You may have a perfectly laid out business plan, a whole host of experience in your industry, and a true passion to provide the best possible product or service for your target audience. However, if your business is not appealing to clients or future employees that will be sticking points with regards to growth and expansion in the future. Having an awareness of this now will not only give you the best possible chance of hiring the best people and gaining clients that you truly want to work with, but it will also establish a stellar reputation for your business in the wider world.
In a number of cases, it will be very easy for you to improve your business reputation, but you need to look at potential changes sooner rather than later. Whether you’re looking to improve your employees’ motivation levels, or you want to improve your online presence, there are so many different ways in which you can attract the right clients and become appealing to new employees who may want to work with you in the future. Consider the following questions with regards to your business reputation and you will soon be able to see your downfalls that may require a bit of work on your end.
Is Your Website Appealing and Professional?
Having an appealing and professional website is one of the most important modern day assets that your business can have. When somebody clicks onto your website, you want to make it clear what your business stands for, how you can help people and how you are making a difference in the world. Hiring a professional website designer or copywriter will help you to reach the professional standards that you are looking for with regards to your website.
Do You Have a Strong Online Presence?
As well as having a good website, it is also paramount to have consistent and professional social media channels. This is not only an excellent way to communicate your values, products and services, but it also helps to establish your overall reputation. For example, if your social media channels are inactive or full of content that isn’t relevant to your specific industry this may deter people from working with you or investing in your products or services.
Do You Employees Speak Highly of Your Company?
Word-of-mouth is a marketing tool that can never be overlooked. When your employees and clients speak highly about your company, it shows the outside world that what you are doing is good and having a positive impact on the people around you. You may want to improve your enps score, which is also known as your employee net promoter score. With this type of data on hand you will always be sure that you are going above and beyond to keep your employees happy and satisfied in your place of work.
Do You Continually Contribute to an Informative Blog?
A blog is part and parcel of running an effective and appealing business. Although you may not see the value in having a highly engaging and informative blog, it has never been more important to establish yourself as an authority figure in your chosen industry. When you write your weekly blog post, you are creating more traffic and more opportunities for your website to be discovered. Speaking about current topics and answering common questions via your blog will also help to establish an excellent reputation for your business, because you will soon become the go-to expert for this topic.
Does The Internet Contain Excellent Reviews of Your Products or Services?
Nowadays, you can go onto the Internet and find out everything you need to know about a particular business. If your business does not have a good reputation and has a number of poor reviews online, this could be damaging to your future. You should always encourage your clients to leave feedback when they have worked with you, especially if you feel they have had a particularly positive outcome. The better reviews you can have on the Internet the better, as this will help people to find you and trust you when they first come into contact with your business.
Do You Receive Excellent Feedback from Current Employees?
If your employees are currently satisfied with their job roles and work environment, it is an excellent indicator as to whether they are satisfied in the job role. When you receive good feedback from your current workforce, you are setting yourself up for a positive future. This is because your current employees will be more likely to speak highly of your business, which will in turn attract new talent down the line.
Do Your Values Align with Your Target Employee?
If you market yourself as an eco-friendly or green company and you neglect your responsibilities to the environment, will you be appealing to your target employee and clients? You always need to practice what you preach and align your actions with your business values, so that you are always being open and honest with the people who are intrinsically involved with your day-to-day business operations. If you cannot reach the standards you have set for yourself, you may want to reassess and rewrite your business values.
Do You Offer Career Progression Within Your Company?
When any new employee starts a job, they are always thinking about the next five years and how they can progress and enhance their career. If you do not have a structured business model that allows your employees to progress through your company then you need to rethink your strategies. Offering career progression is one of the most valuable offerings you can make to new employees, especially those who are extremely talented and can bring a lot of value to your brand.
Are You Transparent and Honest with Regards to Job Descriptions and Salaries?
If you want to create a positive and long-lasting impact on your current employees and future employees, you need to be open and honest when posting job descriptions and salaries. There are a number of businesses out there that will overpromise and under provide to their employees which can cause a lot of disruptions and upset in the long run. When you are transparent with your potential employees it sets you off on a good foot from the outset, as there is already a level of trust that has been established.
Do You Offer Benefits, Rewards Schemes and Employee Recognition?
You should constantly be striving to create a culture of recognition for your current employees, as this will filter down to your future employees. When you offer numerous rewards, benefits and recognition strategies, this will only work to your advantage when it comes to hiring new members of staff. cultivating a positive working environment will always be noticed when you are deep in the recruitment process, so make sure you are constantly striving to reward your employees when needed.
Do You Prioritize Inclusivity and Diversity During the Hiring Process?
Nowadays, it is unacceptable to turn a blind eye to diversity and inclusivity when it comes to hiring new members of staff. Creating a policy surrounding diversity and inclusivity will help your business dramatically as it will align with the values of your potential employees. Taking account of different religions, ethnicities, disabilities and genders during the hiring process will always play in your favor and establish a solid reputation for your business.
Would You Want to Work There or Invest in Your Assets?
When you are so closely involved in your own business, it can be very easy to have a clouded judgment of the way it looks to potential clients and employees. It is natural to have rose tinted glasses with regards to analyzing your business and the successes it may have in the future. When you are able to look at your business objectively and be honest with yourself about its weaknesses, you will give yourself more opportunities to make improvements as the years go by. If you are looking for honest opinions about your business reputation, you should look to your employees and other people that you trust.
All in all, it is important to regularly assess the reputation of your business as if you were an outsider looking in. When you take stock of your business values, your website, your customer service and your overall communication between your employees and your clients, are you hitting milestones that would be considered appealing to other people? In many cases, the answer may be “yes,” however this does not stop you from regularly making improvements and enhancements to the way your business operates internally. Allowing yourself to be critical and find a balance between your business requirements, saving money and satisfying your clients and employees simultaneously will ultimately lead you to the greatest success. Take all these questions on board and ask them to yourself on a regular basis, so that you are always aware of the improvements that can be made to your business.
