Perception lays bare Reputation

The Financial Services Royal Commission is opening a new page in issues and reputation management.

The ‘draining of the swamp’ has begun in the public’s eyes and the perception of the banking and financial services industries is destroying every corner-stone of their reputation – trust, credibility, responsibility and accountability.

The Commission is going about its role as it should - unearthing the ‘bodies in a barrel’ of governance and policy practices that have damaged the lives of people and now undermining the reputation of companies.

The general perception is, as one commentator described it, ‘a swamp that needed draining’ – because the financial and advisory practices have been shown to be consistently and probably deliberately out of step with regulations.

If reputation is to be treated by business in the same way as all other assets in achieving strategic business objectives, the companies now need a sound understanding of what stakeholders perceive their organisations to be. Without this they have little hope of implementing initiatives to turn their reputation around.

Advertising campaigns, such as the one the banking industry launched in the lead-up to the Commission to win over stakeholders as to how the industry was contributing to the wealth and wellness of communities has or had no credibility.

Until there is an understanding of the perception equation within the  community's outrage, reputation management initiatives are set to fail.

If you can’t see it, you can’t say it and you can’t fix it.

Perception must be understood within the outrage to effect change. To understand perception management and measurement contact Robert Masters & Associates