Fired because of Facebook – Implications for Reputation Managers

A South African has been fired and two others suspended for posting Facebook updates considered unacceptable by the their companies, The Times reported on Wednesday.

A 23-year-old administration clerk at a clothing factory south of Durban lost his job for calling his boss a "serial masturbator" on Facebook after being reported by a co-worker.

Read more at : http://tinyurl.com/ldcq57

The article ends of by stating that  Labour lawyer Johann van Zyl said many South African companies have blocked Facebook but are also wising up to the need for labour policies designed to prevent employees from bringing the company into disrepute in their private time.

But here in lies the problem.

How can you expect certain things of an employee if you have not educated them in the importance of reputation and the things that can affect it? Does your company have a Blogging Policy? A Policy that incorporates best practices, take into account constitutional issues freedom of  speech, whistle blowing, transparency and stakeholder engagement issues?

Have you adequately INFORMED, EDUCATED, TRAINED & INSTRUCTED the employee in the use of the Internet, Social Media, and what they are allowed to write , and not write, together with the consequences and results of non-compliance?

Employers have rights and responsibilities and so does employees, but this case is not as simple as it seems on the surface.

Why would an employee use that avenue to vent? Have you determined the real reasons why? What if a customer or stakeholder did that? Will you resort to going to court, just like Telkom did?

This issue goes far deeper. To solve will need a communication, labour relations, organizational behavior, legal and reputation related intervention.

Beware of setting policies randomly in offices. Do your homework, and do it carefully.

Technorati Tags: Social Media versus employment practices

The Difference between Deciding and Doing

Five fledglings are in the nest. Four decide to spread their wings and soar away. How many are left?

Answer: five.

Why? Because there’s a difference between deciding and doing!

Moral: Decisions are only one-half the story. It is all about execution. Check out Morita’s theory. Ever heard of him? A Japanese psychiatrist whose work is brilliant and thoughts pragmatic – IMHO! According to him action is more important than words. I agree. The general opinion is that it takes action to make a difference.

However the difficulty often lies in the desire to change. Anthony Robbins says that change can happen in an instant, but it is the time leading up to change that can take a long time. On his CD Unlimited Power he talks about the fact that Power comes from action.

Dr. Wayne Dyer narrates an interesting story about people’s desire for change.

"Alcohol is an evil beyond compare," said the preacher as he stood before a group of alcoholics.

On the platform he had what appeared to be two identical containers of clear fluid. He announced that one contained pure water and the other contained undiluted alcohol. He placed a small worm in the container filled with water and everyone watched as it swam around and headed for the side of the glass and finally crawled to the top of the glass. He then took the same worm and placed it in the container with alcohol. The worm disintegrated right before their eyes.

"There," said the preacher, "What is the moral?"

A voice promptly replied: "If you drink alcohol, you will never have worms."

Human nature generally resists change because change is uncomfortable, unpredictable, stressful and difficult. When we view change as urgent and important we will view it positively. I guess it is the same with managing reputation. It is the domain of the PR Department – isn’t it?

Technorati Tags: PR,Change management

How Reputation Event/ Crisis-Ready is your Organization?

The following self-diagnostic is not a replacement for a comprehensive crisis audit of your organization by a qualified consultant. But it may help you determine whether it’s time to initiate one!

For scoring, see legend at the bottom. Just answer Yes or No.

1. You regularly scan your socio-political and stakeholder environment (news media, Internet, consumer surveys, etc.) for possible threats to your organization’s reputation.
2. You regularly scan your internal environment (union issues, corporate governance issues, etc) for possible threats to your organization’s reputation.
3. You have identified the main current potential threats to your organization’s reputation (risks are threats which are at least “medium” both in terms of likelihood and seriousness).
4. For each of these threats, you have prepared a “what if” scenario describing how the threat would most likely unfold, and how the organization should, ideally, respond to it, including your main communication messages to stakeholders.
5. You have prepared a set of procedures which are to be followed by managers throughout the organization, should any of these threats (or some unanticipated crisis) transpire. These procedures include specific protocols such as notifications of appropriate executives.
6. You have designated and trained a Crisis Communication Team which is to be convened in the event of a crisis. This may be the same people who sit on your Emergency Response Team, or another group linked to it.
7. You have prepared a comprehensive, regularly-updated database (ideally in electronic form) of all the key people you may need to reach in the event of a crisis. This includes key media contacts, key contacts in government, key managers, etc., with their home, fax, cellular telephone, twitter, instant messenger and other coordinates.
8. You have included everything from steps 3-7 in a regularly updated crisis communication manual (paper, electronic or both) which is readily available to all your key executives and managers.
9. You have condensed the key contact information onto a wallet card which all your key executives and managers can have with them at all times.
10. You have tested your organization’s ability to carry out this plan and these procedures in a simulation.

HOW TO SCORE RESULTS:

Award your organization 10 points for each “yes.”

Under 50 points:
Either your organization has consciously decided it likes living dangerously or it’s living in a fool’s paradise. Let me guess: the organization also carries the least possible insurance, because one of your executives said “the premiums cost too much.”

50-60 points:

You’ve got something stuffed into your parachute sack…unfortunately you don’t know whether it’s a parachute or a dirty hanky. It’s time to turn your plan into a high priority business project with a completion deadline and support from senior management. The majority of listed type organizations fall into this category.

60-80 points:
Now you’re training for the big time! Time to focus on those few things that are keeping you in from being the leader in your field!

80 points or better:
Welcome to being a leader in your industry. You can sleep nights; at least as far as crisis preparedness is concerned. All that is required from you is to benchmark and audit compliance to ascertain levels of assurance.

The questionnaire above is just a small extract of a detailed questionnaire that is included in a product – The Crisis Manager Toolkit that is available on CD or for download. For more information and rates, send me an e-mail.

Technorati Tags: Crises,Crisis Management,Crisis Communication,Reputation Risk

Brochure for the Reputation Defence Masterclass

I have uploaded the Reputation Defence Masterclass brochure and registration form to my blog for ease of access.

Just visit the link:

http://deonbinneman.wordpress.com/events/reputation-defence-masterclass-reputation-risk-mitigation/

What:	Reputation Defence Masterclass (Reputation Risk Mitigation) This two-day Johannesburg-based Masterclass provides comprehensive and practical coverage of all aspects of implementing reputation risk management & protection frameworks and is based on more than 25 years research and experience on how to protect business reputations. It offers not only international best practices but also covers the requirements of some of the principles in the new draft King Code 3 on Corporate Governance, especially “Principle 4.14: The board should ensure that the company’s reputational risk is protected”
When:	Wednesday, June 10, 2009 8:00 AM to Thursday, June 11, 2009 5:00 PM
Where:	Hotel Apollo Corner of Bram Fischer Drive and Republic Road, Randburg Johannesburg, Gauteng 2118   South Africa

If you scroll down the page, you just have to click on the two links, to observe a detailed brochure outlining the programme for each day as well as the registration details. Should you be interested in saving R800, then access the registration form now and make use of the Early Bird option.

I look forward in meeting you and sharing the ways and means to protect your organisation’s biggest asset and risk in today’s knowledge economy.

Please share this information with other colleagues who might benefit from this exposure. Remember Knowledge only becomes Power once it is shared. Your assistance in this regard will be much appreciated.

Technorati Tags: Public workshops,New event – Reputation Defence Masterclass,Learning & Development,Training seminars

Fire Drill creates Negative Publicity

A Fire Drill in Toronto, Canada not only created panic, but it brought with it unwanted publicity.

CNN reports that Police in Toronto, Ontario, received a call at 10:47 a.m. reporting
that several armed men had entered the Bickford Centre, an adult
education center where adult literacy training and other courses are
held.Officers responded to the building and blocked off traffic on surrounding streets and the center itself.

On the scene, police soon discovered that the
“threat” was nothing more than a training exercise; the reported
suspects had simply been participating in a safety drill.

“School officials were conducting a drill but did not inform anyone else,” Vella said…..

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/05/21/ontario.false.alarm/index.html?eref=edition

Lesson: In any Crisis simulation(of which Emergency Response plays a small part), it is vital to determine various stakeholders communication needs and the communication protocols to be followed during such a crisis.

In this case, good intentions, but lack of planning sank the ship.

Anyone can be an Activist

Today’s activists have a new set of tools at their disposal.

Mobile phones with cameras, Blogs, Twitter, Youtube….The video link below explores the use of technology in the context of human rights violations.

FORA.tv – Spotlighting Human Rights: Digital Photography and Video

It raises issues of mobilization, the use of communities of practice and the application and use of social media.

Stakeholder Managers will have to do their homework about these trends and application of technologies, so that they can adequately protect their organization’s hard-earned reputation.

Here is what I tell clients as part of preparing to deal with activists.

First thing to do is learn all you can about Saul Alinksky – protesters study his tactics, so YOUR tactics must be to study that so you can anticipate them. For those interested in the late Saul Alinsky’s approach, here’s a summary of his rules, from his book, “Rules for Radicals”.

13 RULES ON TACTICS for Organizers and Interest Groups from Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky.

1. Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.
2. Never go outside the experience of your own people.
3. Whenever possible go outside of the experience of the enemy.
4. Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.
5. Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.
6. A good tactic is one that your people enjoy.
7. A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.
8. Keep the pressure on.
9. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.
10. The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. {The pressure produces the reaction, and constant pressure sustains action.}
11. If you push a negative hard enough and deep enough, it will break through into its counter side; this is based on the principle that every positive has a negative.
12. The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.
13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.

Thus to expound on this:

Item 4 – Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules. Anyone can now be an investigative journalist and like an investigative journalist can take a company’s policies and procedures manual or value statement and then apply it to a situation, showing up the company for not complying with international, local and company best practice, they can now do the same.

With technology it now becomes easier to show up empty words versus action and behavior.

The real action is the enemy’s reaction. The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength.

Tactics, like organization, like life, require that you move with the action. The 13th Rule is the Most Important.

Key Learning: Now study Social Media and how to use the Internet -Facebook, Twitter and blogging and you will understand how activists can now rally for causes around the world.

Take a look at the HANDBOOK FOR CYBER-DISSIDENTS

http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=542

Reporters without Borders have published a “Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-dissidents,” with technical instructions and advice for people who want to use the internet as a means of expression in repressive societies.

“Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure,” they state. “Only they provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest.” The handbook provides tips on how to remain anonymous while blogging; explains how to publicize a weblog, and offers basic advice on ethical and journalistic principles.SOURCE: Reporters without Borders

Twitter Messages can cause Reputation Risk

In Reputation Risk, a run on a bank is what bankers fear the most. This is when customers lose confidence in the bank due to transgressions, rumors or other reasons.

Too many depositors removing funds at the same time can cause a bank’s demise. Today the tools exist with which damage can be caused quickly and efficiently. The example below serves as a warning and a reminder that online monitoring of your brand name is vital, and that strategies to dispel rumors need to be in place, so that an institution can communicate in nano-seconds.

Twitter message leads to arrest after ‘financial panic’

Twitter message leads to arrest after ‘financial panic’

technology.timesonline.co.uk — A man has been arrested for inciting “financial panic” after he posted a Twitter message. Jean Ramses Anleu Fernandez urged people in Guatemala to boycott a bank in the aftermath of a political scandal. In his tweet under his twitter name ‘@jeanfer’ he proposed that people “withdraw cash from Banrural and break the bank of the corrupt”.

Technorati Tags: reputation risk, crisis communication

Mine your Own Database

Did you know that you are sitting on a goldmine?

Yes, your contact database is a goldmine from an information & sales point of view. I am sure that you have heard the saying that it is 6 times more expensive to get a new client than it is to get a new client.

So here is a technique and a tool that you can use to your own advantage.

The Ladder of Loyalty is an useful technique used to move contacts along a continuum from where they are mere contacts to where they become an advocate of what you stand for.

The idea is to go through your database and determine which of your contacts fall into the following categories:

• Advocates – These people love what you do and tell everyone
• Clients – Those people who will naturally call you when they have a need
• Customers – People who have already used you
• Prospects – People who can definitely use your services
• Suspects – These people might be able to use your services

You then develop strategies to move these categories starting with suspects becoming prospects, and so on. You move them up the ladder of loyalty.

Apart from doing this manually, I also found a brilliant piece of software called Xobni the other day. Xobni is the Outlook plug-in that helps you organize your flooded inbox. Xobni’s Outlook add-in saves you time finding email, conversations, contact info & attachments.

Apart from its lightening fast search capabilities and ability to link to other social network sites, it provides Xobni Analytics — its powerful tool for analyzing your own email behaviours over time.

What day of the week are you slowest to respond to email? What time of day do you send the most email? Was this January or last January busier with new email contacts? Who reacted fast to your requests? Who haven’t you contacted lately?

Who are the top 10 people you send emails to? Do you send more emails to your boss than your spouse? Xobni exposes all of this data and more about the people you communicate with — in Outlook, and automatically.

Check it out – http://www.xobni.com/

It might be a good exercise to first of all complete the ladder of loyalty exercise, then combine it with Xobni. It may just show you where you are lacking in engaging with your database.

Who knows what sales opportunities it might reveal.

Technorati Tags: Sales,Database,Ladder of Loyalty

The Importance of Persistence

Dr. Laura Schlessinger tells the following story: "Guy comes to the guru in the road and says, "Guru, which way is success?" Guru points off silently, because gurus don’t talk when they’re wearing white robes.

Guy goes off in that direction and then you hear SPLAT. Guy comes back, a little bloody, a little worn, his hair’s messed up. Says, "Guru, which way is success?" Guru points in the same direction. Guy takes off. Bigger SPLAT this time. Guy comes back crawling, nails broken and bleeding, dragging himself along the ground.

This time he grabs the guru by the collar, yanks him about and says, "Guru, which way is success?"

Guru points off in the same direction. Guy gets hostile and crazed and yells, "I went that way twice and all I got was SPLAT SPLAT!"

"What is the way to success?" Guru finally speaks." Success is that way, he says, "Just a little bit past SPLAT.

There is a saying that " The power to shape the future is earned through persistence."

No other quality is as essential to success. No matter what endeavour you choose, persistence is what will overcome all obstacles. In your communication campaigns it will be persistence in getting the message across that will be the deciding factor in achieving a successful outcome.

How persistent are you in your communications? Have you tried to impact all my senses? My visual, auditory and kinaesthetic sense, as well as my sense of taste and smell, where possible?

Does your message take into consideration latest research on learning and brain research and linguistics?

( Footnote: Persistence is also reliant on the Cycle of learning and the quote: Repetition is the mother of skill)

 

Technorati Tags: Lifehacks,Communication Campaigns

How to Build your Department’s Reputation

Many departments in companies are faced with the proverbial axe, as organizations downsize, outsource or question the added value offered by these departments.

Often departments are guilty of not marketing themselves adequately internally. Often department heads and members assume that all stakeholders know what added value they are offering the organization. In the meantime the perceptions created are not always in synch. There may be doubts about the perceived value they are getting.

Most departments have a need for the following:

- To extend their department’ strategic influence throughout the organization;

- To market themselves internally as a Strategic Provider;

- To increase the levels of communication between the Department and its clients and "paying" customers;                                              

It is important to realize that with tighter budgets and a greater emphasis on performance in all areas, that managers should turn to market tactics as a way to ensure their customers – from top management to entry level workers – understand exactly what products, services and added value the department offers.

The following questionnaire has been drawn up to prime your way of thinking. Complete the following questions:

1. Does your department have a written business plan in place that was completed with the input of all relevant stakeholders?
2. When last have you conducted market research among your customers internally and externally?
3. What are you doing to promote your department internally?
4. Could you improve on this process? Are you using all communication channels and mediums available?
5. How actively is top management involved in your efforts?
6. Assume that you have just been called in and told that your department’s functions and services are going to be outsourced. However, the organization is willing to give you one hour in which to come up with a document that will show your worth to the organization. Therefore, ask yourself this question: "Why should your organization not outsource your function."

In this increasingly fast-moving, complex, and competitive world, successful professionals who will be able to leverage their marketing success are those who stay close to their clients, work with them in business partnerships to anticipate needs and develop demand-driven solutions, create distinctive advantages in the marketplace, and use marketing plans to run their departments.

For those who are willing to commit to the discipline required for a strategic-marketing and reputation building approach to their departments, the payoffs will show on the bottom line-and in increased satisfaction for clients and the department’s professionals.

(Training professionals who want a seat at the strategic table may find my posting useful. It is based on 13 years as an independent service professional (consultant) and having been involved long ago in my career in the setting up and management of 4 training departments (including a business school)

Here is my advice:

1. A Department should be managed as if it is a new department which no one knows anything about.

2. Develop a strategic Business and Marketing plan for the Department. Example – If management came to you and told you they are going to outsource your Department, what would you do? A book like JobShift by William Bridges is superb in this regard. Like any business you need a Vision, Mission, etc.

3. Market your department as if it is a new business. Define your products and services, do a FAB Analysis – Features, Advantages and Benefits. Then promote them as if no one knew you existed.

4. Go out internally and market yourself to line managers, SME’s and influencers. Actively involve top management and constantly communicate results to top management and other stakeholders. Unless you are clear on what you will provide, why should I buy from you? Why should I use you even though you are an internal service provider?

5. Conduct regular research to test your usability and whether you are still adding value. Documenting the effectiveness of efforts clearly and ensure that it reaches the right ears. Use oral, written and online media to build your presence and influence.

6. Look for ways to promote your department in the workplace. What added value and assistance can your department offer to others? There is a saying that no one is indispensable, but why not make yourself, that?