Two major Reputational studies point to growing importance of Purpose for organisations amid Covid-19 crisis
Today we announced the results of two major reputational studies highlighting the growing importance of organisations acting with Purpose. The first study, Ireland RepTrak® 2020, the 11th annual study of the reputational standing of Ireland’s 100 largest, most important, and most visible organisations was undertaken from early January to early March this year. Ireland’s inaugural Purpose Power Index study, undertaken in April 2020, identified the organisations and sectors that the Irish public believes have performed best during the current pandemic.
Ireland RepTrak® 2020 Study:
The eleventh annual Ireland RepTrak® 2020 study, the largest and longest running study of reputation in Ireland, is based on the perceptions of over 7,000 members of the public and was completed between early January and early March 2020. The study measures the level of trust, respect, admiration and esteem the public has for 100 organisations in Ireland, along with close to 100 other reputation indicators.
Most reputed Irish organisations:
The top 10 most reputed Irish organisations in the Ireland RepTrak® 2020 study are:
1. Credit Unions - 83.7
2. Bord Bia - 81.4
3. Boots Ireland – 80.8
4. IRFU - 80.8
5. Lidl – 80.1
6. Tourism Ireland – 80.0
7. An Post -79.8
8. Samsung – 79.3
9. Kerry – 79.3
10. Microsoft – 79.1
The Credit Unions took the top spot overall as the most reputable organisation in Ireland with an Excellent Reputation Pulse score of 83.7, for their role as a trusted cornerstone of local communities with over 3.6 million members nationwide. Credit Unions scored consistently well in six of the seven reputational drivers, leading the way in Governance, with strong performance achieved in Products & Services, Innovation, Workplace, Citizenship, Leadership and Performance.
For the first time, Governance surpassed Products & Services as the number one driver of an organisation’s reputation. Now one fifth of an organisation’s reputation is derived from perceptions that it is ethical, fair, and open and transparent in the way it does business. The reputational importance of Governance has increased gradually since 2013, but spiked this year, indicating the public’s desire for organisations to have a stronger sense of purpose and ethics.
Purpose Power Index
Keen to understand the impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic on the perceptions of organisations in Ireland and the increasing importance of those organisations acting with Purpose, The Reputations Agency launched their Purpose Power Index study to identify the organisations and sectors that the Irish public believes have performed best during the current pandemic. The research conducted in April 2020 during the lockdown is a real-time representation of the Irish public’s perception of sectors’, organisations’, industries’, and public bodies’ response to the crisis. This Purpose Power Index developed by The RepTrak Company, is measured by the degree to which organisations perform against four elements – whether they are improving lives, acting beyond profits, acting for a better world, and benefiting society.
The Purpose Power Index revealed that, according to the public, the top five organisations and sectors leading the response to Covid-19 are the:
1. HSE
2. An Garda Síochána
3. The Irish Government
4. An Post
5. The Retail Food/Supermarket sector
According to Niamh Boyle, Managing Director, The Reputations Agency:
“There has been a shift in Ireland, economically, politically and socially with a new focus on Purpose. We saw this in our Ireland RepTrak study results carried out earlier this year and our recent Purpose Power Index demonstrates that Covid-19 has accelerated this. Covid-19 has given us time to think about the real meaning of Purpose as we observe organisation’s behaviours and advise our clients on theirs. Through our Purpose Power Index, we have witnessed how the marriage of strong brand values, along with a compelling sense of purpose, delivers some of the most powerful reputations, as well as business results, for our clients.”
“A strong purpose focuses on more than revenue and growth, it is inspirational, forward-looking and speaks to the greater, positive impact an organisation aspires to achieve. Purpose can be an organisation’s new weapon, helping you to shape your organisational values, build internal alignment, coherence, and consistency, enhancing your brand and delivering a stronger reputational impact. Ultimately, purpose is the engine of long-term profitability.”
“The public’s recognition of the strong purpose-led performances by the HSE, An Garda Síochána, The Government, An Post and the food retail sector during Covid-19 demonstrates the importance of activating a purpose driven strategy – it is crucial that an organisation’s purpose can translate into clear actions.”
“Rethinking Purpose can be hugely beneficial to an organisation, its employees and other stakeholders and it is certainly not too late to play a role in supporting society during this time. As we hopefully move towards a phase of economic recovery, right now may, in fact, be the optimum time to do this.”
Speaking on their success in securing first place in the Ireland RepTrak® 2020 study, Paul Bailey, Head of Communications and Customer Experience, Irish League of Credit Unions, commented:
“We are very proud to have topped the Ireland RepTrak® study for 2020. Our strong reputation performance reflects our heritage of providing inclusive and stable financial supports for all in communities nationwide. Our local community orientation combined with our friendly and caring personality traits supported by our focus on strong governance led by our member – shareholder ethos has resulted in high levels of public trust in Credit Unions. We have been supporting our members over the last sixty years and today’s Covid-19 crisis is no exception, we are adapting in different ways to meet the needs of our members and will continue to deliver on our purpose.”