The Credit Union is seen as the most reputable organisation in Ireland. According to its top-place ranking in the Ireland RepTrak 2024 report, people trust, respect and admire the organisation, and consider it to be fair and ethical in the way it runs its business. They “believe it has their back”, explains Niamh Boyle, CEO of The Reputations Agency, who first brought the global RepTrak methodology and its measurement system to Ireland 15 years ago.
By anchoring the work of The Reputations Agency in world-class reputation insight and strategy, she has built the company to become a trusted partner in the growth and transformation of many of Ireland’s most respected organisations.
The annual Ireland RepTrak study interviews more than 5,000 people every year to track public perception of 100 of the country’s best-known and most important businesses and organisations using reputation, brand, ESG and purpose measurements.
This year saw retailers Lidl and Boots take second and third place respectively. By contrast X, formerly Twitter, ranked lowest in 100th position with the only poor tier score in the ranking, just below RTÉ, An Bord Pleanála and the FAI, which have had challenging years.
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“There’s a heightened focus on corporate governance and we’ve seen organisations and leaders being crushed through weak governance structures,” says Boyle. “Good governance should allow organisations to thrive, with the right risk appetite and controls in place.”
A poor score should be a source of concern as the survey has found a strong correlation between a good reputation and sustained commercial success.
“We know from this year’s study that only 6 per cent of the public are willing to purchase from an organisation that has a poor reputation but 77 per cent will purchase a product or service from an organisation that has an excellent reputation,” says Boyle.
A good reputation brings other benefits too, including a reduced risk of regulation. “That’s important because in an overly regulated market it is hard to be competitive, profitable and commercially successful,” she points out.
It also gives you the ability to command a premium price, improves your chances of recruiting and retaining talent, and aids recovery after a crisis
Being strategic makes a difference and the right strategy, anchored in great data and insight, combined with a concerted effort at the top of the organisation, can make an organisation stand out from its sector and set the stage for commercial success.
Lidl, for example, took second place during a year in which it also became the fastest-growing supermarket chain in the country.
What goes up may come down
Reputation cannot be taken for granted, however. Last year’s survey found a decline in consumer trust across almost all sectors, a fact attributable to a combination of factors, including the energy and cost-of-living crises, war in Ukraine and a fall in consumer confidence. Sometimes organisations can be tone deaf to the external environment, such as the cereal company whose CEO recently advised the cash-poor public to “eat cereal for dinner”.
This year’s survey saw a rebound across several sectors, including retail, automotive, healthcare, financial services, airline and energy. Just one sector, communications media, declined significantly.
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“Building a reputation is a marathon, not a sprint,” says Boyle. “It takes time, perseverance and, very importantly, the ability to be agile and acquire new skills and expertise in understanding how a reputation is formed. Sometimes organisations just aren’t ready for that, or they’re not willing to put the time into grasping this.”
Reputation reaches into every aspect of a business, but not all leadership teams recognise this.
“There are organisations that are very focused on product and very focused on brand, but actually, they really need to think about their corporate reputation, because that is what is going to drive commercial success for them,” she says. People are inquisitive and want to know a lot more now about the company behind the products and services that they’re considering purchasing.
The financial services sector is a case in point. During the global financial crisis, it underwent one of the most expensive banking crises in world history, requiring a €64 billion bailout. Since then, the sector’s reputation score has climbed nearly 30 points.
“It has taken a lot of work to turn around negative opinion and to get public policy and consumer confidence behind them,” she says. “There has been a long, concerted effort to build the sector’s reputation but that has also aligned with increasing business and commercial success.”
Conduct is the biggest driver of reputation in the financial services sector. This means “proving that banks will be there for you, that they are on your side, especially during challenging economic times,” Boyle explains.
Reputation is resilient and protects against headwinds – it lays the foundation to overcome challenges and continue to run a sustainable and profitable business. ESB has worked hard, and consistently over time, to build a strong reputation too, she says. “It has steadily built a great foundation, and this gives it the opportunity to get through crises such as the energy crisis as well.”
Boyle advises companies to “stick with the knitting and do the right thing by the customers who provide your company’s revenues. Deliver the products and services you’ve promised and do this every time, not just now and again. Enhancing customer experience is the most important touchpoint that many organisations have with their public, and the most influential in its ability to build reputation and trust.”
There’s a certain DNA among exemplar organisations that is very special, she explains. “They contribute to society, they display great conduct in the way they run their businesses, they offer the highest-quality products which are valued by their customers, and they have great leadership teams, well organised for success.”
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