The week that was 20191005

PROUDEST | MOST GRATEFUL MOMENT

I am just so grateful and proud of our amazing Repudometer® reputation research offering. Enabling companies to better understand their relationship with their different stakeholders, and being able to quantify their reputations for them. The most recent one that we completed this week was for the Western Cape Blood Services (WCBS), they scored a whopping 86%! Congratulations on an excellent score. So proud and grateful to my amazing team for the processes that have been put in place for seamless projects.

We provided comment on the Thomas Cook collapse last week. I am very grateful for the media coverage that we received for our insights. Read the full article here. 

It does feel that most mornings, evenings and weekends have been consumed by decluttering. The trouble is that I start in one room, take everything out of the cupboards and then systematically work through everything using Marie Kondo's advice on whether items spark joy or not. My own sparkle soon fizzles with the chaos around me. I then tend to move on to the next room, thinking that it will be a 'quick win.' Chaos soon ensues again and I lose all enthusiasm for life itself. All that then tends to calm me is the sanctuary of a second hand book store (usually at DARG, they have the most amazing books, and you know that the funds go to a good cause); but, it doesn't help in the pursuit of my own decluttering by adding to my book collection. Anyway, I am so thrilled and proud of completing my office earlier this week. 

BIGGEST LESSON THIS WEEK / REMINDER

Easier said than done...but...worrying really is pointless.

"Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday," Dale Carnegie.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

WHAT MADE ME GIGGLE

I was trying to log onto Facebook on a new device. "You've entered an old password. Your password was changes almost 8 years ago..." I guffawed. Mind you, I am rather impressed that I remember a password from eight years ago!

Seats Still Available! Reputation Management, 11 October 2019, Johannesburg

I am looking forward to facilitating this session at PRISA next week Friday, 11 October 2019. There are still a few seats available. Please book directly with PRISA, and share the invitation with anyone that might be interested to attend, thank you!

Reputation Management

11 October 2019

Time: 08:30 – 16:00 Registration:  08:00 to start promptly at 08:30 Region: Gauteng Venue: Little Tuscany, 48 Queens Road, Bryanston

Workshop outline: “It takes years to build a reputation and only a few minutes to destroy it,” said Warren Buffett, who is viewed by many as the greatest investor of all time. Daily, companies are faced with the challenge of effectively building, managing and maintaining their corporate reputation. During this interactive one-day workshop, you will get to unpack what areas of the business to consider when building corporate reputation strategies. This one day workshop is designed to encourage interactive participation, and covers: •An introduction to reputation management and definition of the terms. •Some chief executives’ views on reputation management and the role of their communication professionals. •Five dimensions of corporate reputation management. •The reputation management cycle. •The link between performance and reputation. •Identifying areas of risk to the reputation and planning to pro-actively respond to threats, or ‘when research matters’. •The new role of public relations and communication management. •The impact of the web: the nature of the beast. •What information and media to track and how to do it. •Harnessing the social media. •The value of sound internal branding. •Reputation risk assessment and response.

About our facilitator: Regine le Roux Academic Qualifications: M.Com (Communication Management), University of Pretoria 2003. Regine is a corporate reputation specialist. She completed her Communication Management Honours degree Cum Laude at the University of Pretoria in 2001, and completed her MCom within a year. Regine founded Reputation Matters in 2005 and hand picks and manages several teams that implement communication strategies.

She has gained much practical experience through several Communication, Change and Marketing Strategies compiled for clients in both the private and public domains. Regine developed the Repudometer®, which is one of the first tools that has been developed to measure organisational reputation. Regine was the Chairperson of the Western Cape PRISA Committee in 2014/2015, and is also on the Board of the Rotary Club of Newlands, responsible for Public Image. Regine is the author of: Reputation Matters, Building blocks to becoming the business people want to do business with.

CPD Programme Fees 2019   Duration:  1 day CPD point: 7.5 Early bird PRISA member R 2 420.00 Late PRISA member R 2 670.00 Early bird non-member R 2 950.00 Late non-member R 3 210.00 PRISA registered students R 1 400.00 Accommodation NOT included in any of the fees                          Fees subject to change Student and member fee rate/s only applicable if PRISA membership fees are paid in full at time of booking. The PRISA CPD programme adheres to the criteria required by SAQA for a recognised professional body. The programme is put together following the Global Alliance best practice professional development framework. To book contact: Annah at annah@prisa.co.za or 011 326 1262.

Another Awesome AfriCAN week 20191003

Welcome to this week's jam packed edition of Awesome AfriCAN, where we celebrate achievements and feel good stories from across the continent. Remember, if you have a story to share, send your photo and caption to africa@reputationmatters.co.za.

#AFRICA

Africa’s tourism industry is now the second fastest growing in the world. About 67 million tourists visited Africa in 2018, representing a rise of 7% from a year earlier, making Africa the second-fastest growing region when it comes to tourism, after Asia Pacific.

African countries are now reaping the benefits from positive policy changes coupled with increased investments in the sector, that have made it a more attractive destination for tourists. [via Quartz Africa]

#GUINEA-BISSAU

WOW! Such sportsmanship! Braima Suncar Dabo, the 5,000-metres athlete from Guinea-Bissau, stopped his own race to help a struggling competitor finish last week Friday night at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha. They were met by great applause from the Doha crowd, even though the other runners had crossed almost five minutes earlier. [via ABC]

#RWANDA

Rwanda is rapidly becoming a major player in the education field, especially when it comes to providing quality education and nurturing young leaders, among other things. The Ministry of Education has embarked on a journey to attract more international students to the country. International students have also revealed that another way in which local universities are catering for them, and aiming to better integrate local and foreign students, is to provide more courses taught in English, which they say opens up more opportunities for greater interactions inside and outside of the classrooms for all students. Universities are also employing more faculty members from around the world who teach in English. [Read more via The New Times]

#SOUTH AFRICA

Best little (sustainable) house in Africa. Congratulations to the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University, for being the only sub Saharan entry and second place winner at the continent's first Solar Decathlon Africa in Morocco. Team Mahali’s fully functional, modular, net-zero-energy house was erected and completed in a solar village of 18 houses in Benguerir, north of Marrakesh. It was just one of the creations of teams from competing universities around the world, all vying for the title of best sustainable house powered solely by the sun.

The brief was to design an affordable house of between 55 and 110 square metres, using local ingenuity, craftsmanship and materials, and suited to the African context. Team Mahali’s design used a converted 12-metre, side-opening container shell for the main living space. Attached timber pods provided additional living room. House Mahali was designed and configured along the lines of a traditional Moroccan riad, which was reflected in its central courtyard and water feature. [via UCT News]  

#SOUTHAFRICA

A massive congratulations to Dr Lindiwe Sidali, South Africa’s first female African Cardiothoracic surgeon. Brilliant words of wisdom from her: "Everything in life is possible, dream but create a plan of action in achieving those goals. Don’t follow other people’s path. Create a new one." [Via GoodThingsGuy]

#SOUTHAFRICA

Africa’s first plastic road is in Jeffery's Bay.  The one kilometer pilot project will use the equivalent of 1.8 million plastic bags. The plastic-asphalt mix used to make the road is more durable, less prone to potholes and more heat resistant than tar. It will also be much more affordable to maintain.[More fun facts via Getaway]

#SUDAN

Women's football league has kicked off in Sudan, something quite unimaginable under the previous regime. Both male and female fans cheered in the stands as the Eltahadi and Eldifaa teams graced the country’s oldest sports stadium in the capital Khartoum in the league’s opening match on Monday.The league includes 21 teams from across Sudan and the match was officiated by female referees. A past attempt at an unofficial women’s league featured only three Khartoum teams. [Via Reuters] 

#THEGAMBIA

A New Adventure Cruise Has Made The Gambia Much More Accessible. Peregrine Adventures takes two dozen passengers at a time up The Gambia, to explore the nation’s markets, wildlife, and villages. [via CondeNaste Traveler]

#UGANDA

'Crazy World' is the Ugandan Action Film Poised to Bring Wakaliwood to the World. Wakaliwood, is a film studio based in Wakaliga, a slum in Uganda's capital of Kampala. Check out the trailers on the OkayAfrica site, it's a lot of fun! [Via OkayAfrica] 

University of Pretoria Enterprises presents reputation management course, 07 November 2019

I am looking forward to facilitating an interactive reputation management course at my Alma Mater, the University of Pretoria. This course forms part of their executive development programs that they offer through Enterprises University of Pretoria.   

Here's the flyer with more information about the session:

Media release: Lessons learnt from Thomas cook

Our latest media release relating to the collapse of Thomas Cook:

Photo: GETTY IMAGE

It was incredibly sad to hear that the institution that is Thomas Cook, has collapsed. What are the lessons that can be learnt?

“We believe that there are three key things that all businesses can learn from this situation,” says Regine le Roux managing director of Reputation Matters, South African reputation research company. 

1.     Understanding your business and your industry: It is incredibly important to keep tabs on what is happening in your business as well as the industry. Conducting regular research will help you understand what is positively impacting the organisation. It will also help you to identify gaps and risk areas which are crucial to the sustainability of any organisation. If Thomas Cook had engaged in stakeholder research on a regular basis, they would have been able to identify red flags and put contingency plans in place to avert the threats. “We’ve conducted many reputation research studies over the years. Different stakeholders are able to give incredibly valuable insights into helping companies identify their blind spots,” says le Roux. A key requirement of the King IV Report is the importance of stakeholder relationships. Treasure your stakeholders and they will be invaluable to your success.

2.  Governance structures: Unfortunately, more often than not, it is a lack of governance structures that lead to organisations collapsing. It is the leadership team’s responsibility to ensure that stringent governance practices are followed and that core ethical values are non-negotiable on all levels of the organisation.

3. Communication is key: Each crisis scenario unfortunately gives us a lot of crisis communication content to use as case studies. There was an article that appeared in Business Insider indicating that a Thomas Cook flight attendant only found out about the company’s collapse via social media. Preparing for a crisis is pivotal and a communication policy needs to be non-negotiable. It is so important to let internal stakeholders know first and then have a strategy in place to let all other external stakeholders know what is going on and addressing all the key questions. Most importantly, one should not forget that you are dealing with people and that you need to be empathetic during a crisis. 

Even though the company is closing its doors, those executives will most likely go looking for future opportunities. The manner in which they handle the crisis and the way that they communicate will have a massive impact on their own reputations and whether or not people will want to work, or  be associated with them in the future.

Our heartfelt thoughts go to every single person impacted by this very unfortunate situation.

If you would like your organisation to have a closer relationship with your stakeholders, why not measure your reputation? Contact us on research@reputationmatters.co.za or visit www.reputationmatters.co.za Twitter: @ReputationIsKey

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The week that was 20190928

PROUDEST | MOST GRATEFUL MOMENT

This week I finished the final session, Governance of Ethics, of the Certified Director course offered by the Institute of Directors in South Africa (IoDSA). Besides always learning something new, I really am grateful for the new connections and interesting people that I have met along this journey.

On Heritage Day, 24 September 2011, this little Sweet pea made her entrance into our lives. I am so grateful for her. No duck, Hadeda or squirrel has been safe since... 

The #ImStaying Facebook campaign has reconfirmed  just how much I love our beautiful country and continent. I am proudly South African and going nowhere. 

BIGGEST LESSON THIS WEEK / REMINDER

I found it incredibly interesting that Ghandi isn't as loved as I (and I suppose many), thought he was. India has donated a statute of him to be displayed in Cape Town, and more than half of the public comments received were opposed to the gift. Apparently he was quite a racist, how disappointing. A statue of Ghandi was also removed in Ghana last year because of these claims. Here's the full article via News24. 

The other lesson / reminder this week, is from Admiral William H. McRaven:  

"Start your day by making your bed. If you make your bed every morning, you would have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another and by the end of the day, that one task completed would have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce in your life that the little things matter. If you can't do the little things right, you'll never be able to do the big things right. And, in the case that you've had a miserable day, you'll come home to a bed that has been made, that you made. A made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better." 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

This could just as easily be under  the previous heading too. I really like this advice from Anthony Hopkins:

"None of us are getting out of here alive, so please stop treating yourself like an after thought. Eat the delicious food. Walk in the sunshine. Jump in the ocean. Say the truth that you're carrying in your hear like hidden treasure. Be silly. Be kind. Be weird. There's no time for anything else."

One more, which I think is absolutely brilliant!

WHAT MADE ME GIGGLE

Have an awesome week everyone!

Another Awesome AfriCAN week 20190926

#Ethiopia

Congratulations to Ethiopia for setting a world record for planting 350 million trees in 12 hours! That is absolutely incredible.

The burst of tree planting was part of a wider reforestation campaign named "Green Legacy," spearheaded by the country's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Millions of Ethiopians across the country were invited to take part in the challenge and within the first six hours, Ahmed tweeted that around 150 million trees had been planted.

"We're halfway to our goal," he said and encouraged Ethiopians to "build on the momentum in the remaining hours." After the 12-hour period ended, the Prime Minister took to Twitter again to announce that Ethiopia not only met its "collective #GreenLegacy goal," but exceeded it.

A total of 353,633,660 tree seedlings had been planted, the country's minster for innovation and technology, Getahun Mekuria, tweeted.

Read the full story via CNN

#Kenya

Photo by Fran Liu

I think the world has fallen in love with this rare polka dot zebra foal spotted in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Park. His name, Tira.  He has a condition called pseudomelanism, a rare genetic mutation in which animals display some sort of abnormality in their stripe pattern, says Ren Larison, a biologist studying the evolution of zebra stripes at the University of California, Los Angeles. Story via National Geographic

#Madagascar

Photo via Rova Caviar

The island nation of Madagascar is now Africa’s first, and so far only, source of caviar. They are producing some of the world’s best caviar for haute cuisine. It’s set to release 5 tons of caviar into the global market this year. Via Robbreport

#SouthAfrica

A massive congratulations and thank you,  to whoever started the #ImStaying Facebook page.It's already got over 220 000 members in less than a month. It's exactly what we needed to remind us of our wonderful, beautiful and diverse country. It's inspiring to read all the positive stories.We are a great country, we have amazing people and we have incredibly inspiring stories to share. I am definitely staying!