Workplace accidents are pretty common, even if most of them are minor. Non-fatal incidents cause at least four entire calendar days of absence from work and often involve considerable harm for the individuals concerned and their families. An accident at work can have a significant impact on your company’s reputation, especially in the digital age. Maintaining a reputation is increasingly difficult in a world with social media networks, job review sites, and live video options that enable people to share their opinions with millions with just a few clicks.
A high-profile accident can be critical for the business. Sometimes, the company isn’t able to recover from reputational damage, but it greatly depends on who’s to blame, what happened, and how the organization addresses the outcome, both internally and externally. Even if you’re not liable for the injuries and damages caused by your employee’s actions, if someone were to google you in the future, they might learn about the incident. Your online reputation will affect whether or not a potential or repeat customer will choose you or a competitor.
A Great Online Reputation Is One of The Most Important Marketing Assets
Every company wants to make a good impression online, but having an impressive website or social media presence isn’t enough. An accident at work can impact your hard-won reputation in a matter of minutes, so learn from your mistakes and make an effort to improve your performance steadily. If one of your employees has been injured on the job, they’ll want to talk about it, sharing their story with family and friends. It can put a serious dent in your company’s reputation. Simply put, you’ll come under a cloud, tarnishing your reputation from the wagging tongues and possible media coverage.
In most cases, an injured employee can’t sue for work-related injuries, but there’s an exception to every rule. For general inquiries, please visit https://www.accidentclaims.co.uk/accident-at-work-claim. No two lawsuits are created equally, so media coverage won’t be equal – it depends on various factors and the litigation’s various stages. Civil cases brought against large corporations receive the most attention because they involve someone or something we know. It goes without saying that negative news can have a considerable impact on consumers’ opinions of your business, so it’s imperative to get ahead of the issues and monitor online mentions.
Your online reputation is one of your most valuable assets, as it builds trust, increases brand reach, and improves profitability. More and more people do research about a company before making a purchase, and the most likely search engine they use is Google, which captures roughly 90% of the market share. Digital marketing companies offer reputation monitoring and alerts, overseeing and analyzing your digital presence. More exactly, they look for feedback in the news and earned media, forums, social comments and discussions, and videos, to mention but a few.
Is Your Online Reputation Going to The Dogs? Here’s How to Fix a Ruined Reputation
Consumers trust a company based on the information that appears about it online. If you don’t take active measures to handle problems quickly and efficiently, even if they appear small and inconsequential, the situation can get out of control, heading in a worse and worse direction. Even if an opinion is largely subjective and always biased, it can be shaped or molded by the actions you or your business take to manage digital information and communication. Continue reading to find out how to repair your online reputation and enhance your web-based presence before it’s too late.
Take A Step Back to Assess the Level of Damage Caused
Due to modern technology, businesses are under the microscope more than ever, so any slip-up can be exaggerated and made public very fast. Withdraw temporarily from the situation to reflect on it. In other words, understand how serious the situation is by measuring changes in corporate reputation – negative information about your business can come in all shapes and sizes (URLs, reviews, and videos). Any news story or blog post falls into the negative category. If you come across untrue or defamatory information about your organization in a Google search result, complete a removal request.
Push Negative Information Off Page One
SEO work can have a profound effect on your branded results and, ultimately, your reputation. Online reputation management focuses on keyword targeting and SERP ranking, pushing the negative results far down in the user’s search query. It’s impossible to bury negative search results, but you can push them down in the SERPs, giving searchers a clear path to your website. Positive search results can be content you create yourself that reflects well on your company. Remember that you have no control whatsoever over articles from outsiders, but you have control over your own. Create killer content that’s informative and helpful.
Engage, Engage, Engage
Responding to negative comments about your brand is recommended because it shows you care. Consumers care about how you do business and treat your employees, so your actions will be remembered for a long time, and trust is the most important currency you have. Start a dialogue with current and future customers, ensuring they’re kept informed ahead of time so they won’t be concerned about what’s happening. If you’re at fault, you must acknowledge and, most importantly, take responsibility for the mistake. Any attempt to hide the truth or deflect blame will only make things worse.
Concluding Thoughts
All in all, any responsible employer will work with the victim and their family to ensure they have much-needed help to make a full recovery and, if possible, get back to work. Your company must have stringent practices in place for handling the practical aspects of workplace accidents, not to mention the required reporting procedures. The media is very quick to cover minor or major incidents, so you can expect to be in the public eye. Additionally, people like to complain on social media because they want others to know what they’re going through. Don’t let a brand reputation crisis define your failure.
Featured image provided by Priscilla Du Preez; Unsplash; Thanks!
