The New Normal Is Here
To secure your company’s future you need to be aware of the new expectations
The greatest frustration for many of us is the difficulty in planning for a future that is so unknown. But thankfully numerous researchers are still out on the ground, and a special webinar by RepTrak last week shed a bright light on what will be important to our stakeholders in the new world. This gives us one — important — anchor for our thinking.
Their most astounding finding is that the drivers of reputation have shifted dramatically — and trust me, this never happens… as you can see in the graph I pulled together below.
The expectations of business have changed fundamentally.
First and foremost, companies have to look after their employees, then their communities and only then their customers. And they will be judged going forward on how they did or did not meet these expectations.
It seems that life before Covid-19 is forgotten. This is a remarkable opportunity for companies to reset their narratives. Those with a bad reputation, or those in a traditionally low reputation sector, have a once in a lifetime opportunity to build trust from scratch.
There are some great examples in the pharmaceutical industry, who have been viewed poorly for years. GSK and Sanofi announced an unheard of partnership to develop a vaccine and both companies have seen spikes in their share price. Similarly, Johnson & Johnson announced that they were going to make a not-for-profit vaccine and they also saw a spike.
More than ever, doing good is being rewarded.
Shared Sacrifice
It is also more important than ever for CEOs to be visible and to be talking honestly and openly about the difficulties they are facing.
Talk about what you are doing for your employees and the communities in which you operate. Or if you have wider reach, talk about how you are working with governments and / or NGOs.
If you are furloughing or letting staff go, make sure that you talk about the shared sacrifice. About how your executives are also taking a pay cut.
Leaders will be judged on how empathetically they communicated through this crisis.
Communications
The research also shows that companies need to increase the frequency of their communications, especially on owned media, not paid. In other words, on your owned channels like your website and social pages, but not by promoting these posts. Communication needs to be organic and real. It is a great time for CEOs to be active on LinkedIn in their personal capacities.
Shared Responsibility
Companies are expected to come together to problem solve. CEOs need to talk about how they are helping get things back to a new normal and what that might be. It is vital to communicate how your business is part of the global trend of shared responsibility.
The zeitgeist is a feeling of collective responsibility towards society as a whole. It is the evolution of the higher purpose trend and the mass social consciousness around climate change. Today, it is about looking after each other AND our planet.
Collaborations
The research also shows that stakeholders have realised the power of collaborations. Companies that explore every collaboration and partnership possible will be the ones that come out of the crisis stronger. So, be as innovative and creative in your problem solving as possible.
A stronger reputation means stronger financial performance. Already, GSK and Sanofi have seen a 25–30% increase in the support (buy from / invest in / work for) stakeholders are willing to give them.
The opposite is true too with 35–40% of respondents saying that they have told friends / family to not support a particular brand that they believe has acted inappropriately.
Hope
Consumers are not ready to be sold to yet. You need to stay with supportive and empathetic messaging as there are real reputation risks for those that are seen to be exploiting the situation.
An older Gallup study of over 10,000 employees found that staff require four things from their leaders: trust, compassion, stability and hope. These are critical all the time, but now hope is the most important of all — and not just to employees.
Hope is well researched and has been found to have a number of positive outcomes — from higher levels of income to better health. It is the one thing that will get us all through this. It has to be part of your messaging.
Where to from here
The new normal is unfolding all around us whether we see it or not. So, get ahead of the curve to secure your company’s future and think about what you want to be when we come out of this.
Use is once in a lifetime opportunity to innovate and collaborate to solve real problems.
Look to the “ green recovery “ plans for inspiration.
And communicate, communicate, communicate.
