.

In the report, which makes for highly recommended reading; a three-step process of managing reputational risk is recommended including internal discovery, analysis of stakeholders and marketplace threats and opportunities, and proactive management of actions designed to protect and enhance reputation and value.

Download Report – http://bit.ly/ph6omX

In this respect, REPUCOMM offers two dedicated training programs dealing with Reputational Risk and Stakeholder Reputation.

These 2 – day training programs are facilitated in-house depending on client needs and requirements or presented in the public environment, as follows:

7 – 8 November: Reputation Risk Management Master Class – http://reputationriskmasterclass.invite43.com

23 – 24 November: Stakeholder Reputation Management Master Class – http://stakeholderreputation.invite43.com/

Should you be interested to attend any of these programs, please register online and I will do the necessary or e-mail deonbin@icon.co.za for a registration form.

Better Safe than Sorry – Keeping your System Safe and Secure!

Over the past few weeks I have developed a reputation for something which I did not intend – the ability to sort out and speed up people’s laptops.

A while ago a youngster came to me and asked for help. He had heard from his sister that I helped someone to speed up his laptop and that I could get rid of malware, viruses and spyware that infested people’s machines.

Now I am no computer wizard, no MOUSE expert, but having come through Windows 3.1 and many experiences of having to reinstall my own operating systems, I guess I learnt quite a bit. So, I tried and succeeded and since then 3 more youngsters came for help.

And, in every instance I found laptops running slowly, infected with you know what. In one case, I found 527 viruses, spyware and malware.

In all cases, I managed to clean and speed up their laptops. So, what procedure and process did I follow. This is my, albeit not expert approach.

The process:

1. First of all, I used a number of cleaners to clean the system of junk & temporary files. I like to use CC Cleaner. CCleaner in my opinion is the number one-tool for cleaning your Windows PC. It also protects your privacy online and makes your computer more secure and faster. It is easy to use and a small download.

I also use Revo uninstaller to uninstall programs that has not been used in a while. This is the preferred uninstall tool as it can also clean all traces left behind by programs. Often when installing a program, other programs are installed unless you uncheck these options in a dialog box, especially some browser bars.

I also like to use Wise Registry cleaner as a 3^rd option.

Where possible I always do a System Restore and Registry backup where possible before I start, just in case something go wrong.

2. Secondly, I make sure that they have an Anti-Virus program installed that is updated to the latest update patch. Having tried many programs I have settled on Microsoft Security Essentials . I have found this program useful and making very little impact on system resources. And, best of all it’s also free.

I then do a full scan and delete what is found.

Tip – Often a virus program will prevent you from updating the Microsoft program. That’s normally a good indicator that the system is infected. Microsoft also has other program relevant to the task.

I would also do a system scan in safe mode just to be sure. (To go into safe mode. Restart your machine, press the delete button until the various options is offered to you. Choose safe mode and restart the machine.)

3. I also install Threatfire . Threatfire is dramatically different to traditional antivirus software. Normal antivirus products usually need to have first identified and seen a threat before they can provide adequate protection against it. The protection is then provided via a signature or fingerprint update, which must first be written by an antivirus researcher. This creates a large window of time where threats are undetected and can therefore infect your PC even when you have antivirus software installed.

Threatfire detects malicious behavior, such as capturing your keystrokes or stealing your data, instead of only looking for known threats like normal antivirus software. By implementing sophisticated real-time behavioral analysis Threatfire is able to stop never- before-seen threats solely by detecting their malicious activity.

It offers an additional layer of protection against all types of internet threats – both known and unknown – spyware, adware, keyloggers, viruses, worms, Trojans, rootkits, buffer overflows, and other malware. ThreatFire uses its unparalleled protection to hunt down and paralyze those threats that are either too new or too clever to be recognized by traditional “signature-based” antivirus software.

Tip – You may have to temporary disable your anti-virus program before installing this program. Normally 2 anti-virus programs should not be used on one machine, but I have never found Microsoft Security Essentials and Threatfire to clash or use too much system resources and both are updated daily.

4. I also install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free  as well as SUPERAntispyware ; then scan the system in normal and safe mode with both programs. This I do on a weekly basis and have found things, not picked up by other systems.

5. This process of elimination might take some time, BUT is vital to ensure that the system is clean.

6. Once I have done all of this, I do Step Number 1 all over again. Restart the machine and then I do a system defrag using Smart Defrag . A Defragging program refiles everything and ensures faster file loading and high disk performance.

General Tips to keep your system safe and secure:

- I repeat Points 1, 4 and 6 once a week.

- I will never open any dubious file or e-mail without first scanning it.

- I always restart my machine when installing updates or programs – after each update or program.

I am not saying this is a fool-proof approach but it is one that in general has been working for me.

Better safe than sorry, just like wearing a condom!

Just completed 1st draft of a #Crisis Communication Response Plan for a major client. 5 Days of concentrated hard work completed.

The Beauty of Roaming Airport Bookstores

I have always had this habit of roaming bookstores looking out for gems – books for my collection. And occasionally I have found something worthwhile.

Yesterday was no exception. Whilst at OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg, I was roaming one of the bookstores when I saw a really interesting little book with punchy advice regarding Social Media.

Check it out – so far well worth the purchase: Sonic Boom – How to Master Business Social Media by Jeffrey G Itomer.

I already found items in the book I should IMPLEMENT.

Quote – “SOCIAL MEDIA IS THE NEW COLD CALL.”—Jeffrey Gitomer

“What’s your company’s social media policy? Probably shortsighted. Business social media, or social networking, has become more than a global phenomenon. When combined with your online presence and online outreach,it’s a global business phenomenon and a revenue generating phenomenon.”

Looks like an interesting and practical read…..

Register for the Stakeholder Reputation Management Master Class 22 – 23 September http://ping.fm/VffmC

Learn How to Protect your Organisation’s Reputation 15 – 16 September: lnkd.in/pMs7ju

NEW Business Continuity Textbook! – Rothstein Associates Inc. Business Survival ™ Weblog

I do not have a copy of this book, but will certainly place an order.

This quote got my attention about this book:

“As our world becomes ever more turbulent the field of business continuity and risk management increases in importance, often warranting Board-level attention. Organizations must proactively prepare for the future by mitigating risk whilst managing uncertainty through well considered policies, procedures, structure, systems and business culture to react to potentially harmful events as they unfold. In this way, their survival is less likely to be threatened and it will be more likely that their goals will be attained. Too many times we have witnessed business disaster because an organization failed to fully recognize the importance of business continuity and risk management or simply adopted a piecemeal and unsystematic approach.

NEW Business Continuity Textbook! – Rothstein Associates Inc. Business Survival ™ Weblog.

“Practitioners constantly emphasize the necessity of a holistic approach and I am pleased to see this new book by Kurt Engemann and Douglas Henderson does just that. It is also important to blend theory with practice in this hands-on field; again this is accomplished by the authors of this book who have extensive academic and business continuity and emergency management experience. They bring the subject to life with rich teaching and learning features, making it an essential read for students and practitioners alike.”

–Phil Kelly, DBA, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), Fellow of the Institute of Risk Management (FIRM); Senior Lecturer, Liverpool (UK) Business School; Lead Examiner, Risk Decisions, The Institute of Risk Management (IRM)

Make a Difference by Becoming a Noisy Frog!

Everyone talks about making a difference about global warming or changes in society, yet many do not know how.

I have a few random thoughts on this.

It was Anita Roddick of the Body Shop epitomised this when she said: “If you think you are too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito.”

Years ago I saw a movie of Leo Buscaglia which said “Only you can make the difference”.

So here is how you can make a difference.

We all have the power to change the world. In fact, even the smallest changes we make can have a large effect on our environment and global community. From the products we buy to the foods we eat to the activities we engage in, our actions create a ripple effect. And when enough people make enough ripples, a wave is born and a sea change occurs. (For those who believe in chaos theory as well)

I particularly would like to single out something I read on Greenpeace’s website about 7 years ago. It said Make Some Noise!

It stated: “Voice your opinion on social and environmental matters-by writing to companies that are doing the right or wrong things, speaking at local public hearings, voting in every election, weighing in on key legislation, and writing letters to the editor of your local paper.

These and other actions help keep your neighbours informed and let government and company officials know you’re paying attention to the decisions they make”.

We should use our voices, our emails, websites, networks, blogs and other tools of interaction to make a difference.

This story may add to your understanding of this concept.

A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a million frog legs. The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the man where he could get so many frog legs! The farmer replied, “There is a pond near my house that is full of frogs—millions of them. They all croak all night long and they are about to make me crazy!”

So the restaurant owner and the farmer made an agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant, five hundred at a time for the next several weeks.

The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said, “Well… where are all the frogs?”

The farmer said, “I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!”

Next time you wonder how to make a difference, why not become a noisy frog. Eventually someone will listen!

Today the tools exist to make noise…..breaking down walls of traditional thinking about societal issues.

P.S. One of the most interesting sites I have come across on sustainability and the link between waste and consumerism, is the website – Story of Stuff. I highly recommend this site to all my delegates on my courses.

Want to teach your kids about waste, economics and environmental issues? Then, this site is a must visit.

Practical Tips in a Strike

A Strike; planned or unplanned is just another type of crisis and deserves a great deal of preplanning and thought.

Here are a few tips that might help your planning efforts:

What should come to mind first of all – Is how do we service the needs of all our various stakeholders? Each stakeholders has a different expectation of an organisation, and a strike is going to impact on that. Once you have brainstormed that impact you can plan responses for it.

Suppliers may send stock. There will be no one in receiving.

Tip – Tool & Strategy to follow – Inform them of the situation

The Media will be interested in the situation.

Tip – Keep them informed. Do not let them assume.

Customers.

Tip – Apologise. Be honest. “We have a problem. We apologise. We are doing our utmost to act in your best interest, please bear with us. As long as you keep people in the know, they will can and will be persuaded”.

Now from a BCP & Crisis Management perspective. How quickly can you formulate those messages? Get the releases, the ads, the posters and other communication tools out? Communicate directly with your various stakeholders to explain your position and strategy about the issue?

How can we use Social & Traditional Media to inform our stakeholders?

That is the beauty of a plan. You brainstormed, benchmarked and learnt from others. You have templates etc. in place. You are in control. You have the tools.

Now Act! Please remember it is not the plan that is always the most important. It is the thinking, the preplanning. The exposure. The awareness. It is about the thinking.

“ Thinking ahead!!!”

Updating of Crisis Management & Crisis Communication Response Plans

Got a call from someone asking for some help and/or a checklist on how to update their crisis crisis communication response plan.

Without giving away all my knowledge for free (Hey – I also need to make money), I referred the prospective client to my Crisis Management & Crisis Communication Response Toolkit, I shared this:

1. Take a close look at all the other plans in the company – Emergency Response, Health & Safety, Disaster Recovery, Security & Business Continuity plans. Each of these have communication components which you may want to incorporate.

2. Take a close look at definitions. The words transparency, disclosure and public opinion needs to be carefully defined and brainstormed. For instance, transparency is affected by close periods(share trading), laws and regulations and stakeholders perceptions. By voluntary, mandatory and involuntary responses like WikiLeaks moments.

3. Compare your Crisis Communication plan to best practice when it comes to strategic communications planning. Some tips:

Who are your target audiences? Writing a Crisis Plan is a Strategic Communications & Stakeholder Management planning exercise.

My advice would be to proceed as follows:

• Diagnose the current state of communication including the key messages and main targets /stakeholder groups. With other words who needs to know what? What do they know already, etc.?
• Identify key stakeholders or your target audience. Segment key stakeholders groupings.
• Identify contact points i.e. best points or places to reach your target audience.
• Develop communication strategy – now only do you decide on the methods and media to use.
• Identify communication objectives for each target audience/stakeholder.
• Select media best positioned to deliver the message. Take a look at both basic methods as well as social media technologies.
• Develop message strategy for each target audience (stakeholder).
• Decide on implementation strategy (Tactics).
• Compile a Communication- Strategy Matrix.
• Do a Budget.
• Implement & Deliver messages
• Monitor, evaluate and adjust communication program as necessary

For me the biggest problem occurs when people immediately think of the tools to communicate with.

By thinking through this process you will include measurement and delivery evaluation techniques, therefore ensuring impact of message and return on investment.

Profit Warnings–Minimising the Damage

(This article previously appeared in my Powerlines Newsletter Number 38 – April 2004)

As a company with good intentions, how do you communicate bad news such as a profit warning, in such a way that you can minimise negative market fallout.

What goes through most company management’s minds are: “What if shareholders pull their money out? Well, they may or may not.

Today, that decision can depend at least in part on a company’s reputation in the market place – how a company is perceived by shareholders and the public- whether they think it operates efficiently, has credible leadership and has a firm grasp on the industry and its place in the market.

The challenge lies in how you manage and shape those perceptions and get the right message across to the investment community about your company. Especially in the Internet Age when you have no control over the flow of information and rumours.

After all, how can you control perceptions when any investor, large or small, can gather detailed information on your operations with the click of a mouse?

These days, it takes extraordinary knowledge and skill to navigate the territory of managing perceptions and building a corporate image and identity. Not only do you need to have a good understanding of how perceptions are formed and how the investment community operates, but more important, you have to find ways to get your message across in an era of uncertainty!

Indeed companies that once had time to react to a drop in earnings or an internal crisis before breaking the news to the investment community now must find ways to get ahead of the news or stay in a reactive mode and face the consequences.

In today’s high-pressure, nano-seconds environment, a company can’t afford to employ a communications policy that forces shareholders and potential investors to read between the lines when problems are present.

As a company you need to be transparent and communicate consistently and proactively. Some companies want to go quiet during bad news, but they need to communicate regularly in good and bad times.

Many companies have learnt that openness and transparency relates to much more than just financial data. A good example is the increasing interest in for example ethical investing.

More and more investors are looking at measures beyond the “financial statements”. They are increasingly looking at the drivers of reputation such as whether management is capable in running the company, whether the organisation is playing a role in sustainable development and whether it has an adequate record on managing it human capital etc.

So here are some valuable strategies and tips that can minimise the potential damage:

- Open the lines of communication and educate analysts and other stakeholders such as opinion leaders as your business climate UNFOLDS. Keep them in the loop through regular briefings and knowledge sharing LONG before whatever hits the fan, does.

- Prepare for any fallout. Message preparation should take place long trouble strikes. In today’s climate a company only has a nanosecond in which to respond. How ready is your company to respond to a news crisis? How quickly can you post new information on your website? How quickly can you communicate DIRECTLY with key stakeholders and influencers? (What about the use of social media? A CEO Blog, Use of Twitter and Facebook?)

- Take time to build relationships before a crisis hits. Build relationships with stakeholders, analysts and key opinion leaders. Another way of spelling the word TRUST is “TIME”. It takes time to build relationships and credibility. Start now. Identify stakeholders carefully. Today one person with a PC and a modem can damage your company’s reputation.

- Benchmark your communication process both formally and informally. Executives go for annual medical check-ups but they also go and see the doctor when they are feeling uneasy. Conduct regular spot checks. (Use online survey methods such as zoomerang and surveymonkey to track issues and perceptions)

- Incorporate maximum disclosure as part of your company’s strategy. That means that it’s not so much what you say; but how consistently you say it. Define what is meant by mandatory disclosure, voluntary disclosure and involuntary disclosure (I deal with that in my Stakeholder Reputation workshops)

- Manage expectations. The best way is to be honest and keep people informed. No one likes untimely surprises. No one likes bad news, but it becomes more palatable when it is less likely to damage a person’s personal position.

As a general rule I would suggest that it is better to be honest upfront. Be careful to discern between pure hype and honest information.

If you do have negative news, be honest but concentrate on sharing that the company has a clear focus on its mission and goals and a commitment to follow through on its strategies. When potential investors sense the management team’s commitment, their confidence is strengthened.

Minimising the fallout from a profit warning is an essential strategic planning exercise. It is education of the highest order.

It is an exercise that deals in perceptions and intangibles. No company is immune to this happening.

The only positive lies in HOW your company will respond.