More than 40,000 people rated the UK's top 200 companies (by market cap and revenue) across the seven values the Institute believes most impact reputation - including the HR responsible areas of 'workplace', 'leadership', 'governance' and 'citizenship' (including CSR).
According to the survey, the main driver of reputation - products and services - is now responsible for just 18.4% of a company's reputation. It finds 'governance' is second-most important (15.8%) followed by 'citizenship' (14.7%) 'workplace' (13.5%) and 'leadership' (12.9%). The best companies for workplace were Rolls Royce, followed by John Lewis and Marks & Spencer, while the top three for citizenship were Virgin, the Co-op and Alliance Boots.
According Spencer Fox, CEO of the Reputation Institute, there is now a clear relationship between HR, reputation and company performance: "We found 62% of people would recommend the top-ten ranked companies to friends or family, but 32% would not recommend those in the bottom ten."
The best improving company was Phones4U - which registered a 12.9% improvement in its reputation. Fox says it's no coincidence this follows massive investment in its people and customer service in the last year.
Phones4U CEO Tim Whiting said: "It's testament to our investment in our people that we have achieved a 20% uplift in sales that has been mirrored by a 12% increase in our reputation score." The utility sector had the worst reputation, while energy company BP bottom of the list with a reputation score of just 43.46 (70 is needed to be considered good).
Miles Templeman, director general of the Institute of Directors said he was "relieved" company reputations had increased overall during what has been a difficult 12 months. He said: "We were all concerned corporate structure was breaking down, so this result is something I would not have expected.
The survey also reveals importance of reputation for attracting the best people cannot now be ignored."
Jane Wilson, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations said: "All aspects of risk assessment should now be thought of in reputation terms. The public is too savvy. Companies can't fake authenticity." The rest of the top ten companies are John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, JCB, Matalan and Birdseye.
