Adcock will need to manage its Reputation carefully

I read a cynical analysis of Adcock Ingram in the Star Business Report a few days ago.

Adcock listed on the JSE on Monday. Before that they had to do major damage control after the bid-rigging and collusion scandal.

Last week Jonathan Louw , the CEO apologised again to the public for the critical care division’s involvement in anti-competitive behaviour. The article goes on to state that Adcock has put its staff through ethics and competition law training because it wants to ensure it never has to go through the same embarrassment again.

I am wondering whether that is enough. Reputation risk has a tendency to emerge when we expect it the least. Since everything we do and say can have an impact on the reputation of the organization, careful attention needs to be given to the management of a company’s reputation as an asset and a risk.

Worldwide research shows that more than top 2000 private and public sector organisations regard reputation as their biggest risk. Like all of the intangible assets whose value has escalated in recent years (other examples are talent, knowledge, know – how and intellectual property), reputation has been overlooked by organisations because it is so difficult to comprehend.

It is only when a reputation incident severely damages the credibility of an organisation or one of its brands, or its standing in the eyes of its stakeholders, that the potentially catastrophic consequences of not managing the crisis properly become apparent. Studies of organisations that have handled crises affecting their reputation badly have identified long term and irreparable damage to share price, market share and brand value.

Many organisations make the mistake of assuming that all that is needed is media training and crisis planning. However, a reputation crisis exposes to public and media scrutiny not only the organisation’s competence at crisis handling, but the values, standards and shortcomings that existed beforehand.

The reputation strategy should, therefore, have two simple objectives – to prevent the causes that could damage your reputation, and to minimise the impact if, despite your best endeavours, a reputation crisis should occur.

It will therefore be in Adcock’s interest:

- To ensure that all managers and staff members understand the nature of the organisation’s reputation and their own individual reputation;

- That the Board establish a reputation risk management strategy

- To develop standards and controls for the action that the reputation asset building and risk management strategy places most importance on

- To provide reputation management training, education and communication to obtain the vital support and commitment of all employees and managers

- To pay special attention to red flags – analysis and monitoring mechanisms to provide early warning of problems or crises

- To implement a process of continuous crisis assessment

Some organisations have attempted part of this process themselves, particularly the first four stages. In my experience, they are severely disadvantaged by being too close to the issues, or by risking avoiding taboo or politically difficult areas, or by not challenging assumptions vigorously or objectively enough.

It is often said that a doctor cannot prescribe medicine, unless he conducts a proper diagnosis. The same holds true for definitions. Unless you define something clearly, the wrong approach to deal with it may be taken. Here then is a few of the definitions that I unpack for my audiences in my Reputation Protection Master Classes. Use these to define and customize your approach in preparing your organization to deal with unwanted reputation damage.

Although Reputation Risk often is the consequence of lack of compliance, it is vital for compliance experts to understand their role in the management of this intangible but vital asset. Just consider these two definitions and your own role.

Definition 1:Reputation risk is the risk that potential negative publicity regarding an institution’s business practices could cause a decline in the customer base, costly litigation, or revenue reductions. Errors or fraud can have serious ramifications on the public perception of a institution. Management can mitigate reputation risk by having an effective public relations program, by developing and maintaining strong stakeholder relationships, and by enacting adequate internal controls over all aspects of the organization and internal systems so that errors do not happen in the first place.

Definition 2: Reputation risk is the current and prospective impact on earnings and capital arising from negative public opinion. This affects the institution’s ability to establish new relationships or services or continue servicing existing relationships. This risk may expose the institution to litigation, financial loss, or a decline in its customer base. Reputation risk exposure is present throughout the organization and includes the responsibility to exercise an abundance of caution in dealing with its stakeholders such as customers and the community.

Very often the issue of materiality can blow a small thing into a large issue. Exposing managers and compliance experts to how an incident can escalate and create huge impact is vital. Working on these definitions, will close the gap between tangible asset control and the impact of intangibles.

An organisation’s reputation remains its greatest asset and risk, and needs to be managed accordingly.

Adcock will have to remain vigilant. The danger is that once reputation has been damaged, stakeholders will scrutinise your behaviours and actions more carefully than before, increasing the potential of reputation risk.

Anyone been to Copenhagen or Berlin?

I read today that Copenhagen has been crowned the best city in the world in a survey of global urban treasures, and that Berlin got the award for best for culture.

Unfortunately I have not been to either. Do you agree with the judges results?

The Danish capital was awarded top spot for its quality of life and status as a cutting-edge design centre, said the authors of the report, which looked at factors from the ease of buying a good glass of wine at one am to the quality of architecture and the number of cinema screens.

Copenhagen

Researchers at the London-based lifestyle magazine Monocle praised the city’s compact planning, its “frictionless” transport system and infrastructure, as well as its contemporary buildings, topnotch restaurants and renewed focus on environmental issues.

The last characteristic was crucial in Copenhagen’s promotion from second place in last year’s standings to first place in 2008, they said. “As the planet becomes an increasingly urban place, delivering these life-improving essentials to cities big and small is proving more than a challenge,” said Tyler Brule, Monocle’s editor-in-chief. “Radical environmental initiatives that pull cars off streets can do wonders, but can also kill off passing trade.

“New developments, designed to attract investment, can not only boost local fortunes but also drive out all those people that made the city interesting in the first place.”

In a further accolade, Copenhagen was proclaimed the design capital of the world, with researchers hailing the return of a buzzing scene which had not seen such creativity since its heyday in the 1950s and 60s.

Researchers advised the more artistic traveller, meanwhile, to head to Berlin, which they labelled the world’s best for culture. The German capital’s art galleries have made it an “unparalleled” cultural hub, the magazine said, adding that cheap studio space and a 24-hour scene were attracting artists and designers from around the globe.

For city planners and bureaucrats there must be some interesting reputation lessons if you read the word choices, metaphorically speaking. The emphasis on environmental issues are thought provoking.

Most competitions are perception based, and as they say there are objective and subjective reality. At this stage, my reality is subjective, as I have to base my opinions on what I am reading.

What has your experiences been like in those cities?

Proofreading Tricks

Reading Saturday’s Star newspaper, I chuckled when I read Brendan Seery’s comment about handing an Onion to a Communications Company that sent a press release through that were full of grammatical and typographical errors.

Proofreading relates back to pride and personal reputation. How proud are you of your own work? Many years ago craftsmen were prepared to put their own signature on a product that they manufactured, to show their involvement. Brendan also laments the organization for not checking the release before sending it out.

However seldom is people taught the importance of revision or how to proofread. There are tips and techniques that any person can use to reduce potential errors and anger in readers. Whether you are preparing for a conference presentation or drafting a brief memo, writing is a process. This means that no document can be written in one swoop; it always requires several levels of revisions and edits.

The following sources should be utilized throughout the writing process:

1. COMPUTER – Always use your computer editing tools first, such as spell check, grammar, punctuation, and style checks. Beware over reliance on this. Many people think that Microsoft will pick up errors automatically. This is a fallacy. It can help, but too much reliance on technology is dangerous.
2. YOURSELF – Reread your writing several times to make sure that sentences are structured properly and convey your ideas in the way that you wish.
3. OTHERS – Ask your coworkers, friends, or family members for feedback on your writing.
4. PROFESSIONALS – Consult professional editors when writing long documents.

Once you have completed the writing, proofreading starts. I have compiled a list of tips and techniques that you can use. Take a look, and let me know which ones you think works for you.

Tips:

1. Print your document before sending it. Proofreading on the computer screen is generally more difficult. Errors are easier to detect on hard copy as opposed to on a monitor.(If possible, remember the Green Movement – think about a tree)

2. Read when you’re most alert, whatever that time may be. When you’re tired, the odds of overlooking errors increase. This is a mistake I made earlier on in my career.

3. Divide up your tasks. Proof once for grammatical errors, again for spelling and punctuation, and once more for content. I know someone who first check headings, then take a break, then do the rest. Some try the 48 hour rule – leave it alone and then go back to it.

4. Have at least three people proofread your work. Being close to a project makes you more likely to skim over errors. Everyone has different strengths and will more than likely find different errors. I for instance have had a problem with the word address for many years. For some reason I always missed it.

5. Read your writing out loud. This helps to identify errors that you might miss if you just read silently to yourself.

6. Place a blank sheet of paper just below the line you are proofreading and move your finger along under each word.  This keeps your eyes from wandering to the text below.

7. When marking the document, try using a yellow highlighter pen.

8. Read your document backwards one final time, beginning from the bottom. This helps disconnect your mind from the content and focus on the individual words.

9. After you make final corrections, make sure to proof the revised document. Verify that all the corrections have been made.

10. Pass it around one more time. It’s amazing that even after going through all these steps, someone will usually find a mistake.

But there’s another quote that may represent the most compelling argument for revision and proofreading. It was a piece of advice that the editor of the Wall Street Journal gave to a new editor toiling away one night on a story.

“Remember,” Barney Kilgore told Michael Gartner, “the easiest thing for the reader to do is to quit reading.”

The biggest problem with revising and proofreading is not the words, it’s the attitude. Every piece of writing is an expression of who you are.

Writing is about connecting. You want the reader to read your document. Make it easy for them to do that by careful attention to the final output.

Blah! Blah! Blah!

So, you want to communicate with a company…!

So you go to their website, click on contacts, only for some stupid dialogue box to appear. So there you go ..blah, blah, complete all the necessary details and 5 minutes later, you press enter..

And a dialogue box appears… we will contact you ..maybe in 24 hours… or worst case scenario… a message appears..Error or SQL Database Error…Please enter data again…

So maybe I am harsh, but a website with these type of controls, just illustrate to me the lack of understanding of corporate communication principles..

Why on earth, would I at 11h00 at night try and send your organisation a message? For fun or a reason?

Do you want to hear my opinion, my thoughts, or should I rather phone Tip-off Anonymous, a newspaper, the TV, etc….Rely on my own influential database?

For heaven sake, companies wake up! Managing your Reputation is about staying in touch and informed, not restricting communication between yourself and stakeholders. No wonder countless of journalists complain that companies just do not make themselves accessible to the media.

Yet this is what a certain organisation writes on its website:

1. We subscribes to the principle of transparent, timeous, balanced, relevant and understandable communication, focused on substance not form, with all relevant parties.

2. Communication covers both financial and non-financial aspects of the business to assist in creating an informed stakeholder population. Detailed reports of the various aspects influencing the business, both directly and indirectly, are communicated to stakeholders.

3. Our organisation undertakes this responsibility to ensure that stakeholders are comprehensively informed so as to understand why they should continue to invest in a company which, they believe, will enjoy sustained success.

Ya, right? So please phone us, when it suits us..

Do they honestly believe that 11h00 at night when I want to communicate and quickly send someone a message, that I am going to go through their elaborate capturing process? Stakeholder management is about organisational policies and procedures that take into account the needs and desires of various stakeholders.

And you know what peeves me off the most, the message above is raised at every media related conference. Every journo moans, every company representative say it’s not us….So how come then, websites are not developed taking the latest research on corporate communication into account? How come websites are not benchmarked against best practice?

Blah! Blah!

*** By the way, I did not even putting their statement in italics – the message just does not deserve appropriate treatment..

3 E’s for Building a Personal Reputation

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 your 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:

The First 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.

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

The Third 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://www.linkedin.com/deonbin 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. You will have to register, but it is for free and Linkedin is probably the world’s best known site for professional networking.

Using Colour in Job Advertisements

Reading the Job section of today’s Business Times I was presently surprised by the use of colour in trying to get a message across.

Of all the ads honours must go to XSTRATA COAL. Their advert is fresh and does not just position the company as possible employer, but the use of words such as balance, grow and achieve together with pictures and an explanation of the company’s operations, paints a picture that I think will attract the right caliber of staff.

From a visual identity this advert deserves its accolades.

The job ad for a General Manager states that the person will be responsible for achieving the optimum level of HSEC – Health, Safety, Environment and Community…thus the applicant should have ”a thorough understanding of complex environmental factors and know how to add value to stakeholder relationships”.

I presume.

Pity that few programs at higher educational institutions cover this in detail. REPUCOMM’s Stakeholder Reputation being an exception.