Reputational crises are more frequent today, tend to be longer lasting and more severe for companies, warned the founder and CEO of ANK Reputation, Anik Suzuki, in an interview with the program Money Times, from Times Brazil – CNBC, this Thursday (13/2). The businesswoman explained that, currently, any mistake by a manager on social media or a poorly placed joke in an environment of rumors, fake news and misinformation on social media and WhatsApp groups can make organizations even more vulnerable. And she explained how these risks resulting from the greater exposure of companies appear in the survey “Senior leadership priorities for 2025”, carried out by ANK Reputation.
The objective of the study, said Anik, was to conduct a qualified survey, aimed at senior management of the companies, to understand how the more than 100 leaders interviewed are dealing with these rapid transformation movements. “We wanted a cross-section of the survey that reflected the culture of Brazilian companies, which is very different from the culture of American companies, of European companies,” he explained.
The results were surprising, indicating “People development, talent retention and/or succession” as a priority for 68% of the interviewees. The fronts “Technological and production process updating” and “Digital transformation” appear next. “Based on our day-to-day experience with companies, we imagined that digital transformation and technological updating, as well as innovation and preservation of competitiveness, which are very important topics for companies, would be at the top of the list of priorities, but people development appeared,” said Anik. “At the same time, in this interview, we realized that, today, there is a clear understanding among the top management of companies that organizational culture and the right people in the right places are what guarantee the digital transformation they need to carry out, at the necessary speed, as well as technological updating.”
Reputation building
What was not surprising, said Anik, was the fact that “Reputation and brand” came up next among the top management’s priorities. Anik argued that a strong reputation, in addition to positioning the company ahead of its competitors, enabling the acquisition, loyalty and repurchase of customers, contributes to attracting and retaining talent, facilitates partnerships and reduces operating costs, among other advantages. A reputation buffer ensures greater resilience in times of difficulty and, especially, crises, he explained.
“The concern with building a strong reputation is linked to these three priority themes. A company that does not have a strong reputation, that is not taking care of this issue professionally, knows that it may be harmed in its process of technological updating, innovation, digital transformation and, also, in seeking to attract, retain talent and train people for this very challenging time.”
Therefore, in the businesswoman’s opinion, reputation management must be a priority from the moment the company becomes aware of the importance of building trust with its audiences until its business growth project. “When we only take care of our reputation in times of crisis, it is because we are not prepared. We waste time, we lose alignment. Generally, we lose trust with our audiences, assuming many losses, some of which are even irreversible.”
Succession of leaders
Regarding companies’ concerns about the succession of their leaders, as highlighted by the ANK Reputation study, Anik explained that this is one of the post-pandemic trends: greater interest in building and strengthening organizational culture. “People are working in a hybrid environment, changing jobs more often. This makes the construction of this organizational culture more vulnerable. In other words, the company is more challenged to have a methodology for building a strong culture and for retaining that executive in the longer term,” he said.
Watch the full interview
Reproduction of the live interview, on the Money Times program, on 2/13/2025 – Images provided by Times Brasil/CNBC
