John Mahony, Founder and CEO, Reputation Inc
Our upcoming ReputationInc webinar and report, from strategy to influence, explores the rapidly changing role, expectations and influence of corporate affairs and communications functions and the progress organisations are making in putting reputation at the heart of business strategy.
I wanted, in advance, to share some of the key themes emerging from the research and what they could mean for corporate affairs and communications leaders as they look towards strategy and planning for 2027.
Next year, we will be celebrating our 25th anniversary of Reputation Inc, an international reputation management consultancy founded on the belief that reputation is indeed your most valuable asset and with a clear purpose to ensure reputation guides better decision making to create a more sustainable and prosperous world.
At the time, we could hardly have imagined how far the belief and purpose would develop, or the progress organisations would make in embedding reputation more effectively within business strategy.
One of the clearest signs of that progress is the increasing strategic importance of the corporate affairs and communications function. Our report findings suggest that around 73% of corporate affairs and communications directors now have a clearly articulated reputation strategy in place, aligned with their wider business and organisational strategy. More than half report directly to the CEO, reflecting the increasingly prominent voice corporate affairs leaders have around the executive table.
There is, of course, still room for progress. But the direction of travel is clear.
Click here to register for our upcoming webinar.
A more integrated approach to reputation
Corporate affairs and communications functions are also becoming significantly more integrated.
Corporate communications, financial communications, public affairs, internal communications, risk and governance, brand and reputation, sustainability and other communications disciplines are increasingly working together towards a shared reputation ambition.
At the same time, organisations are finding a better balance between global consistency and local relevance. While reputation strategies are often developed at a global level, regional and local teams are being given greater latitude to interpret and adapt them to the needs of their markets and stakeholders.
The professionalisation of reputation management
The report also highlights important developments in the infrastructure that sits behind effective reputation management.
Many global organisations now have robust stakeholder intelligence capabilities in place, alongside clearer reputation KPIs, scorecards and performance-management systems. These give organisations a stronger understanding of the impact of their work and create greater accountability for reputation outcomes and impacts.
We are also seeing greater discipline around messaging, stronger risk governance, more sophisticated stakeholder-management systems and increasingly integrated approaches to campaigns and thought leadership.
Collectively, these developments point to the continued professionalisation of reputation management and of the systems and capabilities required to deliver it effectively.
The emerging ‘influence gap’
Despite this progress, our report also identifies an important challenge.
Organisations are still struggling to integrate reputation effectively across some of the functions that have a significant impact on its ability to drive reputation. Customer experience, sales, innovation, risk, culture and people, sustainability and community engagement can all influence how an organisation is perceived, yet corporate affairs teams do not always have the strategies, plans and relationships or influence required to shape decisions in these areas.
We describe this as the influence gap.
Closing this gap will become increasingly important. The most successful corporate affairs and communications leaders of the future will need to become excellent functional and integration leaders, working seamlessly and effectively across all functions, motivating them to contribute and fulfil their role in building reputation.
This will require creating reputation operating systems that translate reputation strategy into action across an organisation, helping other functions understand the contribution they make to reputation and giving them the tools and frameworks to strengthen it.
Reputation leadership starts at the top and is not just about leaders but leadership
Another challenge remains at C-suite and executive level. Some senior leaders instinctively recognise their role in building and protecting reputation. Others find it much harder to embrace their responsibility as reputation ambassadors.
Yet leadership behaviour matters enormously. Executives have an important role not only in representing an organisation externally, but also in inspiring employees and encouraging commitment, support and belief.
For corporate affairs leaders, having the tools, power and influence in helping senior executives understand and fulfil that responsibility remains an important part of the reputation agenda.
Looking ahead to 2027
There is much to celebrate in the evolution of corporate affairs and reputation management, and we are very proud of our contribution over the last 25 years, but there is also plenty still to discuss, debate and improve.
In our upcoming webinar, we will explore these findings in more detail, including what they mean for corporate affairs and communications leaders, where the biggest opportunities and challenges are and what valuable assets we can create to strengthen their reputation strategies and plans to enhance reputation as they look towards 2027.
Click here if you would like to join us!
