Executive Reputation – digital trust in the enterprise

Reputation is a growing concern for executives at many enterprise organizations. To help understand the wide range of impacts that reputation has on both an individual and corporate level, you must consider both a “top down” and “bottom up” effect.

We also have to keep in mind that the nature of healthy reputation relies on the ability for those “in the know” to pass along the correct information to the correct audience. Without having a mechanism in place to highlight success points and positive messages, the resulting absence of information creates a vacuum that is filled with the loudest voices (not always supportive or even correct.)

The following articles (and newly released whitepaper) clarify some of additional insight on the very complex topic of executive reputation.

Preparing For Growth: Time To Rebuild Trust And Reputation
FORBES- Arun Sinha, chief marketing and communications officer of Zurich Financial Services, named 2009 Marketer of the Year by the Direct Marketing Association. “In a post-recessionary world, trust has moved from the individual to the corporate realm. It is one of the most important issues that business organizations face when it comes to the future of their brands.”

Chief Reputation Officer: Whose Job Is It, Anyway?
FORBES – Anthony Johndrow is U.S. managing director of the Reputation Institute in New York.”Senior executives who are responsible for reputation inside companies today are searching for ways to engage with multiple stakeholders in authentic and credible two-way communications, all the while needing to continuously build the business case/ROI for the things they do.”

Rebuilding Corporate Reputation
Mckinsey Quarterly-  “Senior executives are acutely aware of how serious today’s reputational challenge is. Most recognize the perception that some companies in certain sectors (particularly financial services) have violated their social contract with consumers, shareholders, regulators, and taxpayers.”

Microsoft Reputation Study

MICROSOFT – In a survey of roughly 2,500 recruiting professionals and consumers, Microsoft found that online reputation is important, but often less understood than its value would indicate. Some key findings: 70 percent of human resources and recruiting professionals in the U.S. rejected job candidates due to what they found regarding those individuals online, but fewer than 15% of consumers surveyed believe that information found online would have an impact on their getting a job.