exploring the connections between corporate culture and reputation
TRANSCRIPT
AN MWW SURVEY
EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEENCORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 2
Recently MWW conducted a survey to explore the connections between corporate reputation and corporate culture. We surveyed 100 business leaders and human resources executives from companies with more than 250 employees and received consistent and clear feedback: they are intrinsically linked.
As a means to deeply explore the issue, we presented the recent Goldman Sachs open resignation letter and asked respondents to evaluate what the letter revealed about Goldman Sachs’ internal culture and how it impacted the company’s reputation.
The results point to the central role a company’s internal corporate cultures plays in driving it’s external reputation.
EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 3
3 OUT OF 4 BUSINESS LEADERS BELIEVE CORPORATE REPUTATION IS SUBSTANTIALLY DRIVEN BY THEIR COMPANY’S INTERNAL CORPORATE CULTURE.
TRUSTIS A BIG PART OF HOW THEIR COMPANIES OPERATE.
MOST BUSINESS LEADERS BELIEVE THEIR COMPANY STANDS FOR MORE THAN JUST ITS SERVICES OR PRODUCTS AND SAY
ARE AMONG THE TOP TWO MOST IMPORTANT GROUPS DRIVING THEIR CORPORATE REPUTATION.
FRONT-LINE EMPLOYEES
BUSINESS LEADERS BELIEVE THAT ONLYDESPITE RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTURE, ONLY 5 PERCENT STRONGLY BELIEVE THEIR OWN ORGANIZATION’S CULTURE WOULD PRECLUDE AN INCIDENT SIMILAR TO GOLDMAN SACHS FROM HAPPENING TO THEM.5
EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 4
CORPORATE CULTURE DRIVES CORPORATE REPUTATIONThree out of four business leaders believe corporate reputation is at least substantially driven by their internal corporate culture.
1% Not at All
SUBSTANTIALLY60%
15%Entirely /Almost Entirely
19% Somewhat
5% Slightly
In these difficult economic times, the attitude and working culture of our employees is even more important for and impactful to our level of service delivery which determines our external reputation.
Our culture permeates everything we do - relationships with owners, architects, vendors and subs. They see us at work everyday and how we behave and react to things is based on that internal culture.
— CORPORATE EXECUTIVE AT A COMPANY WITH 1000-5000 EMPLOYEES
— DIRECTOR IN THE HR DEPARTMENT AT A COMPANY WITH 501-1000 EMPLOYEES
EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 5
PHILOSOPHY ON CORPORATE CULTUREMost respondents indicated a strong corporate culture was important to their organization. Trust is a big part of how their company operates, and most believe their company stands for more than just its services or products.However, nearly 30% of business leaders believe their corporate culture is not consistent from the executive level down to the lowest level employees.
87TRUST IS A BIG PART OF HOW WE OPERATE AS A COMPANY
STRONGLY AGREE / AGREE
85%81%78%74%72%41%
OUR COMPANY STANDS FOR MORE THAN JUST OUR SERVICES OR PRODUCTS
WE ACTIVELY PROMOTE A PARTICULAR CORPORATE CULTURE BUILT ON CORE VALUES
WE HAVE ADEQUATE MECHANISMS IN PLACE TO ALLOW EMPLOYEES TO REPORT UNETHICAL PRACTICES
EMPLOYEES TRULY BUY-IN TO OUR CORPORATE CULTURE
THE CORPORATE CULTURE IS CONSISTENT FROM THE EXECUTIVE LEVEL DOWN TO THE LOWEST LEVEL EMPLOYEES
THE BOTTOM LINE IS THE ULTIMATE FACTOR IN JUDGING OUR COMPANY’S SUCCESS REGARDLESS OF CULTURE
EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 6
DESCRIBING CORPORATE CULTUREBusiness leaders used words such as integrity, teamwork, communication and customer-focused, when describing their corporate culture.
EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
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CORPORATE REPUTATION: INFLUENCING GROUPSBusiness leaders believe that front-line employees and customers are the two most important groups in driving their corporate reputation. Whereas, they believe that trade media, business media, and financial analysts are the least important.
MOST IMPORTANT:
LEAST IMPORTANT:
55%
FRONT-LINEEMPLOYEES
35%
EXECUTIVEMANAGE-MENT
62%
CUSTOMERS
0
10
20
30
40
50 44% 43%
3%6%16%
10%
01020304050607080
5%TRADE MEDIA
9%
MID-LEVELEMPLOYEES
14%
FINANCIAL ANALYSTS
15%
CONSUMERMEDIA
5%BUSINESSMEDIA
43%34%
TRADE MEDIA
FRONT-LINEEMPLOYEES
MID-LEVELEMPLOY-EES
EXECUTIVEMANAGE-MENT
FINANCIAL ANALYSTS
CONSUMERMEDIA
BUSI-NESSMEDIA
CUSTOMERS
55%
FRONT-LINEEMPLOYEES
35%
EXECUTIVEMANAGE-MENT
62%
CUSTOMERS
0
10
20
30
40
50 44% 43%
3%6%16%
10%
01020304050607080
5%TRADE MEDIA
9%
MID-LEVELEMPLOYEES
14%
FINANCIAL ANALYSTS
15%
CONSUMERMEDIA
5%BUSINESSMEDIA
43%34%
TRADE MEDIA
FRONT-LINEEMPLOYEES
MID-LEVELEMPLOY-EES
EXECUTIVEMANAGE-MENT
FINANCIAL ANALYSTS
CONSUMERMEDIA
BUSI-NESSMEDIA
CUSTOMERS
EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
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EVALUATINGGOLDMAN SACHS
EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
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79THE LETTER SHED LIGHT ON A TROUBLESOME CORPORATE CULTURE AT GLODMAN SACHS
STRONGLY AGREE / AGREE
77%66%14%14%
GOLDMAN SACHS REPUTATION WAS NEGATIVELY AFFECTED BY THIS LETTER
I WOULD EXPECT TO SEE MORE OF THESE SITUATIONS WITH OTHER COMPANIES IN THE FUTURE
THIS WAS AN ISOLATED INCIDENT OF A SINGLE DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE AND NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF GOLDMAN SACHS
COMPARED TO MOST OTHER COMPANIES GOLDMAN SACHS IS AN ETHICAL INSTITUTION
LETTER’S EFFECT ON GOLDMAN SACHS REPUTATIONBusiness Leaders in the United States believe that Goldman Sachs is not a particularly ethical institution and the open resignation letter only further hurt its reputation.
EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 10
A LOOK INWARDDespite recognizing the importance of culture, only 5 percent of business leaders strongly believe their own organization’s culture would preclude an incident similar to Goldman Sachs from happening to them.
WE HAVE A CULTURE THAT WOULD PRECLUDE THIS
TYPE OF SITUATION FROM OCCURRING
THESE TYPES OF OCCURRENCES GENERALLY
BLOW OVER FAIRLY QUICKLY
WE HAVE THE COMMUNICATIONS AND CRISIS TOOLS/PLANS IN PLACE
TO HELP US EFFECTIVELY DEAL WITH THIS TYPE OF SITUATION
DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA CAN ALLOW A SITUATION LIKE THIS TO
QUICKLY GET OUT OF HAND
5% 41%40%47%46%
6%9%44%
STRONGLY AGREE AGREE
EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 11
CHANCE OF THIS HAPPENING TO YOU40% of business leaders are concerned a disgruntled employee could cause a similar negative effect on their company’s reputation.
How Much Of An Impact Would A Similar Letter Have On Your Organization’s Reputation?
21% % % %13 %0 %02838VERY HIGH HIGH SOMEWHAT
HIGHSOMEWHAT LOW
LOW VERY LOW
NOT CONCERNED
CONCERNED
UNDECIDED
40%
22%
38%
21% % % %13 %0 %02838VERY HIGH HIGH SOMEWHAT
HIGHSOMEWHAT LOW
LOW VERY LOW
NOT CONCERNED
CONCERNED
UNDECIDED
40%
22%
38%
EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 12
RESPONSEAs a result of the letter, 1/3 of business leaders have taken preventative action in their own organizations to preclude a situation similar to Goldman Sachs, including making changes to employee contracts, their onboarding processes, and training. Another 1/3 is considering such actions.
OVERALL
REVIEWED OR CHANGED EMPLOYEE CONTRACTS TO PREVENT SUCH SITUATIONS
REVIEWED OR CHANGED EMPLOYEE OFF-BOARDING PROCESSES
ENHANCED TRAINING OF KEY STAFF TO HANDLE THESE SITUATIONS MORE EFFECTIVELY
33%
TAKEN ACTION
TAKEN ACTION
15%16%29%
34%
NOT CONSIDERING / NO ACTION
NOT CONSIDERING / NO ACTION
59%56%39%
CONSIDERING
CONSIDERING
26%28%33%
33%
EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 13
WORK TITLE
68%CORPORATE EXECUTIVE
7%OWNER/FOUNDER
7%OWNER-FONDER / VP
7%OWNER-FONDER / VP
18%DIRECTOR
18%DIRECTOR
18%DIRECTOR
RESPONDENT PROFILE
SIZE OF COMPANY (BY NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES)
SEX
20%1 0 0 0 0 +
36%1 0 0 1 - 5 0 0 0
19%2 5 0 - 5 0 0
14%5 0 1 - 1 0 0 0
12%5 , 0 0 1 - 1 0 , 0 0 0
78%MALE
22%FEMALE
7%VP
EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 14
METHODOLOGY
WHO: n = 100 Respondents
+ Business Leaders • Corporate Executives: 75
• HR Decision Makers: 25
+ At a company with 250+ employees
WHEN: April 2012
WHERE: USA – Online
HOW: Recruitment via online panel and self administered
EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 15
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Carreen Winters Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications Reputation Management 201.964.2410 | [email protected]
MWW 304 Park Avenue South, 8th Floor New York, NY 10010212.704.9727
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