Avianites find joy in giving

All my bags are packed and I am ready to go…

My favourite John Denver song kept playing on my mind as I packed a humongous suitcase for office. Yes, you heard right, I carried a suitcase filled with old clothes, which my family members don’t wear anymore (of course, washed and ironed), old toys my children discarded, but my wife neatly stored, and used shoes to office recently. The Reason: The “Joy of Giving Week” held in association with Goonj.

Avian Media celebrated the week-long festival of giving with the NGO by encouraging employees across all its offices in the country to donate used, but washed, clothes, footwear, toys, lunch boxes, notebooks and stationary. The material collected was recycled and channelised to remote villages in the country.  Avian also raised Rs 17,900, with employees donating Rs 9,400 and the company contributing Rs 8,500. The money will be used by Goonj to manage the operational cost for processing, repairing, storage, wages and transportation of the material donated by us.

It was an amazing experience seeing what we treat as trash making such a remarkable difference to so many lives. For Avian, the aim was to encourage and motivate employees to take part in socially-meaningful activities and inculcate the “spirit of giving” in them. While devising sustainable and scientific solutions for our clients under our recently-introduced CSR and Sustainability practice, we had realised that companies also need to engage internally in sustainable and long-term CSR and community initiatives. CSR is meaningless if not imbibed in letter and spirit by each and every employee of a company.

Companies can no longer be seen purely as private institutions. They are essentially social institutions and the benefits they reap should be shared collectively. A company is responsible to not just its shareholders, but also stakeholders, including consumers, employees, etc, whose contributions are integral to the firm’s growth. Thus, CSR means that a corporation should be held accountable for any of its actions that affect people, communities, environment and society as a whole. Now, a responsibility of such mammoth proportion cannot be fulfilled without employee involvement. As a company, it is our duty to nurture our employees to become responsible citizens and ensure that they work hand-in-hand with us in giving back to society.

With the “Joy of Giving Week”, I think, we have set the ball rolling. It felt good to see our young employees lugging bags full of clothes, shoes, books and toys and utensils to office. For once, no one was cribbing! The excitement was palpable and there was a sparkle in everyone’s eyes.  I have already been flooded with enquiries as to when we will organise more such CSR activities. So, next time we draw up a CSR plan for our clients, we can draw contentment from the thought that we, too, have started contributing, albeit a modest contribution, to the larger good of society.

We will take part in more such activities in the future and give back to society in every way that we can. And, I am proud that my people are with me. I hope that in the years to come, making a difference to the lives of the less fortunate becomes a part of our DNA.

MIXING WORK AND PLEASURE

Ratan Tata’s comments on the work culture of managers in British firms have created a stir in the UK. In an interview withThe Times daily, Tata had said “nobody is willing to go that extra mile" in critical situations, unlike their Indian counterparts who would work till midnight in "a war-like situation". While it’s ironic that the comments were published two months after they were made and a day after the Tatas announced 1,500 job losses in Britain, Mr Tata should have known better the work culture of the UK and what he was getting into when he bought Corrus and JLR. Having worked in London for years, I can understand what he’s trying to say, but the point is that you have to work within and blend / adapt to the culture. 

I think there is no one way of looking at this issue. Every country has its own work culture. Take the Americans for example. They are extremely aggressive/hard working and value their personal time as well. They work hard throughout the week and enjoy the weekend. Work hard and play hard. In countries like China, Japan, Korea and Thailand, work is worship. It’s a done thing to spend long hours in office. The scene is no different in India, where people take great pride in announcing the long gap since their last holiday.

According to a survey, an average Indian IT employee (male, unmarried) works for 11-13 hours. But a major portion of it is utilized in personal activities (checking personal mails, surfing the net, etc.). I have heard so many people say that they prefer staying late in office because “there is nothing better to do back home”.
I always tell my employees to take a vacation to recharge their batteries, but needless to say most don’t. Most Indians work over the weekends -  if not on Sunday, but certainly on Saturday. But the culture in Europe is different and it is an exception to check official mails or even answering calls from colleagues on weekends. In India, ignoring calls or e-mails would entail a good verbal lashing from the bosses.

The key to a successful professional and personal life is balance. Diligence should not be judged on the number of hours spent in office. I always thought it was about what you produce in your work time, not how many hours you are “seen” in the office. Of course, senior team leaders have to lead by example and work late in times of crisis.

We should also change our negative perception of “having fun”. There’s nothing wrong in feeling good about a weekend and getting into the party mode on Friday evening. In Australia, some of the older firms bring out crates full of beer around 4pm on a Friday to cheer staff for the weekend!  But, if there is some pressing work, we should also be prepared to forgo the beer party with buddies

Thriving and how

Are independent firms endangered or thriving? That was the topic of a heated debate at a recently-held meet in Delhi where I happened to be one of the speakers.

In my opinion, there are advantages in both independent firms and large agencies. While independent firms have greater control over their operations and are more nimble and creative, larger groups with their deep pockets offer financial stability and better infrastructure. But in no way are independent agencies endangered. There are enough global firms that are independent and thriving. I will once again give my favorite example of Edelman which has set new standards in the independent PR business and has done an excellent job in promoting its own brand.

Large organizations are no doubt full staffed, but are also overworked. Independent agencies, on the other hand, can take up projects on a short notice and give value for money to their clients. They also give the much-wanted-and-almost-extinct “personal touch” to their clients, something bigger agencies may find difficult to offer owing to the vast number of projects they handle. In fact, since there is little or no bureaucracy in independent PR firms, senior employees oversee big accounts personally. This combination of personal touch and expertise helps them land big accounts. Again, senior-level executives who leave large firms to start or join independent agencies bring big portfolios.

Of course, being an independent agency isn't without challenges. If a client wants a big name, an independent smaller agency may not fit the bill. A big client means big business to an independent firm, so it hurts more when an opportunity to land one is lost. But again, independent firms are niche, whereas larger ones are general. Small firms offer customised solutions, while the larger entities offer one-size-fits-all solutions. So, survival is not an issue with independent agencies. It is no doubt thriving, but the key to success lies in innovation. All they need to do is think out-of-the-box and lead a wave of change and their future will be taken care of. 

Reputation Management - Stepping Stone to Success

“There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the risk of comfortable inaction” - John F Kennedy

In February, I attended - as the only representative from the PR world -- a workshop at the Corporate Risk Management and Compliance Congress in Mumbai. The workshop focused on the newest buzzword in the corporate world – Reputation Management. 

Reputations are complex entities and understanding and protecting them have become an even more complicated process. Corporate India needs to stay updated with the changing work realities as it faces an increased susceptibility to corporate espionage, fraud and politically-motivated controversies that hog headlines and put the very foundation and reputation of companies at risk.

So, how do we assess, mitigate, monitor and manage situations that have the potential to destroy our reputation and in the long run, our businesses? How can we prevent a reputational risk issue from escalating into a crisis? The answer lies in effective Reputation Management. Companies have to, on a priority, integrate corporate communications and marketing functions to lay the foundation of a strong reputational risk management policy.

You may point out, and rightly so, that crisis mitigation is what most corporate communication agencies have been doing all these years. But each communication professional should have this basic understanding that effective crisis management is part of Reputation Management. And, this does not entail just “managing the media” or “killing a story”.

In recent times, we have seen an increasing demand from public relation agencies to manage their Reputation – Corporate or Brand. With multinationals setting up base in India and Indian companies acquiring companies globally, there is an increasing need to communicate with diverse audiences and local environment, thereby increasing the importance of Reputation Management. Thus, agencies like ours will need to gear up to work on mandates that go beyond traditional public relations (read media relations), with a strong emphasis on Reputation Management. 

So what’s the bottomline? Effective media management is not Reputation Management. So, when we sign on new clients, we need to undertake a comprehensive exercise to identify key audiences and then develop a campaign that goes beyond the media. As I said in the beginning, the answer lies in framing a risk management policy so that we don’t regret later. Build Good Reputation, Sustain Good Reputation and Protect Good Reputation.