Part of the Effective Communication series from Pinch Yourself Communication

Building and maintaining a good reputation is important to every business – and it starts with the internal health of your organisation.

Reputation is sometimes mistakenly regarded as something that’s added on later and reputation management as the exclusive domain of external communication – the media or public relations team.

One reflection of this thinking is when people call for more positive publicity as the fix-all when an organisation faces a threat to reputation. It’s rarely that simple.

There is no doubt that effective public relations, marketing and stakeholder engagement play a critical role in helping an organisation to build and protect reputation, both during the good times and when things go wrong. It’s essential to tell your organisation’s story, manage people’s expectations and foster a two-way conversation with stakeholders to maintain trust.

However, to truly build the resilience of your brand your external communication should be an authentic reflection of who you are as an organisation, what you stand for and what you’re capable of delivering. If not, expectations may not be met and trust can be further eroded.

For example,
Are you and your employees clear on your organisation’s purpose?
Are your employees champions for your company?
Do employees understand their role and are they living your organisational values?
Do you have clear values that guide how your people and your organisation as a whole will behave?
Do your leaders lead by example?
Are your products and services, and the systems that support them, up to scratch?
Is the organisation meeting its government, regulatory and legal requirements?

All of this is reflected in the way your staff and the organisation engage with clients and the wider community where you do business, and the level of trust you  enjoy.

This means that all parts of your business and all of your people contribute to reputation, and reputation thinking must be embedded across the organisation.

It also means that leadership and effective communication internally play a vital role in reputation as part of a well-managed organisation that operates with clear purpose and values.

What does effective communication mean to you?
Please join the conversation: share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below

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