Sponsored Content
The challenge of managing corporate reputation has evolved significantly in recent years – and most acutely during 2020 when COVID-19 placed new and unexpected challenges on businesses. In the period ahead, a company’s reputation – its ‘licence to operate’ – will be a function of how it engages and manages a wider range of issues and stakeholders than ever before.
The most pronounced changes over the past five years – and which will shape how reputation is managed in the years ahead – fall under two principal headings: Technology Risk and ESG Practices, writes Jonathan Neilan (pictured) in FTI Consulting, Dublin
Technology
In August 2020, during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, our research team engaged with institutional investors on a range of issues to assess the concerns they had about the companies in which they invest. The single greatest concern cited by over 260 institutional investors surveyed was ‘cyber-attacks stealing or compromising company information’. Not COVID-19, not climate change, not regulation or policy change; not a litany of other factors. The stand-out issue was cyber/technology threat.
This is not entirely surprising. We have, for some time, considered technology and cyber threat as perhaps the single greatest reputational risk facing companies – and that is reflected in the development of our business.
The simple fact for companies, large or small, is: data breaches and cyberattacks will happen. The questions are: have you taken as many steps as possible to mitigate that risk; and; how prepared are you to respond?
In Association with
FTI Consulting has built one of the world’s leading cyber and technology risk management and response teams to help preempt, manage and deal with the aftermath of cyber breaches, ransomware demands and data loss.
Our ability to blend a dedicated technology team with crisis communications expertise means we are able to help companies plan for, and manage through, what are highly complex and potentially very damaging events – both financially and to reputation. Ensuring the technology response is aligned with internal and external communications helps minimise reputational damage and rebuild relationships with affected shareholders in the aftermath.
ESG
ESG is an acronym which is now on the agenda of every company. While the ‘E’ – for environmental – is relatively clear in its meaning and importance; and ‘G’ – for governance – is generally governed by legislation and clear guiding principles; the ‘S’ – for social – is the element of ESG that often impacts reputation the most but is the hardest to oversee and manage.
COVID-19, in particular, has reaffirmed that factors relating to ‘S’ are now among the most pressing issues for companies globally. Many employees transitioned ‘overnight’ out of well-performing businesses to effective unemployment. As mentioned, a company’s reputation – its ‘licence to operate’ – will be largely a function of how it engages and manages it stakeholders, and particularly its employees, through this and future crises.
Where there was a lack of focus and reporting on ‘S’ in the past, it will now clearly be an element of the corporate story and a prominent pillar of a company’s ESG credentials and reputation. It is incumbent on companies to now (and quickly) grasp the meaning and implications of a strong ‘S’ and to communicate activity and progress to all stakeholders. This includes: oversight of diversity and inclusion; supply-chain practices; occupational health and safety; training and development; and corporate and social responsibility initiatives.
FTI Consulting has built a dedicated ESG practice over the past decade – a practice which started with a deeper focus on stakeholder reputation post the global financial crisis but has expanded significantly to take account of the increasingly broader scrutiny to which companies and their practices are now subject. We blend our deep knowledge of ESG issues and practices globally with our internal and external communications expertise to bring that to bear for our clients.
+ Jonathan Neilan is a Managing Director of FTI Consulting’s Dublin practice
To find out more contact: SCDublin@fticonsulting.com
Twitter: @FTIDublin
