Reputation management an essential element of a company's internal communication strategy

The internal reputation of a company is vitally important for a number of reasons, not least because employees of all levels are ambassadors for the organization. Staff can easily influence the reputation of the company by communicating positive or negative messages to other people, both inside and outside the organisation. It is therefore crucial to ensure that the internal reputation of the company is nurtured at all times.

There are specific times in the development of any business when internal reputation management becomes even more critical and must be a focus in the internal communication strategy. The first example is Crisis Communication and in order to minimise damage to the organisation's internal reputation, a comprehensive plan needs to be developed before any crisis hits the organisation. This plan needs to detail responsibilities for internal communication and how each and every employee will be reached in an effective way so that their perception of the company remains positive.

The second example is Change Management. Few organisations find themselves in an environment that is not in a constant state of flux and managing internal reputation is therefore vital. Change is not just about how people act, but it is also about how they think. As the Chinese sage wrote centuries ago: “Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand”. Effective Change Management relies on employees understanding why the change is happening and how it affects them. The reputation of the company both internally and externally depends on how professionally change is communicated. Contradictory statements expressed by the management about openness and involvement tend to frustrate employees rather than inspire them. The opportunity is for employers to recognize that the relationship between individuals and the organisation is sacrosanct and powerful and that investing in reputation is therefore essential.

Reputation Management clearly needs to be a key element of all internal communication and management should use all the internal communication tools available to them to continually build the reputation of the company, both internally and externally. In order to be effective, internal communication needs to be pro-active, open, two-way, and most importantly credible. Senior managers should feel passionately about communication, devote time to it, change their own behaviour and push ideas of involvement and participation beyond what has traditionally been the norm. Communication will be only be effective if employees perceive it to have integrity and integrity is the cornerstone of a good reputation.

Janine Hills will be a speaker at the Internal Communications: Making the Connection seminar, on Tuesday, 30 October 2007. To find out more, please contact Rozanne Ras on (011) 880-8540 or email Rozanne at .