Cracking the Code on Being a Most Admired Company
Fortune’s Most Admired Companies list is undoubtedly sparking renewed conversations by reputation managers about their place on the list. This list is often used as the single greatest test of efficacy of reputation programs. While the editorial team at Fortune certainly holds influence, they are quite transparent about the process, which emphasis the opinion of executives/peers, directors and analyst. Geoff Colvin’s column in the latest issue provides great support for my point of view that reputation begins and ends with employee engagement.
Employees at all levels are the universal touch-point for all of your constituencies – and often, your reputation is only as good (or not) as the experience your customers, shareholders, business partners, communities and influencers have with those employees. Reputation begins at home. Colvin’s column states it eloquently:
“It turns out that this year’s leaders — the industry champs that really did come through the recession on top, such as UPS, Disney, McDonald’s, and Marriott International — differ from the stragglers in at least one way: They actually believe what every company proclaims about people being their most valuable asset.”
The Hay Group’s survey methodology debunks a lot of myths for reputation management practitioners, and indicates that the ability to attract and retain talent is their number 1 indicator – above all of the other Building Blocks of Reputation such as quality of management, innovation, long term investment value and even quality of product services.
As we look at the list of influencers on the Fortune survey – directors, peer executives, analysts – it makes a great case for the importance of executive visibility programs, such as our CEO EquityBuilder™ programs, which help create, reinforce and preserve the admiration of these influencers for leaders, and by association, their companies.
Clearly this list isn’t perfect….Toyota still ranks well, although the data would clearly be different if the survey were re-done today. But if you didn’t make the list, or want to improve your ranking, begin by looking within. Reputation begins at home.
Carreen Winters can be reached at cwinters@mww.com.
