Reputation Study: Company’s Financial Condition Not Most Important Factor.

Despite high profile bankruptcies like Enron, Kmart and Global Crossings; accounting scandals, a year-long recession, layoffs and an unpredictable stock market, a whopping 77 percent of adults still do not consider a company’s financial health as a top priority in determining its reputation as a place to work.

According to The Cherenson Group the most important factors in determining a company’s reputation as a place to work are the way employees are treated (36%) and the quality of the company’s products or services (27%).

These findings support The Cherenson Group’s 2001 Reputation Survey in which 78 percent of adults said they would rather work for a company with an excellent reputation than for a company with a poor reputation, even if they
were offered a higher salary.

“Our first study indicated that people would actually accept a lower paying job, in order to work for a company with an excellent reputation,” said Michael Cherenson, vice president, The Cherenson Group. “This study indicates once again that nearly 8 in 10 people think with their hearts and not just their wallets.”

According to The Cherenson Group’s 2002 Reputation Survey, only four percent of respondents cited the CEO as the most important factor, three percent noted the company’s charitable contributions and community support and six percent pointed to a combination of factors. “While these factors may not have ranked as a top concern, other research offers strong evidence that a company’s leadership and commitment to community concerns are critical to the overall reputation and relationship building process,” Cherenson said.

“Our 2001 study clearly indicated that a company’s reputation is an asset that needs to be developed and secured,” said Cherenson. “This year’s study provides a deeper understanding of that asset and shows an obvious correlation between reputation and relationships, specifically the relationship between employee and employer.”

According to Cherenson, findings from both studies also confirm that by investing in reputation and relationships, a company can realize bottom line savings in the form of recruitment, retention and overhead costs. “While this study looked at reputation from the recruitment/retention viewpoint, other reputation research clearly indicates the power of reputation as it relates to consumer spending and investing.”

In keeping with last year’s results, those earning more than $75,000 annually are more likely to consider financial factors as the most important factor.

The study was conducted the week of February 11, 2002, and included 800 completed interviews with New Jersey residents age 18 and older. The margin of error for the study was plus or minus 3.5 percent at the 95 percent confidence interval.

For more information at http://www.cherenson.com