Credit Unions top reputation league

The Credit Unions took the top spot as Ireland’s most reputable organisation with a score of 83.7, the latest Ireland RepTrak® study by The Reputations Agency shows. Credit Unions scored strongly in six of the seven drivers, namely governance, products and services, innovation, workplace, citizenship, leadership and performance.

For the first time, governance surpassed products and services as a top reputation driver. One fifth of an organisation’s reputation now comes from perceptions that it is ethical, fair, open and transparent in the way it does business. Governance increased gradually since 2013, but spiked this year, showing the public’s desire for purpose and ethics.

The eleventh annual Ireland RepTrak® report, the largest and longest-running study of reputation in Ireland, is based on the perceptions of over 7,000 members of the public and was completed from January to early March. The survey measures the level of trust, respect, admiration and esteem the public has for 100 organisations in Ireland.

Most reputed Irish organisations:

The top 10 most reputed Irish organisations in the Ireland RepTrak® 2020 study are:

Rank	Organisation	Reputational Pulse Score	Rank	Organisation	Reputational Pulse Score
1.	Credit Unions	83.7	6.	Tourism Ireland	80.0
2.	Bord Bia	81.4	7.	An Post	79.8
3.	Boots Ireland	80.8	8.	Samsung	79.3
4.	IRFU	80.8	9.	Kerry	79.3
5.	Lidl	80.1	10.	Microsoft	79.1

Ireland’s inaugural Purpose Power Index study identified the organisations and sectors that the Irish public believes have performed best during the current pandemic. The research, conducted last month during the lockdown, is a real-time representation of the Irish public’s perception of how bodies and companies responded to the crisis.

The index was developed by The RepTrak Company.

It is measured by the degree to which organisations perform against four criteria – whether they are improving lives, acting beyond profits, acting for a better world and benefiting society. The top five organisations leading the Covid-19 response are the HSE, An Garda Síochána, the Government, An Post and the country’s grocery sector.

Commenting on the two studies, Niamh Boyle, managing director, The Reputations Agency, said there has been been a shift in Ireland, economically, politically and socially with a new focus on purpose. “We saw this in our RepTrak study results and our recent Purpose Power Index demonstrates that Covid-19 has accelerated this,” Boyle added.

“Covid-19 has given us time to think about the real meaning of purpose as we observe organisation’s behaviours and advise our clients on theirs. Through our index, we have witnessed how the marriage of strong brand values, along with a compelling sense of purpose, delivers some of the most powerful reputations and business results,” she added.