Daily news about the economy makes for depressing reading, but PRmoment discusses how gaining a true understanding of what makes a company profitable can help businesses to strengthen themselves for the long haul.
For over a year, business economics have dominated the UK press headlines. Part fuelled by politicians, part by government statistics and the rest by announcements of job losses, the national audience has had to grasp concepts such as Collateral Debt Obligations, Quantitative Easing and staggering levels of national and corporate debt. As Warwick Partington, managing director of Media Training Masterclasses, puts it: “Never before, have so many been so bamboozled by macro economics!”
Partington believes that for most of the news‘s audience, the big figures are concerning, shocking and somewhat depressing – but he claims that it is the micro-economics of what has happened to their pensions, savings, investments and everyday expenditure that they have really grasped. He adds: “It is the potential for their credit card bills overdrafts and household energy bills to rock their comfortable consumer worlds that has caused most to severely restrain their spending.
“It is just what the Chancellor doesn’t want to happen. Tight money supply and a fall in demand at a time when a crashing pound has meant that the spectre of inflationary import bills is rising.”
For many businesses and their employees, the economic downturn and daily news headlines can be disheartening as employers start looking at cutting overheads to match lower sales figures and profit forecasts. The mantra of ‘change’ is in the air and the management of this change – how it is presented to the workforce, the unions and all the other stakeholders – is something that every business needs to take seriously. Partington advises: “Get it wrong and a workforce will strike, or you’ll lose your best people prematurely. Get it right and it is an opportunity to inspire and motivate the individuals as well as the business.“
The media seize on job-loss stories and how a management team present themselves in the press as well as in front of their own workforce at such times takes careful thought, practice and skill. Many an executive has benefited from some specialist coaching to help them through the challenge and it is worth the investment.
After all, the press love to portray senior management as cold, calculating fat cats in these circumstances. But there is a way to avoid this. As Partington points out, good communicators know how to balance the factual communication with the right level of emotional intelligence to make sure they demonstrate empathy with those affected.
Sadly, many small and medium-sized enterprises neglect training for the executives when times are tough. That omission is at their peril, warns Partington. He adds: “Good communicators are at least as important as a good communications plan – not least that when the economy turns, you need someone who can tell the press that you made the right choices at the right time and everyone still employed by your company has benefited from it.”
Some recent research here in the UK has shown that executives who received training, had significantly higher positive responses and coverage in the press. Partington claims that for the relatively small investment necessary for specialist communications coaching of an executive team, the potential for gaining market interest and market share through good positive editorial makes it one of the most effective investments any business can make.