COLMAR BRUNTON

2016

Public Sector Reputation Index

(BENCHMARK RESULTS TO BE LAUNCHED 8 MARCH 2016)

Embargoed until 8 March 2016

© Colmar Brunton 2016 | 2

An increasing focus on public sector reputation

“It is fundamental for us to have high levels of trust and

integrity. It is both one of the biggest opportunities to

transform the state services but also one of our biggest threats to our standing as the trusted state

sector.”

- Ian Rennie, State Services Commissioner,

13 August 2013

In recent years more

and more public sector

clients have approached

us wanting our help to

understand how they’re

perceived.

© Colmar Brunton 2016 | 3

We saw a need for a better measure of reputation

Existing measures of public sector reputation are unidimensional.

They tend to focus on a single facet of reputation (eg, only trust, only

performance).

They tell us the what, but say little about thewhy.

• Increased compliance, reduced enforcement cost

• Increased social licence

• Better public engagement

• Support for policy and legislative change - lower implementation costs/improved efficiency

• Sacrifice of immediate benefits (if there’s trust in longer-term outcomes of policy)

See: OECD (2013). Trust in government, policy effectiveness, and the governance

agenda, in Governance at a Glance 2013, OECD Publishing.

?Positive reputation leads to:

© Colmar Brunton 2016 | 4

The Public Sector Reputation Index is a four pillar model for measuring reputation

– it’s based on the global RepZ framework.

Services

Financially

responsible

Communications

Social /

Environmental

Employee

commitment

Management &

leadership

Innovation

Governance

© Colmar Brunton 2016 | 5

The Public Sector Reputation Index design

Standardised reputation attributes and advocacy asked for 31 public sector organisations

– carefully selected based on a number of criteria, including whether they have a public

facing function, or have received significant media attention over the last year.

Uses the global RepZ framework - each entity’s reputation is indexed against the

others.

Two thousand online interviews conducted in November and December 2015.

Nationally representative sample by age, gender, household size, income, ethnicity,

and region.

© Colmar Brunton 2016 | 6

A number of attributes sit under the four pillars

− Is a successful and well run

organisation

− Is a forward looking organisation

− Attracts and retains top talented

staff

− Is easy to deal with in a digital

environment

− Contributes to economic growth

− Anticipates future trends and

opportunities

− Adapts quickly to change

− Has a long term perspective

− Is easy to deal with in a digital

environment

− Deals fairly with people

regardless of their

background or role

− Treats their employees

well

− Honours the principles of

the Treaty of Waitangi

− Is a positive influence on

society

− Behaves in a responsible

way towards the

environment

− Is open and transparent

− Is trustworthy

− Listens to the public’s point of

view

− Can be relied upon to protect

individuals’ personal information

− Communicates clearly and

consistently

− Uses taxpayer money responsibly

− Provides effective services

− Understands customers’ needs

Hard SoftREPUTATION

LEADERSHIP/SUCCESS

FAIRNESS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

TRUST

© Colmar Brunton 2016 | 7

Impact of each pillar on advocacy – New Zealanders respond more strongly to organisations

that show they care.

Hard Soft

LEADERSHIP/SUCCESS

FAIRNESS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY TRUST

REPUTATION

NZ PRIVATE SECTOR

GLOBAL IMPACT ON

ADVOCACY

NZ PUBLIC SECTOR

27%

35%

20%

32%

16%

17%

37%

16%

22% 24% 27% 27%

© Colmar Brunton 2016 | 8

People are twice as likely to speak highly of organisations with a

strong reputation

Reputation scores are positively related to advocacy. Organisations with a strong reputation will

experience greater support and social licence to operate.

Weak

Reputation(95 and below)

Average

Reputation(100)

Strong

Reputation(105 and

above)

I would speak highly of them 20% 27% 42%

© Colmar Brunton 2016 | 9

A positive reputation can help increase resilience to negative publicity

The Top 10 agencies include some that have received significant and recent negative publicity.

0%

20%

40%

60%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

RepZ rank

% o

f p

op

ula

tio

n w

ho

rec

all n

egat

ive

med

ia

abo

ut

that

org

anis

atio

n

Reputation x awareness of negative media in previous three months

Strongest reputation

Weakestreputation

“They don't always get it right, but I trust them to do their best.”

“I trust them… even though they are heavily criticised.”

© Colmar Brunton 2016 | 10

Public Sector Reputation Index – Three key principles to keep in mind

The RepZ Index:

• Superior strength 105+

• Strong 101-104

• Average 100

• Weak 96-99

• Especially weak

95 and below

Scores should be

interpreted relative to

other government

agencies

Focus on the 4

‘Pillars’ that drive

reputation:

weighted by their

impact on advocacy

1 2 3

© Colmar Brunton 2016 | 11

TOP

RANKED

BY INDEX

129

115

112

111

111

110

110

109

108

107

106

106

103

103

102

101

101

REPZ

INDEX

New Zealand Fire Service

New Zealand Customs Service

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA)

Department of Conservation

Maritime New Zealand

Statistics New Zealand

New Zealand Police

Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand

Commission for Financial Capability

Reserve Bank of New Zealand

Broadcasting Standards Authority

The Treasury

Human Rights Commission

Ministry for the Environment

Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI)

New Zealand Transport Agency

Department of Internal Affairs (DIA)

Global comparison: The top 10% of commercial brands achieve RepZ

scores above 105.

All of these organisations have above

average RepZscores.

Ab

ove

ave

ra

ge

R

ep

Zsc

ore

s

© Colmar Brunton 2016 | 12

112

128

117

112

114

RepZ leaders in New Zealand’s public sector 2015/16: We can see the Top 10 demonstrate strength across all reputation pillars, but looking at the

relative scores across an organisation begins to explain why.

REPZ LEADERSHIP FAIRNESSSOCIAL

RESPONSIBLITYTRUST

111

128

108

110

114

108

124

110

113

114

111

129

111

112

115

112

133

110

113

117

105

108

105

108

111

105

110

109

108

109

110

111

108

110

108

107

110

108

109

110

108

111

109

111

111

REPZ LEADERSHIP FAIRNESSSOCIAL

RESPONSIBLITYTRUST

© Colmar Brunton 2016 | 13

Analysis across all agencies identifies relative strengths and weaknesses for the public sector. Priority areas for

improvement are openness and transparency, listening to the public, and using taxpayer money responsibly.

4.0

3.9

4.1

4.0

4.1

4.2

4.2

4.2

4.3

4.3

4.3

4.2

4.2

4.2

4.1

4.2

4.0

4.1

4.4

4.1

4.1

Is open and transparent

Listens to the public’s point of view

Communicates clearly and consistently

Uses taxpayer money responsibly

Understands customers’ needs

Is trustworthy

Provides effective services

Can be relied upon to protect individuals’ personal information

Honours the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi

Behaves in a responsible way towards the environment

Is a positive influence on society

Treats their employees well

Deals fairly with people regardless of their background or role

Anticipates future trends and opportunities

Contributes to economic growth

Is a forward looking organisation

Adapts quickly to change

Attracts and retains top talented staff

Has a long term perspective

Is easy to deal with in a digital environment

Is a successful and well run organisation

LEADERSHIP/SUCCESS

FAIRNESS

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

TRUST

A seven-point scale was used where 1 is strongly disagree and 7 is strongly agree

IMPORTANCE TO

PILLAR (RANK)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

1

2

3

1

2

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Attribute benchmarks – average score for the entire public sectorEvery agency can be

benchmarked against

these norms, or

compared to other

similar agencies.

Colmar Brunton, a Millward Brown Company

Level 9, Legal House, 101 Lambton Quay, Wellington

PO Box 3622, Wellington 6140

04 913 3008 / 021 797 047 / andrew.robertson@colmarbrunton.co.nz

www.colmarbrunton.co.nz

For further information please contact:

Dr Andrew Robertson