New research out this week sheds light on an opportunity for HR that, when overlooked, could turn into a crisis: “reputation return.”
In a study of 66 publicly traded companies, global communications firm Burson found that strong organizational reputation can deliver up to a 5% boost to shareholder value, for a total of $7.07 trillion across public companies worldwide. The firm estimates that the companies studied could see $2 million to $202 billion in unexpected returns from reputation improvement.
While executives surveyed ranked “AI and the workforce” lowest among eight potential drivers of reputation, workplace reputation contributed to a nearly 12% gap between the best- and worst-performing companies.
Researchers noted in the report that companies tend to under-invest in workplace reputation, making it a “quiet” lever that, spurred by the widespread adoption of AI, “will likely become the most explosive driver of reputation value, or destruction, for years to come.” A “focused investment,” they say, in this often-neglected area will enable organizations to “stand out in a wide-open field.”
“There is an incredible opportunity for C-suite leaders to focus on their company’s actions and reputation as an employer—reflecting culture, employee wellbeing and talent attraction—and use this as a competitive advantage,” says Corey duBrowa, global CEO of Burson.
A focus on workplace reputation is increasingly critical in the age of AI, duBrowa says.
Today, employers need to “make clear that your workforce is a key part of the company’s AI transformation journey.”
Organizations that are winning at AI adoption are equating workforce and technology strategy; with any AI tech strategy, there should be an AI people strategy, duBrowa adds.
“When you demonstrate you’re investing in reskilling and transparency as much as in the technology itself, it doesn’t just mitigate resistance—it becomes a differentiator that builds trust and co-creation with employees, confidence with investors and credibility with customers,” he says.
Researchers say companies that approach AI in the workplace as a tool for “human augmentation” can earn a “massive reputation dividend”; yet, those who consider the tech as a means to reduce headcount and deploy it through top-down mandates may pay a heavy tax when it comes to reputation.
It starts with culture
Investing in internal culture, alongside a tech journey, is a critical key to leveraging the workforce’s reputational influence, researchers say. The report found that the organizations that witnessed the most significant turnaround in reputation invested first in improving their internal culture.
“In an era of deep public skepticism, a company’s employees are the ultimate carriers of its corporate culture,” the report says. Workers are often the most “authentic and credible channel” for the story a company is looking to tell—so, a thriving culture can amplify that story outside the walls of the organization.
“It’s important to remember,” duBrowa says, “that employees are often your No. 1 brand ambassador in the marketplace.”
