Reputation and the Bottom Line

Stephan Stern wrote an excellent article in the Financial Times last week, provocatively headlined “The deadliest greenhouse gas? The hot air of CSR.” He noted that there “may have been much talk of (newly rediscovered) responsibility in Davos… But for most managers the biggest responsibility of all will always be to make a profit and stay in business.”

Staying in business, making profit and building, or rebuilding, your company’s reputation need not be mutually exclusive. In fact, companies now have an opportunity to reset many communication practices from the recent age of excess. That would mean tearing down a few Potemkin villages, including old CSR objectives. Let’s face it: does anybody really believe that last year’s CSR reports from big oil companies and recently socialized banks are doing anything for their reputation today?

Edelman got the ball rolling with its 10th Edelman Trust Barometer, confirming what people had already suspected: the reputations of most companies have plummeted. I read the agency’s recommendation – four pillars of “public engagement” – in Richard Edelman’s article published in the opinion section of the Financial Times. I hope the agency can simplify them a bit more. Perhaps we can take a clue from the survey, which mentions three top prerequisites for a company to regain the trust of its customers and prospects: offer quality products or services, treat employees well, and communicate frequently and honestly about the way the company does business.

So the new CSR should contain two accomplishments to achieve stellar corporate reputation in the new economic normal:  saving and creating jobs.  Without that, there won’t be any money left to save anything else.