Reputation Research Insights: What Organizations Need to Know
At Environics, we’ve conducted reputation studies for a wide range of clients over many years. I enjoy this work for a couple of reasons. First, when organizations decide to take on this type of study it often means they are facing a challenge, so we get the opportunity to roll up our sleeves and help shape meaningful solutions. Second, organizations often think they know themselves well and therefore understand how stakeholders perceive them. The reality, however, is that every organization that commissions reputation research ends up learning something new about how they are perceived. Many learn a lot, coming to realize that few outsiders see them exactly the way they see themselves.
Here are three key learnings I’ve gathered over years of reputation research:
1. Not your grandfather’s corporate reputation study
While our practice began with corporate reputation, we’ve adapted this approach to regulators, industry associations, not-for-profits, charities, school boards, utilities, and even government organizations. All these entities can benefit from gaining a clear and current view of how stakeholders perceive them, how that aligns with their desired reputation, and what drives stakeholder perceptions. Different types of organizations have different stakeholders (donors, consumers, interest groups, government officials, communities, etc.) and many organizations have multiple stakeholders. Our methodology is highly adaptable, and we work through the scenarios with clients – using stakeholder mapping and other tools – to make sure the most important stakeholders are prioritized and that we optimize our data collection methods to gain the most relevant insights.
2. Beware, you may have more than one reputation.
When an organization has distinct stakeholder groups, perceptions can vary and differentiated strategies may be required to manage reputation across stakeholder segments. Reputations can also vary by awareness levels. Frequently, awareness is associated with positive views of an organization. When that’s the case, the more awareness you can raise about the work you do, the more positive the reputation. But this rule is not universal; there have been times when we’ve recommended the client keep its head down.
3. Don’t be surprised if stakeholders don’t see you the way you see yourself.
The most common purpose of this work is in setting a baseline against which to track progress toward a desired future state. But clients also benefit from gaining a deep understanding of how their stakeholders think about them. In one example, a client had a complex four-part model for thinking about its structure and activities, but our research showed that stakeholders had a more streamlined, two-dimensional view of the organization – which helped the client simplify its own thinking and better relate to its stakeholders. It’s also important to be open-minded when undertaking this type of study; it’s rare for stakeholders outside an organization to be as well informed or engaged as organizational insiders would like them to be. Leaders generally benefit from accepting this reality and navigating accordingly.
If you’re wondering what your stakeholders think of your organization, reputation research may be worth exploring. You might not hear exactly what you’d hoped, but you will likely learn what you need to know. And no matter how far your current reputation may be from your desired state, the study will inform a path to get you closer to your objective.
