It’s not a new story for communication budgets to be among the first cut in tough financial times. But this time, it’s personal.
In mandating staff cuts, the government of New Zealand has specifically targeted communication and PR roles as expendable, viewing them as “spin doctors” (see more in this New Zealand Herald article).
Yesterday, on behalf of IABC, I wrote a letter protesting the action to New Zealand State Services Minister Tony Ryall. Alone, it probably won’t get his attention, but if we can harness the power of our 16,000 members and other communication professionals around the world, we might just make a difference — not only for our New Zealand colleagues, but for our profession worldwide.
Join me in advocating for the communication profession. Let’s employ all the tools in our collective communication arsenal. Let’s take this opportunity to educate the world about the critical role communication plays in organizational success. Send a letter, blog about it, tweet, send a press release, conduct a poll, discuss it on a podcast. Let your voice be heard.
The job you save (and the organization you save) could be your own.
PR and Communications are essential. To create real bonds and links with people. To communicate and transparent information. To help tell stories that should be heard and link authorities and companies to the people.
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for blogging about this! Between this action and the recent remarks by prominent blogger Robert Scoble about the ‘death of PR,’ our profession has taken some painful hits lately. I think we as communicators might in recent years have missed some key opportunities to demonstrate the strategic value of our work. I’m blogging about stepping up our ability to be strategic on my site, and will be sure to add my voice on this action too. I hope we all do more than protest, though: We should all find a way take at least one action this week that clearly demonstrates our strategic value. Actions speak louder than words, after all.
Very much enjoy your Tweets and blog, keep up the great work on behalf of IABC, and thanks for all your work on our behalf.
Saw Julie’s post from a few days ago and added my thoughts there.http://juliefreeman.x.iabc.com/2009/03/31/how-did-we-get-so-angry/
MK
[…] и призивът на Барбара Гибсън - комуникатори, говорете за своята проф
You only have to look at companies that both survived and thrived during the last recession to know that it’s those that continue to invest carefully in external and internal communications reap the rewards. From an internal communications perspective, in any economy, managers reap the benefits of an engaged team. In fact, in a downturn, they might need to work harder but the results will be worth even more. Providing leadership in a time of crisis is a combination of future vision and current plans - there has to be a realistic strategy to move forward. It is the role of internal communicators to be a strategic partner to the business and turn the contingency plans into positive messaging. We work with clients to turn their investment in communications into tangible business benefits - one of which is more effective working. It doesn’t have to be about spending lots of money; but it is about spending time and creating cost-effective tools. Now is also a moment to take advantage of the benefits that social media can offer in engaging employees at all levels on the company. In a world that is experiencing a communications explosion, advocating cutting the jobs of those who communicate with their employees is a very short-term strategy.
Interesting article from the Financial Post of Canada - communicators take note - get thee to the ear of your CEO! Be heard. http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=1445913
[…] [Comment] Tags: advocacy, communication, New Zealand, PR, spin doctor, Tony Ryall IABC Board/Staff SitesJulie’s Corner by Julie Freeman, ABCConnecting the I’s by Barbara Gibson, ABCMembership Musings by L.A. Snedekermark my words by D. Mark Schumann, ABCLobal Warming by Chris GrossgartFood, Drink, and Travel by Felicia Shiu, ABCAfterwords by Marilyn KeyesThink global - Act local by Adrian Cropley, ABCRobin’s Nest by Robin McCaslandThe Bulletin Board by Archana Verma and Joseph UgaldeXCulture by Silvia CambieTwisted Vista by Joseph UgaldeReef Rants… by Joy CappsGetting really global by Erika Ruiz RamosA seat at the bar by Todd Hattori, ABCPassing On The Right by Chris HallJack and Ginger’s Place by Gretchen Hoover AndersonSubscriptions […]
I think this is a good initiative and I wonder if both the global alliance (of which IABC is a member) and Prinz (the new zealand professional association) were aware this reaction of iabc was coming. thank you for a response.
A IABC Chair that speaks up, personally and publicly for our industry - thank you, thank you. I’m dusting off my own soapbox now…
Unfortunately, this “call to action” is somewhat of a knee jerk, and will ultimately do little to enhance the reputation of the Public Relations and Communications Management professions in New Zealand.
Instead of casting stones at the new Government, the call should be for politicians to more clearly articulate the what, why, when and how, for media to up their game and actually ask those questions as part of researching a story, and for everybody concerned (politicians, media, employers and practitioners) to ensure they are behaving ethically.
The reality is that many of the jobs being lost were positions created by the former government to undertake social marketing, and spread that government’s social agenda message, in a long lead up to what was always going to be a difficult election.
Historically, that has not been a role undertaken by PR and Communications staff employed by Government departments and organisations.
While it is always sad to see practitioners lose their jobs, there should be equal concern about how this unfortunate position developed in the first place, and understanding and support for a Government that has recognised what is both a practical and ethical problem, and has decided to deal with it in the interest of all New Zealanders.
If there is to be criticism of the current Government over this issue, it should be restricted to how the government communicated it - a message that should have been what, why, when and how has fundamentally been limited to what. The irony of all of this is of course the fact that some of the very people who have the skills to have assisted the Minister and the Government to better craft its message, are those whose who sadly face an uncertain future.
Graeme Purches
President Elect
Public Relations Institute of New Zealand
[…] Lighthouse Patriot Journal added an interesting post on Calling all Communicators: Speak Up for Your ProfessionHere’s a small excerptLet’s take this opportunity to educate the world about the critical role communication plays in organizational success. Send a letter… […]
Graeme, while I understand the points you articulated so well, I have to wonder about the across-the-board, every-department cuts down to a specific number, as opposed to an initiative to determine the communication staff required to facilitate adequate communication between departments and their various publics. If there were jobs created to push a social agenda, by all means, cut those specific jobs, but the targets suggest otherwise. I’m not certain of this, of course, and would welcome your thoughts. How can we reconcile the elimination of unnecessary jobs with a hard target across all pockets of government?
Barb, whether Simon is wholly right or not, I am absolutely thrilled to see IABC take a strong and immediate advocacy position. This is the type of action that will help a lot of members — especially in these difficult times — recognize that there really is tangible value in their dues. Outstanding!
Being a New Zealander I agree with Graeme. What he says is correct. I can also understand how others want to stick up for their profession. The previous administration grew PR, marketing and comms staffing significantly to get their brand messages and positive word out on the benefits of numerous policies. Many would argue it was for their own benefit rather than for the benefit of NZers. Some of this activity was necessary education of the NZ public on the implementation of policies etc, but the same themes were continued through to their election campaign.
We are in an economic downturn and it is time to focus on economy and best bang for the dollar. A lot of professions are being affected. Unfortunately for the profession, PR is not perceived as a core service at the moment. Change and downsizing is hitting a lot of professions and in these times of uncertainty, it may actually help the profession evolve. I’m seeing this in other professions. Maybe more PR and marketing people should look towards the growth and uptake of social media. I’m seeing PR people re-emerge as bloggers, writers, commentators etc and many are loving the sea change and learning new skills.
I suggest PR people join recently launched TribeHQ http://www.tribehq.com/ - it is a forum for people within the same occupation to network and find support from others in their own “tribe”.
[…] last Thursday’s FIR #436 podcast, I reported on a call to action by current IABC Chair, Barbara Gibson, concerning moves by the New Zealand government to reduce the number of communications staff in […]
[…] Gibson recently brought the New Zealand action to the attention of IABC members in her blog. Her call to action was to have each of us start “speaking up for our […]
Shel, the media coverage of the situation has had a tint of the green-eyed monster, and has completely overlooked the fact compared to total job restructuring, the number of PR/Comms roles being reduced represents only a small percentage of the total number of roles being restructured. The government has clearly signalled that it wants to reduce the number of back office staff, and increase the number working in the front line - if for not other reason than to deal with public dissatisfaction about service levels.
Behind the scenes, the growth in PR/Comms roles in the State Sector over the last two or three terms of Government has on paper outstripped growth in other roles, and in the private sector. While this in part is a reflection of the former Government’s social marketing focus, it also reflects a large number of roles designated as PR/Comms (because they were inside PR/Comms departments) which were actually fringe roles in terms of their professional component. By way on an example, one department had a PR/Comms team of close to 30 people. That department carried its entire media monitoring in house - something that the private sector would generally not consider as it is less labour intensive and significantly, cheaper, to have this work carried out by a media-monitoring bureau.
The real risk here is that our profession ends up getting involved in at best a debate, and at worst some argy bargy, via the media, about PR/Comms job losses in the public sector. This will be gleefully received by some in the media, and almost certainly result in our profession being regarded as being more interested in “looking after our own” than in the interests of taxpayers, and our country as a whole.
I strongly believe that rather than criticising the government over its “reported” actions, a more constructive approach is to engage with the Government and others with a view to ensuring all parties have a good appreciation of the real value that can be added by PR/Comms professionals, especially in times of change.
In short, if we want to be seen as professionals, we need to ensure that our actions reflect those that would be expected of professionals, rather than those of something more akin to a trade union or trade protection lobby group.
[…] are so many challenges and opportunities (threats, too) out […]