On Business Storm-Proofing
After Phil Purcell resigned from Morgan Stanley, he spoke not of opportunities lost but of warnings missed. "It was many, many little waves," he said. "It wasn't one storm."
He might as well have been speaking of the ebb and flow of the reputations of companies and the people who lead them. In the end, a good reputation is the most competitive and valuable asset of any individual or institution, but it can be easily eroded. In our ongoing survey of 685 global business leaders in 65 countries, some 81% report that there are more company reputation threats today than there were two years ago.
Great reputations are not accidents; they are not the result of good luck or built overnight. They are carefully planned, nurtured and managed as the vital asset they are. Likewise, reputations are not always destroyed outright, but are often gradually eroded by a ripple effect.
However, there are clear warning signs -- or little waves -- that signal a company or leader is in trouble. The good news is that in corporate life, as elsewhere, early detection is critical in damming against the oncoming surges. If leaders can identify the signs of oncoming reputation failure, they can take immediate steps to halt its progress.
This is not as difficult as it might sound. In Burson-Marsteller's research, we were struck by the near universal agreement of the order and magnitude of the early warning signs. Remarkably, business leaders across all regions -- North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America -- listed virtually the same seven conditions in virtually the same order:
(1) Employee morale is low. (2) Internal politics are more important than doing the job well. (3) Top executives are departing. (4) CEO celebrity is displacing CEO credibility. (5) Employees speak of customers as nuisances. (6) Employees stop telling positive stories about the company. (7) Management spends more time inside than outside headquarters.
If any of these signs sound familiar, then it's time to take an objective look at your company and begin the challenging process of protecting your company's reputation while there's still time.
According to published reports, these signs should have been evident to Mr. Purcell toward the end of his tenure at Morgan Stanley. Top executives were bailing out; others were politicking internally by anonymously bad-mouthing Mr. Purcell to reporters. And, customers complained of feeling unappreciated.
Yet every one of these issues can be resolved if management heeds the warning signs. Take the issue of low employee morale. Companies need to keep a closer eye on employee satisfaction and make better use of internal communications. It also doesn't hurt to have an approachable boss who regularly walks the halls. Internal politics can be minimized when leaders set -- and adhere to -- a policy that is based on a meritocracy and incentivizes employees in different departments to think of themselves as teammates. Motorola CEO Ed Zander had this type of silo-busting in mind when he had the company's marketing and public relations employees spend a day in the company's lab.
Talented executives are always in demand, so some high-level departures are inevitable. However, companies can stem the turnover tide by frequently updating their succession plans, developing one-on-one relationships with their rising stars and, when high-level people depart, seriously considering and acting on exit interview comments. Companies should also avoid the temptation to turn the CEO into a celebrity. Instead, they should choose select exposure -- rather than over-exposure -- and promote the c-suite as a team so that continuity is protected in the event of a CEO departure.
Know any positive customer stories? Then begin every internal communication with one to remind all employees that customers are not annoyances. Having senior executives staff the customer service lines now and then, and listen in on disgruntled customer calls, are other good ways to keep the focus on the customer. As Wharton Professor Robert Mittelstaedt reminds us, for every one lost customer you hear about, there are 10 more you don't.
Spreading the word on upbeat employee stories is another way to help keep a reputation afloat. They should be woven into the company folklore and play a key role in employee orientation and the Intranet. People also speak more positively about their company when accomplishments large and small are acknowledged and celebrated. Finally, keep in mind that a successful reputation can never be built within the four walls of the executive office. Former GE Chairman and CEO Jack Welch always reminded himself that "headquarters doesn't make anything or sell anything."
Being accessible to customers, the media and other audiences, and delegating to qualified management team members, can put a company on course for a long and successful journey. When a company's reputation suffers, so do the company's culture and bottom-line. By keeping these warning signals in their line of sight, leaders can avoid being pulled under by the intensifying waves of reputation failure and successfully navigate their way through 2006 and beyond.
Ms. Gaines-Ross is chief knowledge and research officer worldwide at Burson-Marsteller.
为保护企业声誉构筑堤坝
在裴熙亮(Philip Purcell)从摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)辞职后，他没有谈及所失去的机会，而是提到了对警告信息的疏忽。他说，那些信息包括许多、许多的小风浪，并不是一下子疾风暴雨式的。
他这么说或许也是指公司声望的潮起潮落，以及这些公司领导人声誉的兴衰。归根结底，良好的声誉是任何个人或企业最大的竞争力，也是最有价值的财富，但它却很容易受到损害。在我们对65个国家的685名跨国企业领导人进行的调查中，有81%的受访者表示，当今企业在声誉方面面临的挑战比两年前更严峻了。
良好的声誉不是突如其来地降临的；它既不能只凭好运气，也不可能一蹴而就。作为最宝贵的财富，它们要经过精心的计划、培育和管理。同样，声誉也不总是毁于一旦，它常常也是由于扩散效应而逐步丧失的。
不过，一般会有明显的预警信号──也就是所谓小风浪──显示一家公司或某位领导者遇到了麻烦。好处是，对企业的健康而言，与对其他事物一样，及早发现问题对构筑堤坝、防止即将到来的大风大浪至关重要。如果领导人能够确定即将出现的有损于声誉的征兆，他们就能立即采取措施阻止其发展。
实际做起来并不象听起来那么难。在博雅公共关系公司(Burson-Marsteller)的研究结果中我们看到，大家对早期预警信号的重要顺序和程度的评估几乎完全一致，这让我们非常震惊。全球各地──北美、欧洲、亚太地区和拉丁美洲──的企业领导人几乎按同一顺序列出了相同的七点：
(1) 员工士气下降。(2) 办公室政治变得比做好工作更重要。(3) 高级管理人员离职。(4) 首席执行长的名气超过了他的信誉。(5) 员工把客户视为累赘。(6) 员工不再谈论有关公司的正面消息。(7) 管理层呆在总部的时间多于在外面的时间。
如果出现了类似上面的情况，就应该有目的地了解公司情况，在还能来得及的时候采取措施保护公司的声誉。
根据所公布的报告，这些迹象在裴熙亮任职摩根士丹利的后期应该已经非常明显：高级管理人员离职；有人在内部玩弄政治，向记者匿名批评裴熙亮。另外，客户抱怨受到冷遇。
不过，如果管理层重视这些预警信号，所有问题都能得到解决。以员工士气下降为例，公司需要密切关注员工的满意度，更好地进行内部沟通。有一位平易近人、经常在办公室走动的老板不是什么坏事。如果公司领导人制定并遵循看重实力和表现并激励不同部门的员工互相视为团队成员的政策，那么办公室政治就会被降到最低程度。摩托罗拉首席执行长爱德华?詹德(Ed Zander)就熟谙此道，他经常会让公司营销部门和公共关系部门的员工在实验室中呆上一天。
优秀的管理人员总是供不应求，因此高管人员的离职也是不可避免的。不过，为遏制离职浪潮，企业可以通过不断调整继任方案、以一对一的方式让后起之秀进入候补梯队，并在高管人员离职后，认真考虑后者在离职面谈中的感想并采取针对性措施。公司还应抵制住让首席执行长成为名人的诱惑，应让首席执行长有选择地而不是过多地曝光，并促使首席执行长、董事长、首席财务长等高管人员成为一个团队，以确保在首席执行长离职的情况下也能保持管理的连续性。
了解有关客户的正面事例吗？那就应该利用每次内部沟通的时间提醒所有员工：客户不是累赘。让高管人员接听客户服务热线，倾听客户的抱怨是重视客户的另一个好办法。正如沃顿商学院(Wharton School)教授闵德思(Robert Mittelstaedt)提醒我们的那样，每当你意识到失去一个客户时，肯定还有十个你没有意识到的。
大张旗鼓地宣传员工的事迹是保持企业声誉的另一种方式。它们应该成为公司文化的一部分，并在员工入职教育和企业网上发挥重要作用。当或大或小的成就得到承认并受到表彰时，员工就会更正面地谈论自己的公司。最后，应牢记成功的声誉并不是在高管办公室里闭门造出来的。前通用电气(GE)董事长兼首席执行长韦尔奇(Jack Welch)就不断提醒自己，总部没有生产或销售任何东西。
与客户、媒体和其他受众保持良好的沟通渠道，并委派称职的管理层成员负责此事，这有助于公司的长期成功。当公司的声誉受到损害时，企业文化和公司利润也会受到打击。通过不断关注这些预警信号，企业领导者能够避免承受声誉不断恶化带来的后果，成功度过2006年以及未来的岁月。
（Gaines-Ross是博雅公共关系公司全球研究总监。）
