Recession Teaches Practitioners Hard Lessons
1992; Public Relations Society of America; Volume: 48; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0033-3670
Autores Tópico(s)Public Relations and Crisis Communication
ResumoThe recession permanently affected how public relations and communications professionals do their jobs as well as the ways in which they seek new employment. Not a single practitioner can say that they have emerged from the economic slowdown unscathed, for each been touched by it in a very profound way. Today, after two decades of prosperity which saw employment in public relations firms jump by 26% between 1980 and 1990, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor & Statistics, the field is now experiencing what many perceive to be the normal shakeout that follows any period of rapid economic expansion. Like a tornado which touches down randomly, destroying everything in its path, the recession left mass devastation in its wake. From California, which surpassed national statistics with a statewide unemployment rate of 8.7% as of February 1992, to New York state, where The Business Council of New York claims that more then 40% of the nation's job losses last year occurred, to hard-hit areas in the Midwest, Southeast, Southwest and Northwest, pessimistic attitudes prevail. there is good news, too. There are signs that public relations practitioners working at nonprofits, firms and corporations may have been changed for the better by the storm. Following major downsizing for most of the last decade, with the heaviest cuts in the last two years, corporate communications departments are finally benefiting from positive change. The value of public relations risen in the eyes of corporate America's top decision makers, and practitioners are now expected to think as strategically as the senior executives to whom they report. Many corporate communications departments have been forced to pare down 4* both staff and budgets while their responsibilities have mounted, said Carol Gies, APR, director of public relations, branch stores for Bloomingdale's, New York City. But it also enabled us to become fully integrated into the marketing function. The positive outcome is that practitioners have actually been elevated to professionals because we are no longer perceived as strictly publicists but as members of a marketing team that a direct, measurable impact on our organizations' bottom line. Echoing the essence of Gie's comments was Patrick Griffin, vice president of public affairs and corporate communications at Security Pacific Bank Corp., Los Angeles, CA. Today's toughened economy, he said, has molded public affairs specialists out of necessity into professional managers of communication who get the desired message out to employees, customers and other target audiences cost effectively. Adds Larry Marshall, president of Marshall Consultants, New York City: Corporations now require that have a direct impact on the success of a business plan. Another benefit is that tighter budgets have actually driven up the quality and quantity of work a corporation can expect from its firm. PR firms now have to look for ways to add value to a client relationship and must deliver it constantly, not just when budgets are tight, wrote Thomas Amberg, APR, president, Aaron D. Cushman & Associates, Chicago, IL, in PRJ's March issue (page 10). Firms learn lessons, too The recession also taught firm executives many valuable lessons. It eliminated the expensive practice of firms to overstaff in anticipation of new business. It also paved the way for firms to focus on long-term growth, not simply short-term profits. With corporate budgets shrinking continuously, keeping current clients satisfied become just as important a factor in keeping firms profitable as is prospecting new business. Independent and smaller firms, such as New York-based Lobsenz-Stevens, which had a 20% reduction in billings and no layoffs, generally fared best during the recession due to low overhead and conservative staffing. Larger firms, such as Hill & Knowlton, which cut employment 25% in 1991 and had a decline in billings of 11. …
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