REPUTATION RISK ASSESSMENT
Issue
A potentially “toxic”
organisational culture
Threat/problem
A “robust” management culture
that can be perceived as bullying.
Staff could use social media to
publicly criticise the company.
Long working hours now being
seen as the norm. This can lead to
sickness absence and/or
presenteeism. Again staff can
criticise via social media.
Increasing numbers of grievances
being raised. If not managed
properly these could result in
tribunal claims and adverse
publicity, e.g. from local media
sources.
Poor communication with staff is
leading to disengagement. This
could harm our reputation with
customers through poor service.
Risk
L/M/H
Proposed control measures

High


Medium


Medium


Medium
Review and strengthen the Dignity at
Work Policy. Brief managers and staff
on its importance and the sanctions for
breaching it.
Bring it to the attention of third
parties, such as contractors.
Monitoring of employee working hours
and checking on whether opt-out has
been signed by individuals (where
applicable).
Review of staffing levels across the
business.
Train managers on the need to resolve
issues informally, how to do it and
when to intervene. This should be
backed up by revised procedures that
managers are fully briefed on.
Look at whether there are problems
with individual managers.
Review internal communications
strategy in conjunction with marketing
team. Look at creating staff
newsletters and improving feedback
mechanism for team briefings.
Done by
whom
Deadline
Done
Y/N
Issue
Weak and badly applied
HR policies can lead to
reputation damage due
to:
Threat/problem
Failure to manage employee use
of social media, such as personal
blogs and Twitter.
Not managing the content
uploaded to business social
media channels.
Non-compliance with
employment law
requirements:
Use of unpaid internships could
tarnish our image due to bad
press and accusations of slave
labour, e.g. Tesco experience.
Insufficient understanding of
employment law requirements,
which can lead to tribunal claims
reported in the media.
Inappropriate employee
monitoring can lead to
complaints to the Information
Commissioner and/or the charity
– Liberty.
Risk
L/M/H
Proposed control measures

High


High

Medium


Medium


Low
Review our social media policy to see
what controls we exercise over what
employees can post about us.
Train staff on new policy requirements
and retain right to levy disciplinary
sanctions over any breaches.
Whilst avoiding micro-management,
ensure those responsible for uploading
content adhere to guidelines on what
message we want to get across.
Ensure that any internship offered is
genuine and not “work” in disguise.
Update our policy to reflect the latest
employment tribunal position and brief
supervisors/managers on the changes.
Review current level of training of
those responsible for updating and
disseminating employment law
updates and HR policies.
Look at internal/external employment
law courses and updates.
Look at data protection policy and
provide extra management training if
necessary on the Information
Commissioner’s Employment Practices
Code.
Done by
whom
Deadline
Done
Y/N