Leadership Magazine: Human Captial

May's 2016 Contribution is available online here on page 74 and 75

Human Capital

“If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur,” are wise words from Red Adair, an American oil well fire fighter who was a notable innovator in the specialised and extremely hazardous profession of extinguishing and capping blazing, erupting oil well blowouts.

In the previous issues, we focussed on the impact that strategic intent and operational capability has on a corporate reputation. Human capital - investing in the right people to do the job - is another key building block to building a solid reputation. Investing in your workforce means you are investing in the quality of your output, the harmony within the workplace and ultimately - your reputation. Identifying the right calibre of people during the recruitment phase is directly aligned to the strategic intent of the organisation; knowing exactly where you are going with your business and who you need on your team to get you there. Getting this right at the onset will save you a lot of time, frustration and money in the future.

At Reputation Matters, we have implemented a rigorous recruitment process; because we are in the business of managing reputations, we need to be very particular about who we have on our team. The first step is to have really good strategic alliances in place that can feed the recruitment funnel. We have a great relationship with the University of Pretoria’s communication management department, and offer their top BCom Communication Management honours students internship opportunities with us. Any students who are interested in a position must go through the same recruitment process, starting with an online application form. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, it shows whether the person is serious about wanting the position; if they are, they complete the form in full. Secondly, it demonstrates their basic use of spelling and grammar, something which is vital when it comes to business communication and subsequent reputation management. I am often amazed by the number of applications we receive where the applicants refer to themselves as “i".

The next round involves a phone call to determine how the candidates handle themselves over the phone – if very well, the first face-to-face interview is setup. Should the interview go well, we check references and then do personality profiling to get an idea of how they will fit in with the rest of the team. In the final step, the candidate is given a case study to prepare and present to the team. This may seem like overkill, but getting the candidates to whittle themselves out has saved an enormous amount of time and ensured that we are able to pick the cream of the crop for different positions. Wouldn’t you want the best possible candidate to be looking after your reputation?

Once you have selected the ideal candidate, a thorough induction is necessary to help them get to grips with ‘how things are done around here’. Margaret Hirsch, dynamic business owner and founder of Hirsch’s Home Stores takes time out of her hectic schedule to meet and engage with all of their new recruits.  I was fortunate enough to sit in on one of these sessions and see Margaret in action. Margaret speaks candidly about the vision, core values and culture right from the outset, which instils a level of respect and understanding for the organisation and leaves very little room for misinterpretation and helps the candidate grasp exactly what the expectations are. This important step links back to strategic intent and operational governance, with the message and vision being reiterated right from the top.

It’s all good and well to have the right people appointed, but in order for the organisation to grow, it is equally important to invest in training and development. Peninsula Beverages Company (PenBev), the local bottlers and distributors of Coca-Cola products in the Northern and Western Cape, does this particularly well. PenBev has been nominated and recognised as a Top Employer for a number of years, no mean feat for a provincial operation when compared to the large multi-national conglomerates it competes against for this title. What drives their success?

Greg Lewis, managing director of PenBev shares that it’s a passion for people; those that they serve and the people on their teams. He believes that without this passion they would not see the successes that they do. He adds that it’s about fairness, accountability, continuous improvement and teamwork. By investing in your people – through training and development programmes, you are showing that you see value in your workforce and have faith that the relationship will be long and fruitful.

If you have an employee who is truly passionate about their work, you can be sure that they will be telling their friends and family how much they love their job and the company they work for. This passion and enthusiasm has a positive impact on the rest of the team as well. The same can be said of someone on the team that is not in the right position, and does not share the same keenness for the company. Both of these attitudes will in the long run impact how the organisation is seen and directly affect its reputation.

Building a reputation is therefore about getting the right team in place from the onset, ensuring that everyone is on the same page regarding the business goals and vision, and then investing in training and development to ensure the individuals, teams and company is always growing. Another appropriate quote to think about is from David Ogilvy, who once said: “If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.”

Reputation Matters Mailer: April 2016

In case you've missed this month's newsletter, you can have a look at what Reputation Matters has been up to here:

REPUTATION MATTERS APRIL 2016

Let me know what you think of the SAfm interview.

If you can't be early, be on time.

For some time, I had really been annoying myself for being notoriously late for almost all my meetings and engagements. It's just plain rude and disrespectful towards everyone concerned.

This year, I am on a mission to be early!

What seems to help is to allocate slightly more travelling time in my diary than I used to; this does sound incredibly obvious, however, when you are in the middle of something and you 'just quickly' want to wrap it up, or send one quick e-mail before leaving, it becomes very easy to cut your time fine and before you know it you're running late. Things invariably take a lot longer to get to than 30 minutes, especially if you are based in Hout Bay and need to contend with unforeseen trucks, buses or tourists who are uncertain about the winding roads. I'll be honest, I am still looking for that happy-medium however I must admit that being very early for a meeting is considerably less stressful than late, and it also gives me a chance to catch up on phone calls or even read a paragraph or two of a book.

What has also helped a lot, especially when I want to 'just quickly'  do something before leaving for a meeting, is to think of these wise words from Robin Sharma:

Leadership Magazine: Where to the Fourth Estate?

My latest Leadership Magazine contribution:

Is there nothing more you enjoy than being the first person to open your morning paper and go through it while you savour a cup of coffee? Or do you prefer to catch the headlines on your favourite radio station as you drive to work. Or do you follow journalists for news updates via Twitter? 

The pace in which we consume information and the immediacy that we demand news is changing the face of journalism. More and more media, especially print media, are feeling the pressure; needing to keep up with this demand for instant information in order to stay relevant.

As part of the global association, ECCO International Communication Network, we at Reputation Matters recently participated in a worldwide study to understand where exactly journalism is heading.

The survey specifically explored the effect that a rapid pace of technology has on media and what journalists believe the future will look like. In total, 1349 media professionals around the globe were surveyed. From South Africa, 200 people within the media space completed the survey. The survey was targeted mainly at editors, freelancers or writers and heads of departments at media outlets. The opinions of additional respondents such as publication owners, content managers, producers, radio hosts, programme managers and social media managers were also included in the study.

It was quite interesting to see that the feedback we received in South Africa matches up to survey answers from across the world: in this globalised economy, the media industry globally faces the same challenges and opportunities.

The study indicates a global challenge; that the changing media landscape contributes toward budget cuts and job insecurity. Daily and weekly newspapers are expected to decline strongly, while tabloids and magazines share a similar fate. Even though there is a decline in print media globally, something quite unique to South Africa is that community papers are still widely read and incredibly powerful. They are not likely to be phased out soon. Despite the constant change, traditional television and radio should remain stable. Eighty-three percent of South African respondents expect a dramatic increase in the use of online platforms (blogs, social media, news portals and Internet broadcast media).

With the resulting decrease in print media sales, media professionals expect revenue to come from online subscriptions and advertising, as well as sponsorship. Respondents showed little confidence in paywalls (pay-per-article), crowdfunding or public funding revenue models. To address the financial issue, some South African media professionals suggested that media houses should diversify their product offering (to support the new digital generation) or generate income streams internationally. Collaboration is a seen as a possible solution where consumers are offered bundled subscriptions to various media outlets.

The advent of social media has changed the media landscape to a great extent because of its immediacy. Anyone using social media becomes a daily ‘news’ reporter. Because of this, publishing houses will need to investigate different business models, even different types of reporting, to adapt to the online market.

When it comes to blogging, we see that most media professionals, both in South Africa and globally agree that turning to blogging is an option. Many already have blogs, but they are not convinced that it would be a viable or sustainable income stream – readers would not want to pay for content when so much is already free online. A big challenge for bloggers is the time it  takes to establish credibility and for one’s blog popularity to grow.

Majority (78.2%) of the South African media professionals indicated that they are concerned about the standard of journalism and dropping levels of credibility. Anyone and everyone becomes an expert “journalist” because of  blogs and social media. One respondent went as far as to say that “the blogspace is crowded with morons.”

Encouragingly, the study shows that the media still value Public Relations (PR) agencies and the news tips and press releases that they offer. Just over half of the South African respondents (61.4%) indicated that the role of PR agencies have become more important over the last five years. This opinion is even more pronounced internationally. With that said, 71% of the respondents indicated that they still rely a lot more on personal contacts and that one-on-one engagement has grown in importance.

Most of the South African respondents contribute to a number of different media channels, they write for both online and print media and branch into radio and television, podcasts, newsletters, social media, blogs and quarterly print editions of online content etc. Some commented that one can no longer view newspapers and magazines as a print medium with online content but rather that it is the other way around.

It is obvious that the online space presents not only challenges to traditional print media, but also great opportunities. The media that adapts the best in terms of its business model and product offering will be the ones that thrive.

To continue the reputation management conversation, join Regine on Twitter @ReputationIsKey or Facebook www.facebook.com/yourreputationmatters.

Book: Of warriors, lovers and prophets – unusual stories from South Africa’s past – Max du Preez

  

My history knowledge of South Africa is embarrassingly limited. The other day in conversation I couldn’t remember whether it was Bartholomeo Diaz or Jan van Riebeeck who first arrived in South Africa (it was Diaz, 1488; Van Riebeeck arrived in 1652).

This is a fascinating book that takes a look at the colourful history of South Africa. Max du Preez has a wonderful way of telling a story and bringing characters to life. It was absolutely fascinating to learn more about Coree, the first South African that went abroad; the cannibals; Shaka’s sad childhood; the cover up of small pox in the Kimberly area, the rift between the De Wet brothers, Ghandi, Siener van Rensburg and very interesting the Black Jews in Africa.

As du Preez describes it: All these people were influenced by and reacted to their surroundings and prevailing attitudes at the time, and in turn influenced events and attitudes that affected those who came after them.  

These people, oppressors and oppressed, heroes and villains, are all my ancestors. My DNA doesn’t have to be scientifically linked to specific individuals in order for me to regard them as my ancestors…

…So I regard all those South Africans who came before me and sharped my society as my ancestors

Our history is a patchwork of intrigue; we truly have been through a lot; and have much to be proud of what we have achieved and what we have overcome. I love South Africa and in the words of the beautiful speech by Thabo Mbeki on 08 May 1996; I am an African.

BizConnect - Making your business famous

Here's my latest contribution on Standard Bank's BizConnect about making your business famous, and how to effectively use Public Relations (PR) to do so.
 
If done correctly PR can generate a lot of media interest without you having to invest in the high costs associated with advertising. However, it is not ‘free’. 

You have taken the leap of faith and ventured out to start your own business; you know that your product is great and priced just right – however apart from you and those closest to you, it’s the best kept secret, no-one else knows about it. Next step is to get the word out there so that the sales can roll in. So you think to yourself that you need some free publicity and turn to a public relations (PR) consultant.

If done correctly PR can generate a lot of media interest without you having to invest in the high costs associated with advertising. However, it is not ‘free’. You will still need to invest in the expertise of a PR professional to guide you through the media liaison process.

There’s a lot more to it than just ‘quickly writing a media release and sending it out’. You are investing in someone’s expertise who knows how best to speak to your audience using different media angles and channels, as well as their extensive database of journalist contacts; something which they have taken years to build and foster.

It is however important to know that PR cannot be used as a direct marketing tool. Media generated through PR is to generate awareness of your business and to build credibility in the long run. PR is not necessarily going to lead to direct sales. Journalists will sniff out a self-promotional media release a mile away and quickly discard it. For a direct return on investment you will need to invest in advertising.

What’s the difference? Surely media is media?

With advertising it’s paid for space that is yours, you can choose how that space looks and what it says, you have total control over the message. With a media release, it is up to the journalist what information they choose to use from it, if any.

There is no control over what part of the release gets used or not. It is a lot trickier to get unpaid for media coverage. That is why it is regarded so much more credible than paid for media. You therefore need to position the media release in such a way that it is newsworthy and/or an interesting read without blatantly advertising your product or service.

Something which is really important to know when you do venture into the PR space, is that very often the first introductory media release, the release about the launch, will most likely receive the most hype and media attention. When investing in PR, it is important to realise that it is a long-term relationship that you are building with your PR company and the related media. It can’t just be a once-off exercise.

You need to keep the momentum going by feeding the media with interesting, different stories and angles. Yes, it is up to the PR company to come up with interesting angles, however you do need to provide the content which they will package accordingly for the appropriate media. After all you are the expert in the field; you work in your specialisation on a full time basis, and your PR partner will want to support you all the way.

How else can you market yourself?

My advice is to first make sure that the building blocks inside your business are in place; it does not help if you go on a huge communication drive and the business flows in, but you don’t have the capacity to deliver.

PR forms part of an important building block, however before thinking that PR is an easy and ‘cheap’ way to create awareness, first invest in your website. This is still the first port of call for many people to get information about companies. Also consider social media, pending who your target audience is, they are also more than likely to look you up on Facebook; however do keep in mind that you need to keep the momentum going there as well.

When things start getting busier and you don’t have a dedicated person (not an intern) to manage social media and the website for you, you stand a good chance of losing credibility with an outdated page that was last updated in 2011.

When is the right time to start with media?

Stability of the business is a good gauge – when you start out there are a lot of things that need your attention; focus on that first. Then, when you are ready to make a long-term investment with a PR partner; the time is right – however make sure that you choose wisely. More on that next month.

A couple of tips for young leaders

Last Tuesday evening I chatted to Naledi Moleo on her SAfm show about people getting into the workforce, and the importance of building a reputation from a young age. The conversation was based on the article I had written for Leadership Magazine on the topic.

My top five tips for young leaders when it comes to building their reputation:

• Leave the party when you are having the most fun - don't feel obliged or  pressured to stay until the bitter end;

• Be wary about late night cavorting with colleagues and clients - they still need to respect you in office and board room the next day;

• Get into good grammar habits, even when sending text messages;

• Dress for the job that you want, not the one that you are applying for;

• You don’t have to go overboard, but make sure you are clean, neat and presentable (Ladies, if you can’t sit comfortably or pick something up off the floor, it’s too short!)

(the full article is on page 110 of the March 2016 edition).

Here's a fun video on resumés.

What people really think of your resumé

[Also have a look at some of my other tips when it comes to recruiting].