REMARKS FROM THE EDITOR
Every board or stop executives with whom the editor has talked or worked has placed a high importance on achieving a good corporate reputation. executives and directors know that a good reputation allows them to attract more capital, gain a higher multiple for their market share, enhance their recruiting efforts, Improve employee satisfaction and attract more customers. However, they often misunderstand how reputations are achieve and maintain and, as a result are likely to rely too heavily on corporate advertising, while at the same time not doing enough on reputation building activities with stakeholders.
Why organizations fail to achieve their desired reputation? Some would argue that’s the problem is related to a given situation, say, an environmental incident. Others will argue that the funding is not adequate for marketing and advertising, and by far – the public relations staff is poor. In number of crisis situation in this country, we are witnessing how public relations is not empowered. How top executives have underestimated PR potentials and how much money has been spent for gaining public trust. Major public relations problems can affect an organization’s reputation. PR problems lead to financial and social costs. Burson (2002), a world-leading PR consultant stated that PR problem is the problem of reality.
In this issue, you will find some answers about promotion and communication activities whether or not they are classified as Public Relations. Tips of the month gives practical guidance for building interpersonal relationship and how to raise your emotional intelligence. in Marketing you will find new principles to adopt and in Leadership you have more skills to effective team working.
Practice your EI in our interactive discussion online PR. Riza Primadi (News Director Trans TV) FA Suhardi Soetedja ( PT Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk) and Arief Warsito (PT Aneka Tambang Tbk) will be there to share with you.
Enjoy your reading!
Elizabeth Goenawan Ananto
Editor
TIPS OF THE MONTH
Building Rapport Takes Skills and Practice
‘If you want to win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend’ – Abraham Lincoln
Have you ever been in a situation where you meet someone for the first time and after a few minutes talk feel as if you are more like friends than strangers. if you have the same fuse on a particular issues, similar backgrounds, or something else in common then you are building rapport.
How far is the ability to get one the right things with someone. It is the ability to be able to enter someone’s worldviews and make them feel you understand them. It is about establishing an atmosphere of trust and responsiveness.
You can either emphasize the differences or to emphasize the similarities. Establishing rapport is very difficult with people if they only emphasize the differences.
People with good interpersonal skills create rapport and rapport create trust
Here are some tips:
- Listen to the kinds of words and phrases the other person uses, and try to incorporate them into your conversation
- Be sensitive to the level of vocabulary
- Avoid using your own speech any jargon which other person does not understand
- Attempt to match the other person’s body language sensitively and with respect
- Put your body position in a similar position to the other person’
- Emphasize similarities and differences
- Knowing how to response effectively to a variety of situation takes skills and practice
(Source : Interpersonal Skills, Astrid French)
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Public relations office will only be as useful to management as management wants it to be (Cutlip et al, 1985)
What public relations?
In most western cultures, it flacks and worse, it is to be disliked, distrusted as it sometimes shows manipulation of reality. In China, it is still regarded to some extent, as a dirty business, power of money or propaganda. In Northern America, UK and Western Europe – the trend is toward corporate communications – not public relations.
In Indonesia? It is HUMAS, it sounds very technical and pragmatic. it is considered as spin doctor, camouflage, propaganda, promotion and publicity tools. there is a great role ambiguity between marketing and public relations, it shows a great role conflict between organizations and public interests.
The actual problem is – how PR is empowered in organization
What is the value of public relations to organization? It all depends!
- Strategic Positioning Reputation, Brand Equity, Relationship, Leadership
- Managerial Program Change people’s attitude
- Technical Product Distribution, Media coverage, Attention
- Power means productive, rather than oppressive or manipulative
- Empowerment means logical outgrowth to participate in TQM
If powerless, how can PR influence events – Share in decision making process – Contribute the maximum to organizational effectiveness?
- Although accreditation is encouraged, code of ethics and standards of practice our held as evidence to professional status. Public relations practice needs moral commitment, knowledge, skills. A practitioners reputation for integrity and competence is the real license to practice.
- Judgement, wisdom, understanding and integrity
Develop and rely on them.
Warning signs that a reputation is in danger
- Does management claim that the good reputation is primarily the result of their support in PR activities?
- Does management blame editors or analyst other for their biases in dealing with the organization’s issues or news?
- Do Executives refuse to believe than your competitors are a challenge to the company’s value proposition?
- Are the vast majority of reputation resources in the company put into advertising to ‘raise public awareness’?
- Is the company losing market share?
LEADERSHIP
Effective Team Working
Our potential for success in achieving the program objectives depends on the effective working of our team. Since the team is often made up of the group of people, there is a high probability that they have not worked together before. This put an additional burden on you initially to start the process of team building to steer the group towards your objective of effective teamwork.
It is believed that the team can accomplish more than the total output of the individual people, yet in practice this is often not the reality. the success of the team highly depends on the skills each individual has and the way you utilize the skills to produce a united effort.
To achieve this you can identify some characteristics to create in your team
- Clear responsibilities and authority
- Clear understanding and acceptance of project objectives
- Interesting and challenging work
- High concern for standards and quality
- Clean procedures for interfunctional communication and working
- Positive use of criticism and confrontation as developmental
- Good team spirit – encouraging self-help and working relationships
- Open and regular performance review – team and individual
Barriers to performance in most cases are caused by :
- Unclear objectives for the project
- Lack of strategic direction
- Inadequate resources, both quantity and quality
- Senior management apathy, loss of interest or opposition
- Power games and unclear channels of authority
- Conflicts left unresolved
- Lack of job security
- Uncertain and changing priorities
- Be concerned about the potential barriers to good performance and take steps to minimize their effect on your team
MARKETING
Principles of New Marketing (Continuation)
- Similarities cannot sell. The value of your product/service depends on its differences with that of your competitor’s and your services to your customers
- Make your product according to the elements of image: brand image, product image, customer’s image, associate’s image
- Apply proper strategy: focus on profit, not volume ; on real consumption, not on market share ; and on future demand, and not on brand awareness
- You always need to give whatever reasons for customers to buy
- Market your product/service locally. Global brand is created from local brand
- Concentrate to consumers who are able to buy your product/service. speak to them to assist your identify further market
- Don’t believe the preferences. They don’t stay long. Stick to the sold-well product
- Make sure that each person in your organization is the best marketer. You need the best people, not the best organization structure
- Give reward for the best ones and penalties to those who deserve them
- The strategy is yours. The exercising agency is to communicate your strategy effectively. They are hired not to hear the risk
- You need a high sense of urgency and a great enthusiasm in your work. If not, why should you wake up early?
(Source : The End of Marketing as we know it, Sergio Zyman)
MANAGEMENT
How to Develop Managerial Traits
Competent managers are scare. Therefore, organization need to anticipate the adequate number of managers in line with organization development. Management training is not as simple as training a technician or accounting staff; it is a complex process.
Here are some of the reviews:
Executives are trained and their achievement is measured by so called standard – and yet, there is no significant change in their quality performance.
Management development should be that of agriculture in which they short develop themselves. The development should cover their perception, their minds, their vision, worldviews and attitude. This change is nothing to enforce. The organizations provide the environment, the infrastructure and related needs to development.
In so many instances, the land is not fertile – it is too dry to develop.
Basically each personnel seek development, new venture which give him/her significant chance for promotion. in some organizations, each personnel seem static and stand still.
In centralized organization, the employee stick to the rule, regulation and the procedure. There is little change for self development. In decentralized organization, however,each personnel is encouraged to have their own decision. They learn how to decide and be responsible and therefore, they develop. Some organizations rotate their executives frequently, these people should be ready to leave their position whenever the management want them to – they are of no job specification.
Management development has several aspects.
Manager
- Should have a comprehensive understanding on the social, economic, and technological change. This can be achieved through outward looking behavior, rather than inward looking type.
- Should be able to solve problems and take proper decision. This quality can be achieved through problem analysis, develop alternate plans and feasibility study.
- Should be encouraged to be competitive.
No organization can avoid problems, no leaders can stop people develop. The secret of executive development lies in any effort made in encouraging executives to take initiatives and try to do something impossible, although it is risky.
(Source : Great Ideas in Management, CN Parkinson, MK Rustomji, SA Sapre)
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Ten Habits of Emotionally Intelligent People
People with high EI :
- Label their feelings, rather than labeling people or situations
- Distinguish between thought and feelings
- Take responsibility for their feelings
- Use their emotions to help make decisions
- Show respect for others’ feelings
- Feel energized, not angry
- Validate others’ feelings
- Practice getting a positive value from their negative emotions
- Don’t advice, command, control, criticize , blame or judge others
- Avoid people who invalidate them or don’t respect their feelings
What can I do to raise my EI?
- The first step, identify your own emoticons (Use the feeling word list opposite to help you)
- Take responsibility for them (This is much harder)
- Learn what compassion and empathy are (It is much easier if you have taken the first two steps)
- Read books on emotions (Consult the mind, body & soul section of any book)
- Get involved with learning. Join our programs for professional development
- Find a quiet place / time to express your feelings
- Read emotional literature, watch emotional movies, label the feelings being acted out
- Avoid people who invalidate you
(Source : The Emotional Intelligence, M. Chapman)