Atkinson Advisor -- October 2004 -- Atkinson Public Relations

October 2004 - Atkinson Public Relations

	#1	Top Of Mind: Not again! Another media blunder
	#2	The Idea Of That Thing: How communications impacts results
	#3	Next Time Try This: Good conversation starter
	#4	For The CEO: Most common PR mistakes made by CEOs
	#5	Hits & Bytes: econdata.net
	#6	What We're Reading: The Power of We

They say that bad news comes in threes. In this case, it also comes with three letters: CBS.

CBS' credibility is now on the line just as it was for The New York Times with Jason Blair and USA Today with Jack Kelly. A Los Angeles Times editorial said it perfectly: "Inevitably, bad things happen to good news organizations. The test of a serious journalistic enterprise is how it reacts to internal crisis."

CBS' failure is more than another media scandal. It increases the lack of trust that corporate America already has in reporters. Trust us, the gap is huge and growing wider every day.

CBS' apology was right, but it should have come sooner. To restore its credibility, CBS must now throw all of its investigative powers behind the source of the debunked National Guard papers. Anything less could seriously jeopardize the network's future among the national media elite.

A distinct pattern of employee behavior drives business results. In that pattern, employee insights lead to beliefs, which lead to behaviors, which ultimately lead to results.

Beliefs are the lynchpin in this chain. If employees believe the company leadership and their managers, then the desired behavior will follow. If not, it won't.

And now the disturbing part. In a survey of 1,000 employees, Towers Perrin found that less than half of employees viewed company communications about the business (strategy, performance, challenges, etc.) as credible. Twenty-five percent said communications were dishonest.

The formula for fixing this train wreck has three parts: honesty, openness, and timeliness.

Treat employees like the adults they are and tell them the truth. Give employees the same information and attention that you would the most important shareholder or analyst. Lastly, tell employees good and bad news before (or at least as fast as) telling external parties.

The results -- business and otherwise -- will surprise you.

Next time you need a conversation starter at a networking function, try this question, "What do you do when you are not in the office 15 hours a day?" A manners expert recommends this question to all her clients because it is disarming and allows them to learn something relevant about the other person.

Twenty years of working with companies has taught us a lot of lessons. Here are the five most common mistakes that we have seen from CEOs when working with their in-house communications counsel and public relations firms.

#1 -- Not giving communications a seat at the table

Communicators need face time with the CEO in order to communicate a CEO's vision to internal and external audiences. A good communications professional will also take that opportunity to bring the CEO information about how people outside the executive suite view the corporation.

#2 -- Delegating ownership of your company's communications

"Our internal communications are lousy. The communication staff needs to jump on this."

CEOs of high performance corporations make communications a personal priority. They speak often and openly to friends and enemies alike. Most importantly, they recognize that they are the communications role model for the entire organization.

#3 -- Thinking about communications after business decisions are made

"We're closing the Memphis office and laying off 200 people next week. What do we need to do about communicating this?"

Communication plans are just as important as financial and operational plans when a company is making a significant change. Unfortunately, most companies make decisions in a communication vacuum and miss the opportunity to anticipate reaction to the change and build in solutions.

Progressive CEOs openly and honestly communicate the potential for change and how it will impact the organization. Something to keep in mind: people have a remarkable capacity to accept bad news if they know it's a possibility; but, they are rarely forgiving when you surprise them with bad news.

#4 -- Considering the news media the enemy

Contrary to popular belief, reporters are not out to get companies. They are truly interested in fair, balanced stories that reflect all sides of an event or an issue.

In our experience, negative stories about companies result from a lack of access to the right people, an outright refusal to provide information for a story, or trying to "spin" the story (see next mistake).

Strong media relations is a give and take where companies provide perspective, facts that can be supported, and access to decision makers who understand the story.

#5 -- Trying To Spin Bad News

"How can we spin this?" is a question clients pose too often.

Bill Clinton or Martha Stewart tried to "spin" the news and it came back to bite them. The same happens to CEOs who try to "spin" news either inside or outside the organization. We recommend outlawing the word "spin" in your office. Nothing raises more red flags with the media and other audiences than a company trying to sugarcoat bad news.

econdata.net

The Internet is a treasure trove of information, and fortunately there are sites like econdata.net to bring it all together for us. The creators built the site to help researchers, students, and others quickly find relevant state and substate socioeconomic data. The site's organization makes it easy to find sources for demographics, employment, prices, occupation, output & trade, income, etc.

The Power of We by Jonathan Tisch

In The Power of We: Succeeding Through Partnerships, Jonathan Tisch, chairman and chief executive officer of Loews Hotels, throws out The Apprentice/dog-eat-dog business philosophies and extols the business virtues of the Golden Rule.

Tisch demonstrates how this philosophy results in dramatic bottom-line benefits through a series of colorful stories relating his own experience with partnerships and those of other pioneering companies.

Tisch identifies six types of partnerships in entertaining, informative, and sometimes enlightening chapters:

The Employee Comes First -- Emphasizes investing in employee growth to yield employee loyalty, commitment, and dedication
Turning Customers Into Partners -- Focuses on maximizing the customer experience by linking with customer communities
Being a Good Neighbor -- Discusses finding partnerships that can improve the long-term social and economic health of the community
E Pluribus Plenty -- Identifies three types of business-to-business partnerships that can strengthen consumer appeal
Beyond the Ballot Box -- Underscores how corporate citizens can shape government policies for the good of industries and communities
What's in It for the Owners? -- Explains how successfully managing employee, customer, community, business, and government partnerships makes owners happy by creating long-term profit

The Power of We clearly demonstrates how bringing people together around common goals can make business much more pleasurable and emotionally rewarding.