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Category: Excerpts

Read an exclusive excerpt from The Gumption of Mr Toilet

Posted on by simransingh

Imagine a world without toilets! 

Sounds crazy, right? Yet, billions of people still don’t have access to safe sanitation. On World Toilet Day, we’re not just celebrating toilets—we’re fighting for dignity, health, and equal rights for everyone. And behind this global movement is a man who’s literally changed the world with his vision: Jack Sim, aka Mr. Toilet. 

From a poor kid who failed at school to a global game-changer, Jack Sim used one simple thing, gumption, to spark a revolution. Check out this powerful excerpt from his book, The Gumption of Mr Toilet where he breaks down exactly how he made toilets—and a whole lot more—matter.

 

Since the founding of the UN on 24 October 1945, the first UN Water Conference was held in 1977, and the second one was in 2023. It’s appalling to see an important agenda such as Water be made a low priority. But if you think Water has been neglected, you should know that Sanitation is even more neglected. That 2023 UN Water Conference devoted only about 5 per cent of the sessions to Sanitation and Hygiene and less than 1 per cent to Menstrual Health, which is a big taboo as well. We live in a world where agendas are addressed according to their charisma. Corporations love green and blue agendas like Environment, where they can use trees, rivers, coral reefs, pandas, and polar bears in their publicity material. They avoid ‘Brown Agendas’ like Poop, Diarrhoea, Polluted Rivers, which are equally important.

Therefore, in order to succeed, we have to make sanitation sexy, and we have a secret weapon. Since it is a taboo and has been unspoken for such a long time, it has news potential. We created new narratives that helped the media attract massive readerships and advertising income, and the global media took our stories by storm. As we take charge of the narratives, we command the attention of the world.

The World Toilet Organization was founded on 19 November 2001. Our founding day has since been adopted unanimously by all 193 countries of the UN General Assembly as the official UN World Toilet Day. We broke the taboo on the Sanitation Agenda. In 2010, the blockbuster film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was launched globally and was trending at the fourth position on Twitter (now called X) on 19 November, while World Toilet Day ranked fifth. But Harry Potter invested multimillion dollars in publicity while we did it at zero cost. We saw Justin Bieber was trending at the sixth position and catching up with us. So, we tweeted that ‘Justin Bieber is doing worse than Shit’. This single tweet sparked a furore of attacks by Justin Bieber’s fans, and it boosted our visibility causing us to trend even higher. Suddenly, a lot more people learned about the existence of World Toilet Day.

This is how guerrilla marketing works. We leverage anything and everything, making the irrelevant become relevant to our mission. There is no such thing as bad publicity with an agenda like Sanitation, which is a taboo itself.

I created the World Toilet Organization with the WTO acronym to play a pun on the World Trade Organization. I was hoping that the WTO would sue me, then I’d be famous. It turns out that they didn’t sue me, but we became known as the other WTO forever. Nothing sells like contraband. Either way, I won. Eventually, the journalists started calling me Mr Toilet and that moniker created another intellectual property for us with highly sticky brand equity. The most elegant thing is we achieved all this without paying a cent for media publicity and have never paid marketing dollar in the last twenty-four years. When you have no money, work around it.

The Gandhians said: ‘First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.’

Ten years later, I met Pascal Lamy, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization at the World Economic Forum in 2011 in Jakarta. I introduced myself and he exclaimed with some jest: ‘Oh, I know you. Yours is the more important WTO!’

_________________________________________________________________

From toilets to global sanitation, Jack’s journey is a testament to the power of vision, grit, and gumption—that unstoppable drive to turn an idea into reality.  On World Toilet Day, let’s remember that every small action counts. 

P.S. You can win a copy of the book and a special tote bag. Head to our Instagram now. 

 

Read an exclusive excerpt from Saving the Planet

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Saving the Planet is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the intersections between politics and climate change, as well as for an authentic voice at the frontlines of climate action in the Global South. Read an expert from the chapter Livable Cities below.  

*** 

San Francisco has contributed much to music. Metallica, Santana, and the Grateful Dead are just a few of the bands that are from or were based in the city. In fact, journalist Herb Caen called the city ‘Baghdad by the Bay’ due to its diversity and cultural significance. But when talking about the birdsongs there, a curious observation was made. Since 1969, the songs of the white-crowned sparrows in San Francisco have been recorded for study. Similar to human beings, birds have ‘dialects’—there is a geographical variation in birdsongs, and they evolve over time. How fast or slowly this happens depends on various factors. The frequency of the songs has increased over time, possibly adapting to the city’s increased noise pollution. While dialects in the city’s bushy countryside disappeared, the dialect that developed in the city not only survived but became dominant, replacing the disappearing dialects of the countryside. 

Throughout history, the impact of cities on humans has been clear. We are only now, however, realizing the impact of cities on animals, plants, and the environment. While climate change caused by carbon emissions is a relatively recent phenomenon, air pollution is a problem that predates the Industrial Revolution. Workshops and furnaces produced dirty and unhealthy air. The Greek physician, Hippocrates, advised travelling physicians to look at the cleanliness of a city’s air and water. The use of fire from biomass for cooking, heating, and protection against mosquitoes led to lung diseases, which was recorded by various Roman scholars from over 2,000 years ago, as early as the dawn of the Common Era. At the same time, cases were heard in Roman courts about disputes over air pollution. 

About a thousand years after the birth of Hippocrates, Prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca. At that time, the city was thriving with trade, attracting merchants from across Arabia and the Levant. Mecca was also already a city of pilgrimage, sustained by the Zamzam well. Yet, the infant Prophet was sent to the desert to be cared for by Halimah, a wet nurse. This was an Arab custom at that time to not only allow the young to learn the classical Arab tongue of the Bedouins but also enjoy the cleaner desert air outside the city. 

*** 

Saving the Planet relates author Nik Nazmi’s experiences as NRECC Minister [later redesignated as the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES)] and his thoughts on connected issues ranging from water management to climate financing. Get your copy to read his fascinating insights.  

 

Read an exclusive excerpt from Sarah Silvestre’s Travel Blog

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Sarah goes on a quest for seven waterfalls all over Philippines- from Tanay, Rizal all the way to Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. She documents her adventure in her journal which she then turns into a travel blog called Sarah, the Seeker. 

We are sharing exclusive snippets from her blog updates.  

*** 

Captivating Kawasan Falls, Cebu  

Amid the verdant canopies of Cebu, where the sun plays hide and seek with the leaves, lies a spectacle of nature’s artistry—Kawasan Falls. The journey to its basin is as much a part of the experience as the destination itself, with each step through the winding paths and each breath of the moist, earthy air heightening the sense of anticipation. 

As I followed the trail, I could hear the distant sound of rushing water filling me with excitement. The sound grew to a crescendo, from a quiet murmur to a powerful roar, a clear call that I was nearing the heart of the falls. The air grew cooler, the mist more pronounced, and then, suddenly, the canopy parted to reveal the majestic cascade of Kawasan Falls.  

The water was an astonishing shade of blue, reminiscent of a gemstone freshly unearthed. It cascaded down rocky tiers, each layer a different note in the harmonic masterpiece of the landscape. Each drop that hit the water’s surface sent ripples that danced in the sunlight like liquid crystals.  

The main pool is a natural amphitheatre, with water crashing down into it from the cliffs above, sending up plumes of spray that catch the light like diamonds against a sunbeam. To stand in the basin of Kawasan Falls is to stand in the midst of a perpetual rainbow. The spray creates a fine mist that surrounds you, and as the sunlight filters through, the colours of the spectrum come alive.  

I dipped my toe in, and the chill of the water sent a tingling sensation up my spine. The atmosphere was tranquil, only punctuated by the music of nature—the rustling leaves, chirping birds, and the constant hum of the waterfall. The latter is all-encompassing, a sound that reverberates through your body and insists on a moment of reverence.  

Even the air had a unique character. It was thick with moisture but also refreshingly cool. Each breath I took felt cleansing, like inhaling the essence of the Earth itself. 

The water was so inviting, cool, and refreshing against the skin, a welcome respite from the heat. Swimming in the pool beneath the falls, you’re at the mercy of the current, pulled into the rhythm of the water. It was a powerful reminder of nature’s gentle strength and untamed beauty.  

As I left Kawasan Falls, the sensation of water droplets on my skin evaporated, but the imprint of the experience stayed with me. It was a reminder that sometimes the most beautiful places on earth require a journey, physical and spiritual, to truly understand their magnificence.  

And, of course, let’s not forget the local flavours. I thoroughly enjoyed my little picnic of lechon, pusô, and Coke. The lechon itself will be the topic of a totally different blog on its own. After that, sipping fresh coconut juice from a husk, the nutty sweetness perfectly complemented the sensory spectacle of Kawasan Falls. 

So, why I did I go to Kawasan Falls in the first place? It’s all thanks to @MaverickMarley [Check out her awesome blog here]. A month ago, I would never have dreamed of setting foot in these falls. My baby brother introduced me to Marley, hoping to cheer me up after a couple of setbacks (in life and in love). At first, I thought I just wanted to get moving, get fit. But it became more than that. After I visited Batlag Falls in Rizal and successfully completed my first river trail ride with her to Kinabuan Falls (also in Rizal), I was obsessed. There’s just nothing like the exhilaration of finding a waterfall. It’s never an easy hike. You have to go down a trail and go up again. But it doesn’t matter. Just being in a waterfall basin is the best feeling in the world.  

After Batlag and Kinabuan, I asked myself, ‘What if I visited five more waterfalls?’ Everyone said I was crazy. 

But here I am. 

I hope you, dear readers, can one day experience this wonder for yourselves. Until then, let’s keep seeking the extraordinary in the ordinary world.  

Happy travels,  

Sarah, the Seeker 

*** 

Read more about her adventure in Steady Sarah. Available online and at bookstores.  

 

 

Read an exclusive excerpt from The Siege Within

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The Siege Within is the untold story behind the political crime that continues to make world headlines, and why a nation so full of promise has been brought to its knees. Read an exclusive excerpt from the book below. 

*** 

Two elements are critical in a bond swindle.  

The first is securing the right coupon and the YTM rate.  

In mid-April 2009, Jonathan Manifold, the head of risk management at AmBank, emailed the bank’s top management overseeing the planned TIA scheme to say he estimated the fair market YTM for the TIA bond issues at 4.72 per cent, based on the 4.72 per cent yield US Treasuries were fetching at the time, and by assigning a so-called 25 basis points spread. This would have roughly been the rate for any typical bond issue guaranteed by the Malaysian government.  

But the TIA bond was a lot more. It was an elaborate exercise in fraud to siphon money and to use it to create a political slush fund for Najib. The rate Manifold had recommended would have been devastating for Project Tiara.  

This was a huge problem. A higher coupon would be crucially beneficial for the plan to succeed. Never mind that the Malaysian taxpayer would have to pay a high annual rate of interest for the thirty-year bond. The overriding objective was to create conditions that would provide all the latitude for the schemers to structure the deal in ways that would allow them to squeeze money up front.  

Manifold’s all-important email on the recommended rate for the TIA bonds quickly disappeared into the ether. AmBank’s Teng and Chan began arguing that the TIA bond proposal was far from being a typical government-backed bond issue.  

Further, Teng and Chan had personally lined up four foreign parties that had expressed a keen interest in underwriting the bonds. The only notable name in the list was the BNP Paribas chapter based out of Singapore. The other three were:  

  • Thailand-based Adkinson Securities, a listed financial outfit that was later renamed Country Group Securities, and which was controlled by the Taechaubol family; 
  • Little known Shikumen Capital Management Ltd, which was incorporated in the Cayman Islands and had operations in Hong Kong; and 
  • Aktis Capital Singapore, a financial advisory and fund management outfit headed by banker Cheah Teik Seng, who worked in the Malaysian Finance Ministry and was known to be close to Nor Mohamed. 

Now, the second element for the swindle would kick in— the mode of issue for the bonds. Depending on the nature of the bonds issues and arrangers, financial advisors would suggest one of three routes—a Private Placement, a Book Building exercise, or a Bought Deal. A Private Placement by a little-known company known as TIA was likely to face some hurdles. The most obvious track would be Book Building, simply because the bonds would be in keen demand to investors as the papers carried a government guarantee. All AmBank had to do was to underwrite the amount that investors would not have taken up. But there was no money to be made in these two approaches. Low and his team of schemers then decided to cherry-pick elements from all three modes of issue to create a financial structure that would enable them to extract as much as possible from the bond issue upfront.  

Project Tiara would apply a Bought Deal, which is usually utilized for cases involving high-yield papers, where the issuer’s credit standing is weak and a higher coupon is required to attract investors. 

***

This is Malaysian journalist Leslie Lopez’s first book, and it delves into the writer’s own archives of previously unpublished material to go back in time and show exactly how it was possible for a Malaysian prime minister to envisage his treacherous crime, and then to execute the dastardly deed. Get your copy now.

Read an exclusive excerpt from The Global Citizen

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The Global Citizen by international investor and philanthropist Patrick Tsang is a timely and relevant exploration of the cultural nuances that define the increasingly interconnected business world of the 21st century. Read an excerpt from the book below.  

*** 

While learning from notable successes is helpful, and gleaning their advice from their interviews, books, podcasts, and so on can certainly help you, it is a one-way relationship that will never be as helpful as a real-life mentor. Finding good mentors is vital. Remember, learning and education are two very different things.  

You need someone who knows you, cares about you, can give you constructive criticism, help you through your problems step by step, and most importantly, inspire and help you grow. You need to learn from someone who has been where you are now. I was lucky—my best mentors lived with me and were around me all the time, sharing their wisdom both directly and indirectly every moment of every day.  

If you are not so lucky to be born into a family of inspiration, you can find influential mentors in your workplace or elsewhere. The best mentors are people who are where you want to be. If you are looking for a mentor at work, try searching for people at a level (or several levels) above you in the company. Ask yourself why you admire these people—is it their speed, their knowledge, their competence, the way they can gain the attention of a room?—and then ask them personally how they built up these skills independently. 

Then, use their advice where possible and applicable. Do not let the hard work discourage you; apply their advice to grow, and soon you will find yourself at their level (perhaps even surpassing them).  

The best mentors are successful in their careers because their time is used well, so be sure to make yourself worth their time. Consider buying them lunch or a drink and exchange ideas. Their mentorship is valuable, so make sure it is clear to them that you understand and respect its value. At the very least, thank them genuinely for their time. 

*** 

Structured into three parts – Integrity, Empathy, and Self-Improvement– The Global Citizen delves into topics such as mentorship, resilience, personal values, and the balance between Eastern and Western cultures. Get your copy today.  

 

Read an exclusive excerpt from Worship the Body

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Told from different but interlocking points of view, Worship the Body is a story that becomes a song complete with recurring refrains and a coda, intimating that there are silences to the body that are essential to our understanding of happiness. Read an excerpt below.  

*** 

Indeed, in restaurants like this, Jaime had never seen a table for one. Places like this never allow any accidents to happen. All the movements of the employees are measured. From the guard who would open the door for him, to the head waiter who would direct him to his table, to the waiter who would attend to him. And so, it took a while for the accident to happen. He gave his order after taking his time perusing the menu, even though he had already decided he would only have a drink. He thought slowly, with the menu before him, as though he was waiting for he knew not what. Finally, the beer arrived and it was set in front of him. That was when he thought he needed a glass. He wouldn’t drink the beer right out of the bottle. He wanted a ritual that evening. 

He wasn’t looking to get drunk. He couldn’t get wasted because he was going to drive home. So, he asked for a glass. There was a ritual to the pouring of beer into the glass. Not like just quaffing it from the bottle. 

That was when the accident happened. No glass shattered. No one slipped on the floor. No one threw up. No one choked. His eyes and the waiter’s met. Just like that. In that orderly restaurant that didn’t allow accidents, Jun’s and Jamie’s eyes met when Jun set before him the glass with ice in it because Jamie wanted a ritual that evening. He didn’t expect that someone would join him in his ritual in that restaurant that had no table for one. That was when Jaime understood that around him, it had become rare for people to look each other in the eye. 

*** 

Hidden within a network of intimate relationships, Jaime, Jun, Ria, and Maya try to forge an extraordinary family in urban Manila, as they discover that secrets also have their own joys. Get a copy to read their stories.  

 

 

Read an exclusive excerpt from Tethered

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We are sharing an excerpt from Chapter 64 and 65 of Tethered, written by Tracy Ann Ong. The book is an account of her journey to recovery and has amusing and heart-wrenching anecdotes. 

 

*** 

64 

I once asked my mother if the standards now that I was handicapped were different. I felt I could do no wrong whereas before my clumsiness easily disappointed and irked my loved ones. She assured me that they weren’t different. They’re not, but they were. Well-meaning, my caregiver would swoop in with a towel to wipe off my sweat and place it underneath my shirt, like I was a ten-year-old in a playground, as I would chat with my therapists in a gym full of grown people. I would transfer to my commode half-naked, somehow it not occurring to her to close the blinds because who could care less? The standards are not different, but they were. We lost a lot more than our bodies. 

65 

It was like a Christmas gift waiting to be opened. The day had finally come when we were to return to Singapore for a follow-up check-up. I dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants for my trip. The shirt was lavender and the pants a pale pink, colours I would not have chosen for myself before the stroke. Heck, I would have relegated a lavender and pink colour combination to the bygone years of childhood, but being sick wiped out all notions of what was for a child and what was for an adult.  

Being in a wheelchair at the airport was a little like being a nun in a habit. Everyone felt comfortable saying hi to me even if I didn’t know them. I received the stares, the looks, and the smiles as I was strolled in. People were extra nice and helpful to me. I half-wished everyone saw what I saw—how the world felt a few feet shorter. It was a new playing field I was not familiar with. What were the rules on this side of the world? I was sure it was not only honey and roses as in the airport. The world can be sweet and savage at the same time.  

The wheelchair brought me to the mouth of the plane, whereupon I hobbled to my seat. It was not a special seat at the front of the plane. It was a seat like anybody else’s. I was the last one to board the plane. I felt all eyes on me. I felt every second fly by until I got to my seat. I plopped on my seat with satisfaction. I had always fancied that feeling of bringing a book with me up in the plane and reading it in the still of mid-air. As a lawyer, many times had I hopped on a plane, donning a power outfit and carrying a book in my purse, with hardly the time to actually read a page or two. I was living the life mid-air.  

*** 

As Tracy’s brain is reset, she finds, so is her life. Like a growing child, she learns the most basic things anew, and more insightfully, the second time around. She sees the world in a different dimension this time, as she is wheelchair-bound.

Get a copy to read her story of faith. 

Read an exclusive excerpt from Shattered Hopes

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Shattered Hopes focuses on PH1.0’s rocky 22-months in power to tell the story of how a fledgling Government filled with so much promise and hope, was racked by internal power struggles and politicking even in its very first weeks in power, amid policy paralysis, racial politicking and the ultimate unwillingness of veteran Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to hand over power to his twice-anointed successor, Anwar Ibrahim.

Read an excerpt an below.

*****

The young cabinet minister knew the much-touted multiracial and reform-minded government of second-time Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was on the verge of imploding, and he was hoping to convince the powers that be to stop it, to cease fire. At least for the moment. But he knew it would not last.  

On that Sunday, 23 February 2020, the then recently discovered Covid-19 viral threat—it had yet to become the global pandemic that we now know—was seeing Chinese cities in lockdown and thousands of deaths globally. But Malaysians were more focused on the political drama and intrigue playing out in the corridors of power in Putrajaya and Petaling Jaya. This had people enthralled by various rumours of power grabs and new political alliances.  

These strong rumours were boosted by reports claiming the formation of a new Mahathir-led political coalition—wait, wasn’t he leading the current coalition government?—that would exclude the Chinese-led Democratic Action Party (DAP) and former Deputy Premier and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR). And parliamentarians, including the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) lawmakers, had supposedly signed statutory declarations (SDs) in support of Mahathir serving as prime minister until the next general election, instead of passing the baton to Anwar mid-term as had been agreed.  

This would mean the end of the PH1.0 Government and, with it, the dreams and hopes for reform, equality, and justice in the country. 

*****

This book is an explosive expose written by Romen Bose. It’s a first-hand account of Malaysia unraveling into a scandalous tale of power grabs, broken promises, and political chaos. Get your copy to read this gripping book now.  

Read an exclusive excerpt from For The People’s Glory

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EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT

 

‘Old Bao, I’m glad I got you.’ 

‘Hongbing? To what do I owe this pleasure, a call from a mighty Party Hero?’ Bao, a friend and local tycoon based in Wose, teased.  

Sigh. The Party Hero in question exhaled softly. ‘I need to call in a favour.’  

‘No problem, any time! You know I owe my life to you. What do you need?’ 

‘I need half a million PD . . . in cash. And within an hour.’  

There was silence at the other end.  

‘Hello? Bao?’  

‘Yes, I’m here. That’s a lot of money, in such a short space of time . . . May I ask what the money is for? Are you in some kind of trouble? I heard some rumours from my channels—’ 

‘Hey Bao, how long have we known each other? Have you forgotten how I’ve stuck my neck out for you?’ Hongbing countered. Then, catching his breath, he quietened down, ‘I can’t divulge the reason as it’s a state secret. It’s urgent and I wouldn’t have troubled you if it wasn’t.’  

‘Don’t misunderstand, I will definitely help. Just thinking about how to gather enough cash at such short notice. Let me figure out how. I’ll ring you back on this number in ten minutes.  

‘Okay, I will wait for your call. Thank you.’  

Hongbing returned the handset to the fisherman. ‘You heard me, I’d know how to get the money in ten minutes. You better be prepared to take me to Seoul,’ he told the smuggler snidely. 

The fisherman took a drag of his cigarette and slowly blew out a cloud of smoke. ‘Chill man,’ he glanced sideways at his tense-looking potential passenger with a smirk, ‘my vessel is ever ready. Let’s see if you get your money.’ 

  *****

For the People’s Glory is based in a totalitarian state of Utopia. Shan Hongbing is focused on getting to the bottom of understanding some of the government’s workings and as he digs in, he realizes that all eyes are on him for asking questions. The state’s surveillance technology he reveres—which ‘keeps the citizens safe’—has now turned against him, tracking his every move at every turn to hold him in line with the Utopia’s principles. 

Get your copy to read this fascinating story now.  

Read an exclusive excerpt from Reputations of Value

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Employees’ use of social media can be a source of authentic and interesting content that helps to tell the corporate story. It can also represent a source of reputational risk. Manson said, ‘I think there’s some companies you need to worry about this, but for the vast majority you don’t. I love British Airways, who were my client at one point, and they had this amazing group of pilots who were making fantastic films by sticking a GoPro in their cockpit and making total aeroplane geek content, but it had a big audience, and the pilots were known in the community and really beloved. However, British Airlines had a problem not too long ago where they rolled out some new uniforms and a bunch of employees went on Twitter and complained about the uniforms. As a result of that they rolled out a new social media policy banning employees from using social media during working hours, which probably wouldn’t have helped with the uniform issue and stopped the pilots from posting their videos. I think you have to just let people be themselves and give them some security guidelines, give some behaviour guidelines but be permissive rather than prohibitive.’
While acknowledging the value of being permissive rather than prohibitive, there is a range of practical guidelines for any company to consider. These include:
  • Avoiding the instance of employees having their personal social media platforms) being mistaken as an official company social media platform. However, they should be able to identify themselves as being an employee for the company on those platforms that request users to identify their employer, the most obvious current example being LinkedIn.
  • It is a good thing if employees wish to advocate on behalf of the company by sharing company-approved content relating to specific announcements, events, news, and milestones. The nuance is that posts/ comments that are personal opinions, for instance in relation to political issues, should not be confused as representing the position of company itself.
  • If employees wish to establish a social media platform that officially represents company rather than the employee themself, then they should obtain prior approval from the company.
  • Ensuring employees never disguise themselves as a customer or try to conceal their employment relationship with the company if promoting its products and services on any social media platforms.
A systematic training programme will help to ensure employees have a good understanding of the company’s policies and guidelines and feel well-equipped to follow them.
Reputations of Value serves as a guide for those wanting to better understand how companies can operate on a stronger, more resilient, and authentic basis in the face of a dynamic and unpredictable landscape. Get a copy today and learn from the experts – the value of reputation and how to maintain it! ​