What do you perceive the ethics and PR landscape in South Africa to be?

“We face neither East nor West: we face forward,” ~ Kwame Nkrumah (the first President of Ghana).

The African Public Relations Association (APRA) and The Public Relations Communications Association (PRCA) are calling on all Public Relations (PR) and communication professionals to share their opinions on the ethics and PR landscape in South Africa.

For the third consecutive year, APRA and PRCA will be delving into the intricacies of the PR and communications landscape across the African continent. Once again, this study will be managed by Reputation Matters who will oversee the data collection and analysis of this industry research. 

The study will explore an array of pivotal subjects, encompassing business ethics, perceptions of PR, integration of artificial intelligence (AI), the paradigm of remote working, and the challenges poised to shape the industry's trajectory in the future. 

The Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA) is in full support of the research and is urging everyone within the PR profession to share their insights into the ethics and PR landscape of our country. 

Secretary-General of APRA, Henry Rugamba, shares, “This is an African wide research study, giving all African countries the opportunity to participate. It will serve as a bridge for mutual learning among African nations, offering more opportunities for cross-border collaboration and, practical insights for PR practitioners. I highly recommend all PR and communication professionals dedicating some time to participate in the survey to provide feedback on ethics and PR in your own country.” 

PRCA International Director Melissa Cannon MPRCA adds, “We are excited to collaborate with APRA once again in conducting this vital research for the African PR industry. Communications professionals have a unique opportunity to lead organisations in a dynamic era of innovation and growth across Africa. Yet, what potential obstacles stand in the way of PR becoming the predominant voice in every sector of business? Where does the industry excel, and what prospects lie ahead? This research is our chance to gain profound insights into the industry's trajectory. I urge practitioners across the continent to make their voices heard as we pave the way for the future of African PR in 2024”.

The feedback will help the industry to understand the different perceptions between the different African countries, and how we can learn from each other.

“We are incredibly excited to be a part of the research again this year. There has been such a major shift in the way that businesses communicate with the rise of AI technologies like ChatGTP. However last year’s research results indicated that people still highly value personal relationships. The insight suggested that as a relationship building avenue, PR was not going anywhere,” shares Regine le Roux, managing director at Reputation Matters. “It will be interesting to see how this holds true for 2024 and what the major PR trends are on the continent.”

The survey only takes a few minutes to complete, and all responses will remain anonymous. Questions are available in both English and French. To start the survey, follow this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EthicsandPRinAfrica2024 

The research results will be presented at the APRA conference in Côte d’Ivoire taking place from 13 to 17 May 2024.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact Reputation Matters: research@reputationmatters.co.za www.reputationmatters.co.za 

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Media contact:

Regine le Roux

regine@reputationmatters.co.za

#BizTrends2024: Your reputation matters: Building relationships through communication

 

[via Bizcommunity.com]

It’s that time of year again to look back and reflect on the year that was, to help us look forward and build successful businesses in 2024. The crux of building a successful reputation and business, ultimately lies in your communication skills with all your stakeholders.

Previously, and specifically the past three years, the key trend that we picked up across all our research studies, which included reputation quantification, brand identity-, customer satisfaction-, as well as employee engagement, was the definitive need to focus on internal relationship building and employee wellbeing through internal dialogue. This is something which is still an important component of reputation management and should continue to be a priority.

What has started to raise its head from our 2023 research studies, is that external stakeholders are starting to feel a disconnect with organisations. The main cause? Poor and ineffective communication.

Communication is therefore crucial to building successful internal and external relationships in 2024.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it is necessarily a lack of communication, but rather a lack of effective communication skills. Here are four tips to guide your communication in 2024 to build closer relationships with your stakeholders:

#1 Audience matters

More communication doesn’t automatically equate to a close relationship. There is a disconnect between the amount of communication being developed and the bonds being forged.

Step one in building successful businesses in 2024 is to understand your stakeholders before you can start communicating with them. Not enough time is being spent on understanding and unpacking the needs of audiences. Or even, who those audiences are. Your audience matters, understanding their needs is key to building strong relationships through communication. When last did you conduct an in-depth stakeholder mapping session with your clients to really understand their needs?

Do you know exactly who they are? If you had to share a crisis communique with your stakeholders right this second, how much fumbling around for the right database lists and latest versions would there be before the message is shared? Who would you phone, who would receive a WhatsApp and who would receive an email? The communication team would at minimum have a comprehensive media list, but are the lists for all your other stakeholders as easily accessible and up to date?

#2 Communication matters

What is quite interesting is that the reputation studies we conducted right after the pandemic in 2020 delivered the highest reputation scores to date. Not only were the overall reputation scores high, but the corporate dialogue component of a reputation (internal and external communication) had scored considerably higher than previous years, and has subsequently dwindled as people returned back to working in an office environment. The reason for this is that due to most people working from home, companies had to be very specific about their messaging and who to engage with. It seems that companies are reverting to generalised communication in the hope that a ‘spray and pray’ approach will be the magic wand to get their messages out there and foster a closer relationship with their stakeholders at the same time.

#3 Relationship matters

Authentic relationship building in an ever-growing artificial world will become even more crucial to your reputation. People want to do business with people, and nothing breaks trust or ruins a reputation as quickly as being unauthentic.

With the greater focus on and use of artificial intelligence (AI), refining your message is definitely much easier these days, but, you still need to understand your audience and plug in the right instructions and context to get a customised approach to engage with your stakeholders. AI certainly will continue to save a lot of time but it should be viewed as a facilitation tool, rather than a replacement for personalised messages. Nothing can replace human interaction and to build relationships that matter, you must connect with your stakeholders in a personalised, authentic manner.

#4 Insight matters

Talking about AI, we are fully aware that there are numerous tools and programmes out there that allows companies to conduct their own research, however, investing in expert advice is a necessity in building relationships in 2024. Research might look easy, but it is not that simple. We are definitely seeing an increase in the value of research, and anticipate even more companies wanting to be able to quantify their value; be it reputations, brand identity, employee engagement or customer satisfaction.

However, if you want to conduct your own research, there are great research support tools out there that will help you to conduct your own research, just keep these three key things in mind:

• Research is more than just asking questions; you need to ask the right questions. Shorter questionnaires are definitely the way to go, that’s why it is even more important to ask the right questions, to gain the most valuable feedback from respondents in a short period of time.

• Research isn’t just about pie charts and data analysis; insights are important to add value to your investment and the time your respondents are investing in providing you with their feedback.

• Research shouldn’t just be a once off exercise; conducting research on an annual basis is key to continuous growth and improvement. Use the results to make the recommended changes; measure your success and identify areas for improvement. It’s a great way to measure year on year performance and a powerful tool to present your success in percentages around the boardroom table.

May 2024 be a year filled with strong relationships to take your business to the next level! For more insights on the future and trends of reputation management, please make contact:

www.reputationmattters.coza research@reputationmatters.co.za

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Comment on Thabi Leoka

This whole Thabi Leoka situation is very sad, here’s my comment and opinion on the situation.

What an incredibly sad and unfortunate situation.

Well known economist, Thabi Leoka’s meteoric fall from grace was pretty much self-inflicted. It’s the old adage of ~ don’t tell a lie, you will be caught out.  However, this whole situation could have been prevented, and misconceptions cleared up years ago, had all the entities involved done their due diligence. The question surrounding the authenticity of her PhD should have been picked up and addressed years ago. The matter would have been cleared up very quickly, without tarnishing anyone’s reputation.

I have a few questions while Leoka scrambles around to get the necessary proof of her qualification in place; although, getting proof of your PhD, should surely not be too difficult to obtain?

Firstly, why has it taken the numerous boards so many years to only start questioning her qualifications now? Secondly, surely submitting a certified copy of your qualifications is a stock standard requirement for any position, especially for a board member for a listed company?

This does put a massive question mark on all these major entities’ governance structures and ultimately their reputation. This leads to another question; what other due diligence processes are not being followed? All the entities, that appointed Leoka, without the necessary qualification vetting or reference checks, need to be hauled over the coals.

I have come to learn, that not all positions require vetting, as in the instance with the Economic Advisory Council. Which, in my opinion, is problematic. Anybody being appointed into any role of an organisation, is representing that entity. You need to know who will be representing you, in fact, regardless of the position, you need to make sure that you have the right team on board, one who has your entity’s best interest at heart. Your team impacts your organisation’s reputation. Which ultimately impacts whether people want to do business with you or not. If it’s easy enough to lie about qualifications, what else is being lied about?

Values, such as truth, authenticity and transparency, form the cornerstone when it comes to building a solid foundation of a business that people want to do business with. However, starting off a relationship with a lie is like building a house on sand; it’s not impossible to build something beautiful, but it will need a lot of work and investment to rectify the unstable foundation that it was built on. You will however always worry about its sturdiness. If things start off with a lie, you are diminishing the respect for the other party. It’s not impossible to rectify but will take time to build a solid connection.

Aside from tarnishing one’s own reputation and that of the organisation you are affiliated with, it also makes a mockery of those who have actually put in the hard work to ethically obtain their qualifications and positions at work.

In summary: Regardless of the size or type of organisation, take the time to properly vet candidates and do your due diligence in order to safeguard your reputation in the long run.

How can you do that?

1. Make sure your governance structures are in place and up to date and that everyone in the organisation follows the same approach. Keeping everyone accountable to comply with these processes, procedures and policies are crucial.
2. Ask for certified copies of qualifications and take the time to follow up on references.
3. Ensure that each individual on your team resonates with the company’s values.

I suppose there is one good thing that has come from this miserable situation: the fact that the spotlight has been shone on entities that are not doing their due diligence when it comes to appointing people onto boards and in specific positions. This now hopefully encourages all entities to review and implement stricter governance processes across all spheres of their organisations to build ethical entities that people want to do business with.

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Re.Bag.Re.Use bags Silver at the International Stevie Awards® in New York!

 

Margaret Nyika, Re.Bag.Re.Use crocheter celebrating the Silver Stevie® Award that the team bagged in New York at the end of last year. It is for the Women in Business category: Startup of the Year ~ Consumer Products Industries

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business is an international competition and widely regarded as the world's premier business award. The 2023 competition attracted more than 1,600 nominations submitted by organisations and individuals across 26 nations.

“We are ecstatic to be recognised for the team’s hard work. It is a nod that we are heading in the right direction,” shares Regine le Roux, founder of the Re.Bag.Re.Use initiative.

There are currently 15 ladies involved in Re.Bag.Re.Use; five ladies cut empty plastic bread bags into strips and ten ladies crochet these strips into beautiful multi-functional items.  

Margaret Nyika, one of the first members of the Re.Bag.Re.Use team shares, “It is very special that we are recognised overseas for our talent of crocheting. This initiative allows us to be creative and at the same time keep the environment clean.”

“Apart from contributing socio-economically, less plastic is also landing up in the environment. In addition, for each product sold, a percentage gets donated to the Neighbourhood Old Age Home (NOAH) in Woodstock, and the SPCA, in that way we are spreading the love of this initiative even further,” adds le Roux.

This is Re.Bag.Re.Use’s second international accolade since the initiative was started mid-2021. The other award was the ECCO International Communication Network in 2022 for Campaign of the year. 

To view the beautiful products that the ladies make, please visit: www.rebagreusehub.co.za.

For more information, visit: www.rebagreuse.com / 083 302 1528 / sales@rebagreuse.com

The Stevie® Awards are produced by the creators of the prestigious International Business Awards® and American Business Awards®.

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Re.Bag.Re.Use Joy From Africa: Dancing Skirts at the Waterfront's Watershed

 

Absolutely obsessed with Matthew Edwards' dancing skirts design and just so grateful to be part of the Waterfront's #joyfromafrica decorations #gratitude #christmasdecorations @platformsa @mattebinary

Building your reputation, where to start

What exactly is reputation management? Is it public relations (PR) and clever marketing? Perhaps, crisis or social media management?

A reputation is the perception or opinion that others hold about your company. It is formed based on numerous things such as past behaviour, actions, and achievements, and can have a significant impact on how your company is viewed and treated by others. It also impacts whether people want to spend their hard-earned money to be associated with your brand.

There is a tremendous amount of information and opinions available on reputation management. It is indeed all of the above, PR marketing, crisis management, social media management and so much more! It can all get rather overwhelming. “At Reputation Matters, we go back to the basics of reputation management,” shares Regine le Roux, founder and managing director of Reputation Matters.

“It can all be simplified and explained as the perceptions that the stakeholders have of a company based on its behaviour and how it consistently interacts with others. We pride ourselves in helping companies to quantify their value and to understand exactly what part of their business is building or breaking down their reputation.”

Building a positive reputation requires consistency, integrity, and a commitment to meeting expectations. Le Roux shares four tips to serve as a starting point for you and your organisation when it comes to building your reputation: 

Follow the four C’s as a starting point to build your organisational reputation: 

Core values: What are your company’s core values? Are these values something that everyone in the business can speak about fluently? It’s not just about words that sound appropriate, but words that drive decisions and ultimately behaviour. Does everyone in the company know what your core values are?  At Reputation Matters, we share weekly stories of interactions that we’ve had that either resonated or didn’t resonate with our GREAT values; Growth, Respect, Excellence, Authenticity and Trust.

Contribution: What is it that your organisation does? How is it sustainably contributing to the economy, community, and environment in which it functions? What is its unique selling proposition? Are you able to succinctly communicate what your company does in eight words? Does everyone in your company share the same eight words? This is also the golden thread of what needs to be communicated in all your messages and shown through all your interactions with everyone associated with your company.

Communication: It does not help being the best kept secret. Communication is key to building your reputation. Do you have a clear communication strategy and plan in place to engage with all your stakeholders? Are your messages, channels of communication you’ll be using, communication frequency, as well as feedback mechanisms in place? Do you have a clear communication policy so that everyone knows and understands what to communicate to whom, and does this policy include social media protocols?

Count and keep track of the numbers. How do you know that you have a good reputation? Measuring your reputation and the relationship that you have with your different stakeholders will help you to build even closer relationships with them. It will also help you to speak the language of the C-Suite (CEO / CFO / COO / CIO), i.e. numbers, which will add even more value to your contribution around the boardroom table. Understanding what is building or breaking down your reputation, will help you to know what behaviours need to change. Why is this important? Research has shown that a positive reputation contributes to a positive bottom line. 

Would you like to get a snapshot of the health of your reputation? Follow the link to find out more: www.surveymonkey.com/r/HealthFitCheck.

Need help with getting started? Get in contact with the Reputation Matters team on research@reputationmatters.co.za.

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Audiobook: A Higher Standard, Leadership Strategies from America's First Femals Four-Star General, Ann Dunwoody

The two key take homes:

“If you compromise your integrity and principles on minor issues, it gets easier to make bad choices on the big issues.”

"If you walk by a mistake, then you just set a new, lower standard. "

If you see any bad behavior, it needs to be nipped in the bud as soon as possible, don't dwell on it, take action quickly to get it sorted out.