What are staff saying about your company?

Copyright © 2007 Deon Binneman
Used with permission of the author:
Author: Deon Binneman  
Email: deonbin@icon.co.za
As it was posted: 27 Jul 2007 08:53 AM CDT on his Blog: Deon Binneman on Managing Reputation 
11 December 2007 

Loyalty means letting others know that what we belong to is an important part of us. It means standing up for that which we value and the people we work with to achieve those values.

But sometimes it is not that easy. Companies alienate us through their culture and the way they treat us. Often acting as an ambassador does not come easy. But each of us represents the company we work for. The way we dress, talk, act, and feel express the reality of the company to outside stakeholders and the world at large.

It has been estimated that each employee knows about 250 other people as a result of business, social, and family contacts. These contacts look upon us as the most reliable source of information about our company. So what we say about our company helps to provide a lasting image in others people’s minds?

Many corporate communication and change efforts seem to not address or evaluate this. Here are some ideas on how to address this issue:

• Plan carefully what actions you want from the employees. Example: All employees will feedback negative comments about the organisation.

• What can we do to measure how employees see, feel or think about the organisation?

• What incentives can we use to help employees project a positive company image?

• How can we prevent employees from spreading negative stories about the company to friends and the community?

(For more information on how to conduct employee climate & culture surveys e-mail deonbin@icon.co.za.) If you do not know what your employee stakeholders are thinking, saying or portraying you can damage your organisation most important and valuable asset - its good name, its hard-earned reputation.

I believe that if employees understood the nature and importance of a good reputation they will take a different view on what they say and do. It is as simple as that.

The moment we assume that employees know, we leave things to chance. During the past eleven years of running workshops I have had thousands of delegates come to me afterwards stating that they did not know or ACTIVELY thought that their reputation and that of the organisation is at stake.

Deon Binneman is a well-known speaker, consultant, trainer and writer who is considered among the most influential experts on the management of corporate reputation and the mitigation of reputation risk. He is widely-praised for his ability to communicate reputation and crisis issues into language that non-experts can easily understand. Deon has spoken at many conferences and facilitated workshops in locally and overseas. He is a prolific writer and has authored many articles in traditional and electronic media, including a chapter in Prof. Charles Fombrun’s book called “The Advice Business – Essential Tools and Models for Management Consulting” (Prentice Hall) called “Consultancy Marketing: Developing the Right Mindset”. Deon formerly worked as an internal Organisational Behaviour consultant in the retail sector, consulting to six business units on the management of change, communication and capacity building, and is a former Business Adviser to the Small Business Development Corporation, counselling and training entrepreneurs. Deon has designed, developed and facilitated numerous training workshops including Reputation Risk Management Master Classes, Stakeholder Reputation, The Management of Corporate Reputation, Health & Safety Skills for Managers & Crisis Management & Communication Response. He is a graduate of Henley Management College (UK) and the Graduate Institute of Management and Technology and holds qualifications in Public Relations, Strategic Management, Strategic Human Resources Management, Occupational Health and Safety and Governance, Risk and Ethics.

Specialties:
- Dynamic and skillful speaker with in-depth knowledge and application of topics ranging from Corporate Reputation Issues to Organisational Behaviour.
- Reputation Risk Management and Crisis Management specialist assisting companies to build, sustain and protect its reputation.
- Extensive experience in training and development and working with a variety of groups in various types of settings.

He can be contacted at: Tel: 27 (011) 475-3515, Fax: 0866 129 566, Mobile: 083 425 4318 Email: deonbin@icon.co.za Blog: Deon Binneman on Managing Reputation: http://deonbinneman.wordpress.com/ Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/deonbin P.O. Box 3285, Honeydew, Johannesburg, South Africa 2040

Short summary
Reputation of an organisation starts with the views employees hold of it and carry to their networks, appearing to be reliable sources of inside information.

Keywords and relevant phrases
ambassador, behaviour, belonging, change management, communication, corporate culture, dress, emotions, feedback, information, loyalty, measurement, networking, representation, reputation, stakeholders, values,