Here at CRP we use a 3 ‘D’ approach to nurture and grow a business’ reputation:
Develop and define the reputation by engaging with the whole of the business and its stakeholders.
Demonstrate the reputation by shared forms of words and pictures, inside and outside the business.
Defend the reputation by having people suitably trained and appropriate systems in place to identify and nullify risk.
Develop Employee Engagement Programs
An engaged workforce is, quite simply, one of the most valuable assets an organisation can have to best drive success. Engaged employees are also integral to nurturing a shared sense of reputation.
We have a wealth of experience in supporting management teams reach and engage effectively with staff members. That’s not to say that we can achieve something which the business can’t. People engage more deeply with others they know, so we’ve learnt that our value is felt in presenting teams with the tools and methods which have been successful before. Our strength lies in the ability to structure engagement programs, which work for leaders and their reports, while also measuring the progress a business makes.
Develop Executive Reviews
It is vital that executive team members contribute fully in the defining of reputation. They will have close relationships with stakeholders beyond the organisation and to that end, will recognise how the business is perceived externally. Naturally, they are also taking those business decisions that affect the company, so it’s critical that actions are aligned with the reputation.
The CRP manages such executive reviews from the basis of set questionnaires, or in-depth one-on-one interviews. We are seasoned research practitioners who are expert at wording such questions and extrapolating results safely.
Develop Stakeholder Relations
Every organisation has a raft of stakeholders that take close interest in its work, and influence its reputation. The supply chain is getting more complicated, and the media landscape is changing at breakneck pace. Consequently, it’s vitally important for organisations to have strong, healthy relationships with its many publics.
Businesses will know these stakeholders far better than we do at the CRP, so we don’t need to identify who these people are. Our value lies in setting up the structures to ensure that these relationships are best maintained over the long-term. Enhancing reputation is about establishing these roots within different communities, and we have set up such plans for executive and non-executive teams.
Demonstrate Great Storytelling
Your messages will tell people what you're about, but your stories will get them to care. The popular CRP storytelling workshop builds on existing corporate messaging, and with the help of staff insights and corporate history, begins the process of producing the stories which incorporate reputation.
Facilitated by a senior consultant, the workshop’s deliverables will include:
First draft of the story idea
Strategic campaign plans for story execution
Transcribed notes from the workshop
Demonstrate Media Control
Company spokespeople are an integral part in enhancing and defending corporate reputation. Subsequently, it's critical that spokespeople are skilled in telling the world what their business stands for in compelling terms, and negotiating the fiercest of media interviews.
However, where CRP differs is the fact that spokespeople are trained, with corporate reputation front-of-mind. Many agencies will run such sessions and not make the connection with the way the business behaves and is perceived – this is not realistic.
The CRP approach emboldens participants by keeping reputation visible. They get a sense of their position on issues and subsequently questions are easier to tackle and interviews easier to control.
Demonstrate Pitching Fluency
Increasingly, businesses are having to pitch and present for new work. For many, the experience can be a difficult one. Yet, with the right training, such scenarios can be the opportunity to shine a light on your organisation’s merits.
Such opportunities have been shown to be more readily accepted, when presenters have a sense of shared-ownership of the business reputation.
Unlike many agencies, the CRP links any training component to the client’s broader reputation and as is so often the case, participants get a clearer grasp of the ambassadorial role played in such scenarios and achieve hugely effective results.
Sessions are filmed for playback purposes to give attendees a detailed overview of their respective performances.
Defending Reputation: Social Media Plans
In light of social media, corporate reputation is more exposed than ever before. The public now has a greater opportunity to interact with an organisation and its services, which can prove damaging even to the most durable of brands.
Social media reputation plans are a critical tool to ensure an organisation is using its social media assets properly to not only withstand the impact of a reputational attack, but to also nurture and grow the reputation in ‘peace time’. We develop plans that not only alert companies to reputational threats, but give leaders the opportunity to grow their teams as they play a more meaningful role in enhancing reputation through online engagement.
Defending Reputation: Simulating Crises
The CRP’s simulation exercises are set up to gauge the strength of a client’s corporate reputation. As with our other training sessions, we keep a business’ reputation front-of-mind when it comes to the design and delivery of the exercise. So, if you’re company known for its solid customer service, we’ll put this to the test by way of an appropriate and plausible scenario. We run desktop and live simulations and provide comprehensive briefing notes on completion of the session.
Defending Reputation: Risk Reports
It’s crucial that an organisation has a full grasp of the potential risks that could do the business harm. Such threats come from a broad range of sources, including technology, the supply chain, regulatory changes and competitors.
Our expertise lies in the ability to help you identify unknown risks early enough. Working with industry experts and specialist sector information, we produce regular risk reports for our clients, before we start the process of drafting their corporate communications on the relevant issues.