What is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

The textbook definition of Corporate Social Responsibility: a self-regulating business model that helps a company be socially accountable—to itself, its stakeholders, and the public. By practicing corporate social responsibility, also called corporate citizenship, companies can be conscious of the kind of impact they are having on all aspects of society, including economic, social, and environmental.

Additionally, a community-oriented company with a charitable mindset can benefit from positive PR, good employee morale and increased connections which can aid in long-term financial success. A study showed that 85 percent of customers have a better outlook on businesses that give to charity.

Companies that adopt CSR practices in their day-to-day operations help them manage their reputation online, as well. In a world where one negative review or nefarious post about a business can ruin its livelihood, it pays to implement some socially conscious practices in order to combat these situations should they arise.

Why is Corporate Social Responsibility Important?

In short, through CSR programs, philanthropy, and volunteer efforts, businesses can benefit society while boosting their brands.

Examples of Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility can be practiced by large companies, but small-and-mid-sized businesses can also create social responsibility programs, although their initiatives are not often as well-publicized.

For example, known for their CSR practices, these are the top 10 large-scale companies with the best reputations today.

The Top 10 Companies With The Best Reputations Are:

• Lego
• The Walt Disney Company
• Rolex
• Ferrari
• Microsoft
• Levi’s
• Netflix
• Adidas
• Bosch
• Intel

Let’s take a closer look at 3 of the companies that made the list.

Lego: Building Legos is a rite of passage for most kids, but did you know that the Lego corporation is highly dedicated to environmental and social issues? The company lives by 12 responsible business principles that set what’s expected from its production sites, suppliers and partners on topics such as ethics, people, children, and the environment. The Lego Group also has circular economy initiatives to provide consumers the chance to pass on their bricks to children in need.

The Walt Disney Company: Walt Disney is widely known for its attention to customer service. The company also focuses on the following three areas to increase their reputation and CSR: volunteerism, environmental protection, and community action. Disney has been known to provide aid to natural disaster victims, and some of the proceeds of their movies go to protect natural habitats.

Microsoft: Founded by Bill Gates, Microsoft is widely regarded for its many philanthropic activities that helped to get it some positive social recognition. The company has donated millions of dollars to help fund access to computer science for youths around the world, millions in product donations to nonprofits, and billions in employee giving. The bottom line, Microsoft’s activities help to improve the world, but they also help them to sell software.

Variables that make up a strong corporate reputation

• 20,1% Products and services
• 14,8% Corporate governance
• 14,4% Citizenship
• 13,2% Financial performance
• 13,1% Innovation
• 12,9% Executive leadership
• 11,5% Workplace quality
• 100% = Corporate reputation

Corporate Social Responsibility for Employee Eetention

The fact of the matter is: when employees feel like they are engaged and making a difference, they are more likely to stay loyal to a company and/or spread the word about the good work they are doing there. Likewise, employees are proud to work for a company that has a positive reputation, and it can be essential for the recruitment and retention of top talent.

Some of the ways your company can improve employee morale: offer paid parental leave, flex schedules, provide time off for volunteer opportunities, introducing more natural lighting, allow dogs in the office, summer Fridays off, company picnics, etc.

Further, motivating your employees to get involved in CSR activities is an easy way to strengthen your corporate citizenship and improve your reputation.

How does my business implement Corporate Social Responsibility practices?

Are you a small or midsize company that wants to be more socially responsible but doesn’t know how to start? There are a few ways your business can implement corporate social responsibility practices. Here are some of the most common examples:

Corporate Social Responsibility Garners Trust

If someone writes a slanderous review about your company, but the 20 reviews above it are written by consumers who value your business, you’ll be more likely to bounce back from negative information. Perhaps more importantly, CSR creates a reputation of reliability and honesty, which is always valuable.
.
With a corporate social responsibility plan, companies can increase customer motivation to minimize any negative information they may discover in search results.

What is Crisis Management?

By definition, crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a disruptive and unexpected event that threatens to harm the organization or its stakeholders. A crisis can single handedly disrupt business operations, harm employees, damage your public image, and negatively impact your finances.

Here is a chart that showcases some of the most common types of crises businesses can experience.

Source: PwC Global Crisis Survey of 2084 respondents

To effectively manage any crisis, you’ll need a comprehensive process that you can implement as quickly as possible. Further, organizations must also have an extensive understanding of SEO practices to manage a crisis online and reduce its impact on your internet reputation.

Crisis Management case example (Uber)

Uber was also sued in February 2017 by Google. The technology giant claimed Uber stole technology from their self-driving vehicle division. Uber also found itself in trouble for using technology called Greyball to elude authorities worldwide, and has seen several executives, including their head of communications, step down.

That’s a lot to digest.

If you are wondering how Uber dealt with these crises? Not very well. Under Uber’s crisis management plan, the company released a variety of statements addressing each incident, but a lack of transparency was evident and has been the company’s biggest downfall in handling public perception. A heartfelt letter from the CEO promising to be a better leader didn’t do much good, and that’s because the public wanted to actually see steps and actions being implemented to improve the company’s business practices.

Crisis Management Plan (CMP)

What Uber lacked in each situation was a pre-planned crisis management plan (CMP). A CMP is a reference tool which provides lists of key contact information, reminders of what typically should be done in a crisis, and forms to be used to document the crisis response.

Simply put, a crisis management plan can help your organization:

• Maintain a good standing reputation with customers, competitors, and industry leaders during and after a crisis.
• Prepare you for any unforeseen situation and give you peace of mind.
• Increase your response times and productivity during and after a crisis.
• Teach everyone what their role is throughout a crisis so there’s quick action and a fast resolution.

3 Steps to Crisis Management

There are 3 primary steps in the crisis management process:

1. Pre-Crisis
The first step to crisis management is prevention. This involves creating a crisis management plan, training your crisis team and practicing your plan. The pre-crisis step also includes drafting a crisis communication message to implement if and when the time comes that you need to issue a statement to the public quickly.

2. Crisis Management and response
The second step in the plan is the actual process of dealing with and responding to the different stages of crisis — or when your crisis management plan is put into action. Initial crisis management messages are released, employees and stakeholders and contacted, and public and company safety is prioritized.

3. Post-Crisis
When a crisis is over, your work is not. It’s important that you remain in contact with your employees, customers, and stakeholders to answer any lingering questions that may arise. Finally, integrate any lessons you learn into your crisis management process for future planning.

Navigate a company crisis

Now that you know what a crisis management plan is and why it is important, you need to know exactly what to do in the event your company is faced with a crisis. No matter how, when, or where it hits, a crisis will test your company to its core, and it is also very capable of disrupting your operations.

Let’s review. Here are 6 steps to navigate a company crisis:

• Appoint a response team.
• Devise a strategy and brief your team.
• Craft your message.
• Identify and address the affected parties.
• Monitor the situation.
• Review and learn from the situation.

Crisis Management in the age of social media

It’s not enough to respond only to common crisis situations; rather, it is also important to maintain your online reputation as a part of your daily public relations strategy. By monitoring your company websites, social media accounts and brand name, you can make reputation management a part of your ongoing internet marketing efforts and mitigate any crisis situation before it occurs.

Preventative measures:
Proactively monitoring your online reputation be done in a few ways, including: searching social hashtags and reviewing content, claiming your business on review sites, contributing to a company blog, searching your competitor’s websites and setting up a Google Alert with your company and brand name so you receive emails anytime a customer leaves a review.

Brand monitoring enables you to quickly catch negative content and address criticism before it goes viral.

Responding to online reviews

Today, nearly 90 percent of consumers read business’ responses to online reviews. Further, Google has confirmed that responding to reviews improves SEO value. As a business, responding quickly and proactively to negative online reviews or complaints is the first step to maintaining positive PR. Respond to public social media comments in a helpful way that strives to offer solutions to the poster’s problem.

Use SEO to leverage yourself as an expert

In today’s digital age, you should never wait for a crisis to hit; instead, adopt a plan or hire a reputation management company that specializes in SEO and best practices to do the legwork for you.

You don’t have to hide

When you find out someone has been digging into your online privacy, is your first reflex to hide? Maybe you’ve changed your name on Facebook, made your Instagram feed private or have given up social media altogether. Keeping yourself private while still sharing your personal thoughts and information with the people you want to can be a juggling act; however, that doesn’t mean you have to be in constant fear that you’ll say or do something wrong that will end up on the internet.

By making a few simple changes to your devices and accounts, you can protect yourself against unwanted attempts to access your data AND protect your privacy from those you don’t consent to sharing your information with.

Getting started is easy.

There are a few ways to cover your tracks online and none of them require purchasing pricey programs or downloading special privacy hider tools.
Read on to find out several steps you can take to hide what you search for, keep your personal information off of the web, mask your IP address, and more.

Why online privacy matters

Make no mistake, everyone has something to hide and it’s not as nefarious as you may think. For instance, some of the things you probably don’t want broadcasted on your social network is how much money you make, your bank account or your medical records. Your personal details can leak online in several ways: either via hackers, companies selling information, or some other dishonest method. If you secure your identity on the internet, it helps keep your personal details at a minimum so that you don’t have to worry so much about things like identity theft, harassment, privacy intrusion, and so on.

Remember, your privacy is YOURS. It is your personal information, your habits and your actions. Therefore you should want to protect it in any way you possibly can.

Change your privacy settings

For other websites, a good rule of thumb is to choose the least amount of data sharing. Also, be careful to not share your location by turning off location services and by denying websites access to your camera where your personal photographs are stored.

Basic security steps everyone should take

Enable two-factor authentication

You may not realize the dangers hackers can impose until your private email or online accounts are compromised. A different type of security mechanism called two-factor authentication is becoming increasingly available. Using two-factor authentication ensures that even if someone has your password, they still need more before they can get into your account. That can range from a fingerprint to a pin number. Two factor authentication simply allows you to protect your accounts with an added layer of security.

Secure your passwords

Passwords are the keys to our digital lives and there are many ways people can try and crack them. To make this task difficult for them, it is best to use strong, complicated passwords.
A secure password should be at least eight characters long, and use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. Try not to use addresses, phone numbers or any other easily identifiable personal information and avoid using the same password across multiple websites.

Never click “save password” on your devices. Sure, it saves time but if you need to safely store your passwords, look into a secure password manager.

Install a VPN

A VPN (virtual private network) is software that protects your Internet browsing by encrypting your online data and hiding your computer or device’s IP address. A VPN keeps track of your online data through secure tunnels and anyone attempting to intercept your browsing data will find unreadable jargon instead.

Be discreet about personal information

Here are 10 things you should avoid posting your social media pages:

• Your current location or Geo tagged location
• Your birthday
• Home address
• Pictures of your children with names tagged
• Phone number
• Vacation plans
• Embarrassing or revealing photos
• Negative opinions about your employer
• Financial information
• Anything you don’t want to be online forever

Be aware of your digital footprint

The impact of a digital footprint can be felt by individuals, business owners and executives who are unfairly targeted with false or defamatory contact by other people, as well. That is why maintaining your online privacy is so important, as is managing your online reputation.

Personal branding for online reputation management

What if someone writes a negative review about me or my business?

Another way an ORM service can help you maintain your online privacy is through link removal services. This means permanently deleting, rather than suppressing, negative online content.

The statistics speak for themselves

Ever since they appeared, online reviews have been an important topic among business owners and marketers, and there has been plenty of research to back up the importance of responding to them.

Take a look:

• 97% of people read reviews for local businesses
• 90% of respondents who recalled reading online reviews claimed that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions, while 86 percent said buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews
• 93% of people who use mobile to research go on to complete a purchase of a product or service. Most purchases happen in physical stores.
• 3.3 is the minimum star rating of a business consumers would engage with.

A one-star increase in Yelp rating leads to a 5-9% increase in revenue.

• Only 13% of consumers will consider using a business that has a 1 or 2 star rating.

If something is broken, fix it

Below is a well-crafted response to an negative review:

“Diane, thank you for taking the time to share your recent experience. We are disappointed that your visit was only worthy of 2 stars. I would like to learn more about your experience. Please email me at info@review.com and let me know what I can do to rectify the situation.”

Negative reviews come in two forms

Constructive criticism – These customers leave fair and balanced feedback, highlighting the good and bad points of their experience. Management can extract valuable insights from their reviews.

Rants  –  Some people are simply impossible to please. You can attempt to correct factual errors, but you may just have to avoid giving them much online attention. 

What if the website doesn’t permit responses?

How to Respond to Positive Reviews

Don’t allow one or two negative comments interfere with the dozens of positive reviews your business receives on any given day.

Online engagement works both ways, so it is important to engage with your customers and listen to what they have to say, even if their review is positive in nature. 

Some business owners believe that if they receive a positive review, there’s nothing to reply to, but that’s an opportunity missed.  

Instead, respond to positive reviews by reiterating what the customer enjoyed, congratulate your staff on excellent customer service, invite the customer back, and suggest other services you think they may benefit from.  Repeating a positive review helps introduce more potential customers to your business.  Chances are, if one person liked it, others will as well. 

Below is a well-crafted response to a positive review:

“Thank you for your review!  Our staff makes it their mission to provide high quality service to our customers, and we will be sure to pass your positive comments along to them.  We hope to welcome you back soon.” 

What about no text reviews?

Some websites allow customers to leave star rating reviews without requiring them to post a text response. In these instances it can be difficult to judge what was going through the reviewer’s head, so it’s best to keep your response short and sweet. 

Here’s some examples of responses to a no text review:

Positive review: “Hi Saul, thanks for the 5 star review. Hope to see you back soon!

Negative review: Jane, I would like to apologize for your negative experience. Clearly, we fell short and would like the chance to turn your 2 star experience into a 5 star experience . Please call me at (phone number) so we can make this right.

Ask current customers to leave a review

By asking your current customers to post a review after they’ve received a positive experience, you have the opportunity to improve your online reputation. Provide the easiest avenue possible to your most sought-after review sites. Clickable images and links in posts requesting reviews can all work to your advantage.  Even though you may be apprehensive about asking too much of your customers, it’s still important to encourage them to rank or review your product or brand.

Since reviews play such an important part in your business, reward the people that take time to promote yours. You can encourage reviews with:

1. Coupons
2. Reciprocate with a shared review
3. Post reviews you received on your website and tell others where they can do the same.
4. Request with a link on your email newsletter.

Track your competitors

Monitor your online reputation

To help preserve your online reputation, be sure to monitor and check review platforms as frequently as possible. Some websites like Google Alerts will notify you when someone makes a new post or review.   The faster you can address your company’s reviews, the better you can compete in a challenging market.

Ask reputation management professionals for help

Remember, managing and responding to online reviews can be streamlined with the help of a reputation management company like Reputation.ca. Further, free software tools like those provided by RepuSure® give you what you need to monitor how you appear online and, more importantly, proactively take action if there is ever a threat to how you appear online.  The software offers full-featured online reputation protection and management features, helping you to track, measure and improve your Google search results.

The best strategy to avoid getting a negative online reputation is to get in front of the problem and turn angry customers into advocates.

Defamation, Libel and Slander Defined

First, let’s explain what these three terms mean in Canada, and in general.

Defamation refers to harming another person’s reputation by making a false written or oral statement about that person to a third party.

Libel is defamation with a permanent record, such as an email, a radio or TV broadcast, a newspaper, a website posting, etc.

Slander is defamation with no permanent record, such as a spoken statement.

To learn more about each of these terms, visit this reference site.

Damages caused by online defamation can
result in:

• Loss of job
• Loss of reputation
• Humiliation
• Mental anguish

It matters what people find when they look for you online.

Remember, your online reputation only consists of what’s out there.

Business owners should always protect their company’s social media profiles from abuse and issues relating to potential defamatory instances in the workplace by providing proper social media training. They should also be aware of what customers are posting about them on review websites and address all comments made about their business in a professional and positive manner.

Reputation is everything.

• 73% of Canadians spend at least 3-4 hours online per day.
• 1 in 8 Canadians spend more than eight hours a day online.
• 46% of Canadians made a purchase from their mobile devices.
• 64% of Canadians prefer making online purchases from a Canadian retailer.
• Only 15% of Canadians report being off the grid for a week or more

During those hours, their opinions are being influenced by what they discover on the internet.  

A positive online reputation can be the difference between a business owner’s success or failure. At the same time, search algorithms prioritize popularity, not accuracy, so your negative content is at risk of showing up on the first page of Google results.

What is Online Reputation Management (ORM) and why do you need it?

Fortunately, there are a number of strategies ORM experts can implement to turn your negative content, positive. Similar to SEO (search engine optimization), which uses techniques to make your brand or image stand out on web search engines, they can also help you suppress and remove negative content. Simply put, the more positive, high-quality content that is created, the more likely it will rank above the negative content, thus, making it less noticeable to searchers.

Managing Your Online Reputation in Canada

How does online reputation management in Canada differ from other countries?  

For one, the European Union (EU) enacted “the right to be forgotten” privacy law in 2014 which allowed people living in the EU to request removal of Google search results that were deemed no longer relevant or inadequate.  While the law does not result in total link removal of the content, it does make it harder to find since more people use search engines to find information online.  

The introduction of the right to be forgotten policy was a score in the win column for the citizens of the EU; however, here in Canada there are no immediate plans to enact similar laws.  Instead, online defamation cases are dealt with through a common-law action for libel. 

For instance, a Canadian can request defamatory content be removed through an injunction issued by the courts, but even this remedy can be difficult to obtain. Canadian courts deal with a number of challenges when presented with online defamation cases, such as establishing who the original publisher was and whether the content posted on the internet are capable of defamatory meaning.  

Sometimes, defamation cases in Canada can constitute a criminal offense under section 298 of the Criminal Code.  In the case of R vs. Simoes, a customer posted negative reviews about an Ottawa restaurant and in retaliation, the owner began to harass the customer using fales profiles of the diner and also sent lewd emails to the customer’s employer. That same restaurant owner was convicted of defamatory libel by the Ontario Court, and was sentenced to subsequent jail time.

For Canadians who are looking to protect their online reputation, there are also attack websites to beware of.  In the case of A.T. v. Globe24H.com, the website published thousands of Canadian judicial decisions, made them searchable on Google and then demanded fees for the removal of names.  Friends, colleagues and family members could now search for this negative information about the victim at their fingertips.  There are plenty of attack websites that still publish defamatory content about citizens online.  These types of websites can be detrimental to you, your career and/or business. 

What does the best ORM plan look like?

Know What You’re Monitoring

Popular industry keywords

It is important to keep track of what people are saying in your industry.. For example, Left Field would want to track industry keywords like Toronto brewery, craft beer, Toronto microbrews or best Toronto beers.

Monitor your social media accounts and blog

Checking your social media accounts is a must for monitoring your online reputation. You should try to post every day to keep up with engagement and respond to both the positive and negative comments and mentions of your business. Creating a business blog is another great way to contribute your knowledge about your industry and keep customers informed.

Track your competitors

Analyzing your competition can provide valuable insight as to how your business stacks up against similar businesses. A simple Google search of those competitor’s names from time to time will keep you apprised of what others are saying.

Ask your customers

Look no further than your current social media followers or customers to help you monitor your online reputation. You could even conduct an online survey or poll to get a sense of how they are experiencing your website and other online channels. Keep your polls short and not too frequent.

What is “Right to Be Forgotten?”

The right to be forgotten is the right to have private information about a person removed from Internet searches and other online directories under some circumstances. In 2014, the European Union (EU) enacted “the right to be forgotten” privacy law, which allowed people living in the EU to request removal of Google search results that were deemed no longer relevant or inadequate.

Since the ruling took effect, Google has received millions of de-indexing requests, but reports explain that fewer than 45% of those requests have actually been fulfilled.  Although the law requires Google to remove links from its search results in Europe, it has not translated to other countries.

What about Canada?

Currently, right to be forgotten laws do not extend beyond the borders of the European Union.

In Canada, there are no immediate plans to enact similar laws, with online defamation cases dealt with through a common-law action for libel. For instance, a Canadian can request defamatory content be removed through an injunction issued by the courts. But, even this remedy can be difficult to obtain. Canadian courts deal with a number of challenges when presented with online defamation cases, such as establishing who the original publisher was and whether the content posted on the internet is in fact defamatory in nature.

Currently, Canada does not have a formal rule in place for de-listing link requests. While Canadians wait for legislation to pass in the future, here are some cases involving the right to be forgotten to consider in the meantime.

Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek vs. Facebook

The judgment will likely place more responsibility on Facebook and other social platforms to police their sites for wrongdoing as they deal with an increase of often competing laws and regulations.

While the EU’s decision to require Facebook to remove negative content globally is a step in the right direction, it will likely take years for the rest of the world to follow suit.

Right to be Forgotten: Has Google Complied?

While Facebook had to comply with EU court rulings to remove defamatory content, the courts have ruled that Google does not have to apply the right to be forgotten globally. This means Google only needs to remove links from its search results in Europe, after a proper request is made. Since the European courts made their decision in May, 2014, Google has in fact complied with the right to be forgotten policy, and in 2015, it introduced a geoblocking feature that prevents European users from being able to see delisted links. However, Google resisted censoring search results for people in other parts of the world.

In his ruling, the EU Court of Justice said, “Currently, there is no obligation under EU law, for a search engine operator who grants a request for de-referencing made by a data subject… to carry out such a de-referencing on all the versions of its search engine.”

Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Before GDPR was enforced, Europe struggled to keep pace with rapid technological changes. GDPR changes the way businesses and public sector organizations handle the information of their customers and gives customers more control over their information.

Google vs. CNIL

In 2015, French privacy regulator CNIL ordered Google to globally remove search result listings on results containing damaging or false information about a person. In 2016, Google introduced a geoblocking feature that prevents European users from being able to see delisted links, but resisted censoring search results for people in other parts of the world.

Theodore F. Claypoole, a writer for the National Law Review, supported the decision yet remains skeptical of the EU’s protection of the right to be forgotten. Claypoole argues that the foundation of Europe’s social system requires any truthful utterances to remain in the light, and believes that allowing de-listing to shove true facts into darkness is wrong.

Sweden’s DPA vs. Google

When will Canadians be protected by Right to Be Forgotten Laws?

According to a poll conducted by research foundation Angus Reid Institute, 51 percent of Canadians believe they should have the right to be forgotten and search engine results changed so that “negative information doesn’t dominate their online record forever.”

The same poll found 26 percent of Canadians believe Internet searches are a form of public record and results shouldn’t be erased.

Unfortunately, The European Court of Justice ruled that the EU’s right to be forgotten legislation does not apply beyond its own borders. With that said, the EU law is sending a signal to other countries, including Canada, about creating their own right to be forgotten laws.

A Step in the Right Direction?

According to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC), requests for de-indexing search results already fall under the jurisdiction of existing privacy legislation.

However, the OPC named “Reputation and Privacy” as one of its strategic privacy priorities and set the following statement as a main goal.

[We] will have helped to create an environment where individuals may use the Internet to explore their interests and develop as persons without fear that their digital trace will lead to unfair treatment.