PROTECTING REPUTATION OVER TRAINING STAFF | Nick Gold

Nick Gold, Founder & Managing Director, Speakers Corner, talks to Clayton M. Coke of Podcast Radio Business about how businesses can shape their reputation, as 86% of businesses owners say reputation management is more of a priority than training staff with 87% viewing it as more of a priority than diversity across their business. 

In world in which a tweet can tank share prices, ‘cancel-culture’ can dethrone a CEO, and poor brand management can cause public outcry, consumer perception is more important than ever, affecting the trust of your customers, recruiting the right talent and securing investment.

While social media can enhance a brand through increased visibility, it can also be a pitfall with 35% of business owners finding the speed at which news travels via these networks as the main challenge to reputation control.

Disclosures around diversity and inclusion/equal pay and addressing pay gaps (28%), a financial scandal (28%) and revelations around working conditions (27%) are the biggest nightmare when it comes to a business’sreputation being tarnished with owners saying the consequences that poor reputation have had on their business in the past include a third receiving negative media coverage and 32% experiencing either investmentwithdrawal or a negative impact on profits.

Social media is a platform that businesses can use to enhance their brand via increased visibility, but it can also be the pitfall to their reputation, as it opens the door to other areas of reputation management from negative media coverage to employment development needed. 35% of business owners find the speed at which news travels now on social media as the main challenge to reputation control.

To show the heightened attention businesses are placing on protecting and preserving their reputation, data shows that the vast majority (86%) of business owners agree that reputation management is more of a priority than training staff, and 87% view it as more of a priority than diversity across their business.

Brand’s biggest nightmare when it comes to ways their reputation could be tarnished are disclosures around diversity and inclusion / equal pay and addressing pay gaps (28%), a financial scandal (28%) and revelations around working conditions (27%).