Reading Room

Reputation - in the eyes of the employee

Seldon Gill Consulting conducted a survey of over 155 professional services specialists (lawyers, accountants, engineers, architects and management consultants) - specifically Generation Y (professional services employees or those about to graduate) - about the role reputation plays in the employment brand mix.

When it comes to running a successful, respected organisation, maintaining a good reputation must be high on the agenda.

There's little point having extensive business plans, savvy ideas and new business development strategies if you don't have a good reputation with your current and potential clients.

A strong reputation impacts the view stakeholders have of you, it builds others' confidence in your organisation, it can help you to bounce back from a rough patch (or a crisis!) and can be the reason others choose to do business or be associated with your organisation.

Often when we think of reputation, we think of our reputation with our clients, the public or investors. But what about reputation when it comes to current and potential employees? How do they view you? And does a strong reputation play a role in building a solid employer brand?

When asked if an organisation's strong reputation is a drawcard for joining a firm, 91% of our survey participants said it was important or very important when making their career decisions.

While employees are important to any industry they are the driving force of a professional services firm. Professional services firms rely on the specialist and technical knowledge of its people when delivering expert services and advice to its clients; therefore their biggest asset is, undoubtedly, its people.

But what exactly constitutes a strong reputation in their eyes?

An organisation may see a strong reputation as one thing (i.e. being trustworthy or efficient or market-leading), while employees see it as another. From our survey we received 86 different ideas of what constitutes a strong reputation; proving that the subjective topic of reputation is truly up to the individual.

What constitutes a strong reputation?

A snapshot of the results -

• Low turnover
• Strong, consistent results without compromising people, values and ethics
• Happy staff
• Perception amongst students at university; positive feedback from current graduates
• Good pay, good people, good work
• An organisation with a long history of impressive achievements and one that is spoken well of through word of mouth
• Their expertise, their corporate social responsibility (environment and charity work) and the way they treat their staff
• Recommended by both clients and employees
• Good values
• Their global recognition with, a pinch of how you are approached by them
• Attracts challenging work, which is at the forefront of its respective industry, and being performed by market leading experts
• Promotion of alternative working arrangements, i.e. with female employees
• Social and professional culture
• One that values their staff and looks after them both financially and through job security
• Longevity and relevance to 21st century living
• Positive word of mouth with no negative Google results!
• Known as "the place everyone wants to work" within the professional community
• A firm that pays attention to excellence, collegiality and hard work
• Ones that are socially responsible who are honest with transparent operations and strict auditing requirements
• Their influence over other organisations