In times of crisis organisations need to talk more to employees not less…Honest conversations will make the difference between having completely disengaged employees and reasonably engaged employees…
Interview with Kevin Ruck for CIPR Blog
by Nelly Benova
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You have been working in the area of PR since 1991. How would you describe the changes that the PR profession has been through in that time?
Eighteen years is a long time, but it does not feel that long to be honest. Before I moved to public relations I worked in customer service and that was very different. Dealing with customer complaints day in day out is very wearing but it does give you an excellent understanding of an organisation that is useful for public relations work.
When I started in public relations it really was a world where a lot of work was just about lunching with local business people (usually men) and “opinion formers” (usually mates). There was absolutely no science to it and no planning either.
I was a regional PR manager looking after a large area in the south-east of the UK and a lot of my time was spent organising sponsorship events and community donations. I established a process for partnering community organisations rather than cheque-book donations, something that was quite radical then but is now much more common place, thankfully. However, even today CSR has still got some way to go before it is genuinely a reflection of an organisation’s full responsibility to society.
I guess the biggest change that I’ve seen in my time has been the growing emphasis on training, education and continuous professional development and the CIPR is leading the way here. This has led to better planning, using research and an understanding of communication theory for more effective campaigns. The impact of the internet and more recently social media is, I think, moving attention away from marketing and advertising to public relations, and this is a real opportunity for the profession. The other change has been the emergence of internal communication as a driver of change, employee engagement and enabler of brand equity.
What has changed in the daily routine of PR people and what has changed on a more general level?
PR professionals are called upon more as senior manager advisors today than when I started in PR. We still do a lot of tactical work, but it is more often as a part of a more fully thought out plan that incorporates situational research, with clear objectives and a creative strategy.
As the recognition of public relations grows, more pressure is put upon practitioners to perform. CEOs know that PR is important, they know they have to “do” PR more, but they are still reluctant to extend resources for it. This means that PR people have to be strategic and tactical and this is often a tricky balance to manage. It is however a great opportunity to make a difference and have a voice in the success of an organisation - though it takes a strong person to present sometimes difficult messages to senior managers that is a key part of the job.
PR people also have to be more knowledgeable about the organisation or sector that they work in to have credibility. Business and PR qualifications are valuable too - they enable the practitioner to talk the language of business and public relations with confidence.
How internal communications has been evolving since then? Do you believe social and economical changes have affected the way organizations communicate with their employees?
When I started in public relations, in the organisation I worked for, a job in internal communication was for people who were given “easy work” for a couple of years before retirement. This has now almost gone full circle, where internal communication is beginning to be seen as an attractive career for people starting work.
Changes in management theory are partly behind the growing importance of internal communication. As the old “command and control” attitudes are replaced with an emphasis on motivation and involvement, internal communication becomes more sophisticated. It is no longer good enough to send “missives” to employees telling them what to do. They will just be ignored, or worse, people will leave such an organisation and work somewhere with more enlightened attitudes.
In economic terms, organisations need to utilise the expertise and knowledge of their employees for better customer service. Today it is not so much the product but the service that goes with it that is the differentiator. This makes internal communication extremely important so that a consistent and confident service is provided in every “moment of truth” interaction with every customer.
In sociological terms, generation Y employees bring a new lack of deference to authority that is refreshing and also challenging for many organisations. Old style internal communication will just not wash with many people, so the right use of social media tools within organisations will become a vital aspect of internal communication. Done in the right way an incredible amount of new innovation will be produced that will enhance the value of intellectual assets.
However, it is not just younger employees who are changing the way they think about work, older employees are also seeking more flexibility and more opportunities for self-expression and community building. Again social media is an important development. However, despite the interactivity of social media, it is not a replacement for face to face dialogue, it complements it. So, organisations have to work out how to do both in ways that genuinely give people a voice. If they do, they will find that they have more engaged employees and better overall performance.
We are all speaking about new media and the way it has affected the communication process. Do you think new communication channels are a friend or an enemy for internal communicators? This will be the focus of the Apeiron Master Class delivered by Mark Wright during the Third International Conference Successful Communications Start from Within in Sofia (15th of October).
New channels are good for internal communication if they enable employees to build communities, collaborate and feel more closely connected to managers and co-workers in their organisation.
It’s not so much the channels per se, more how people use them. A senior manager internal blog is a great opportunity for that manager to express opinions and to involve people in discussing important issues, however, if the input from employees is ignored then it is a poor use of a good channel.
Of course, the growth of new channels can seem threatening for internal communicators as they may fear losing some control of the messages. This fear is misplaced and worse may leave practitioners in the cold as other management functions step in.
Employees need their new channels to connect to teams and managers in their own way. They will continue to look to more traditional channels (and new channels) for important information, though “official” communication in such channels may need to be more informal and personal in style.
If new channels encourage more employee participation in the organization then that has to be a good thing all round. Social media, for example, allows people to be people, not “employees”. It gives them room for self-expression at work that will generally lead to greater engagement. Ultimately, this is more about the role of the internal communicator as a “facilitator” rather than a “writer” and the work of internal communication being grounded in conversations not directives.
In time of crisis organizations cut their budgets and spend less money on initiatives directed to the personnel. Which efforts of the management shouldn’t be stopped even in times of crisis and why?
In times of crisis organisations need to talk more to employees not less. In an economic crisis budgets will be cut and that includes internal communication budgets. However, it need not cost more money to talk more to employees, it just needs regular time out from day to day operational activities.
In all situations, managers need to talk to people more often, either face to face where they work, or by visiting offices or factories, or by using conference call systems or using social media. Hiding in the office just makes any situation worse.
Of course, what is really important is how managers talk to employees and one thing that should not be stopped in a crisis is training managers in communication skills that emphasise how to listen, show concern and how to communicate openly and honestly. Honest conversations will make the difference between having completely disengaged employees and reasonably engaged employees, and this could be enough to at least survive an economic recession and come out the other side with some optimism. Budgets help, of course, however what is more important is that an organisation has a positive mindset towards involving employees.
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* Kevin Ruck is a founding director of PR Academy. He has worked in communications within the telecoms and ICT sector for more than 15 years. You can learn more about Kevin here.
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