Waikato Business News January/February 2021

PR AND COMMUNICATIONS
> BY HEATHER CLAYCOMB
Heather Claycomb is director of HMC Communications, a
Hamilton-based, award-winning public relations agencys.
Let’s get personal
If you want to make one high-impact change this year in the
way you present your organisation, I want to challenge you to
‘get personal.’
While I haven’t done
comprehensive
formal research,
I’ve certainly noticed a general
shift in the type of social
media posts, media stories and
general conversations that are
currently exciting and engaging
people. And that shift is all
about personal, real, emotive
stories.
During times of stress and
upheaval, like we’ve been
through this past year, people
often seek out stories, visual
and auditory content that comforts,
inspires and whisks them
away from the constant negativity
happening around them.
Bringing a bit of
extra personability – and
personality - to your communications
will help increase your
organisation’s reach, create
positive word-of-mouth, gain
fans and generally get those
who matter most talking about
and enjoying their interactions
with you.
So, how can you do this?
Here are five simple ways:
Put your team to work
People want to interact with
other people not a stale, formal
corporate brand. So, why
not put your staff to work? Of
course, you’ll need to do a
bit of training on presentation
style, key messages and general
dos and don’ts but don’t
let the logistics of this hold you
back.
Get your staff to front
videos for social media that
explain a new project or launch
a new product . . . or maybe
use their voices to give life
to a stale, old message. For
instance, how about getting
staff to front safety videos as
part of your health and safety
programme?
You could also broaden the
number of team members who
can speak to media in their
areas of expertise.
What a great way to
demonstrate the depth of your
organisation when there is
more than one leader fronting
stories and issues.
Nix the stock photos
Now, there are certainly times
when stock photos, particularly
for social media posts,
are your only option.
But as much as you possibly
can, use real people in
your photos.
Do a photo shoot with your
staff several times a year,
getting them interacting with
customers and each other in
natural situations. You’ll be
surprised how much use you’ll
get out of one photo shoot.
Another idea is to enlist
customers, partners, suppliers
and others your organisation
regularly interacts with for a
photo shoot.
Having real people in your
visual assets creates a genuine
authenticity that will resonate
with your audience.
Let’s hear your voice
Writing a story from a personal
perspective and using
some team or customer photography
alongside it is great,
but what’s even better is hearing
voices. This might sound
really simplistic but it’s true:
hearing a voice in a video or
audio file can stop people
in their tracks. The content
of what you are saying, of
course, is incredibly important
- you can’t say any old
thing.
But my point is, don’t
always rely on the written
word.
Figure out innovative ways
to bring those words off the
paper and to life through your
people, your customers and
others.
Get out and about
Getting personal requires
being in-person. If your
organisation’s communications
approach has primarily
involved channels such as
social media, publications,
media stories, e-newsletters
and the like then why not consider
channels that get you
out from behind the desk and
talking with those who matter
to your business?
Find ways to add a new
event or two to your communications
approach this year.
Or simply participate in an
event that’s already happening,
for example a conference,
farmer field day or industry
networking event.
If you are a national organisation,
consider a ‘roadshow’
type event that gets you in
front of customers or key
stakeholders in smaller groups
where you can have great discussions
and build relationships.
Pressing the flesh will
reap enormous benefits.
Forget the polish
I’ve seen many organisations
become paralysed by
the worry of having to be too
perfect. While there are certainly
benefits to producing a
beautiful corporate video, for
instance, much of the time an
iPhone selfie edited on some
free video software can resonate
even more with your
audience.
Of course, you need professional
standards, but my
point is don’t analyse the creative
to death. Authentic personability
means there will be
a few rough edges, but we are
all used to that and will give a
bit of leeway.
Reviewing the structure of your business
in the new year
THE BUSINESS EDGE
> BY BRENDA WILLIAMSON
Brenda Williamson runs business advisory service
Brenda Williamson and Associates www.bwa.net.nz
The structure of a business
is key; everything
radiates out from
there. As businesses grow
over time, it’s common for
the structure to become out
of date and lack relevance to
changing needs.
As you return from your
summer holidays, it is a good
opportunity to set your goals
for the year, set your operational
and capital budgets and
take the time to review the
structure.
Ask yourself “is your
business structure still fit for
purpose?”.
As your business grows
and your team expands, you
may decide to introduce extra
levels into the organisational
structure.
The more autonomous
your team is, the flatter the
structure can be.
Try and keep the structure
clean and uncluttered,
wherever possible.
Try to avoid situations
where staff are reporting to
two people; this can lead to
conflict, confusion and a lack
of accountability.
If you don’t already have
an organisational chart, it is
simply a diagram showing
each position, the name of
the team member currently
holding the position and the
reporting lines throughout the
business.
Keep your organisational
chart up to date - it might
seem insignificant to you
as a business owner, but it’s
important that everyone has
a sense of belonging to the
team and an understanding
of where they fit into the
business, including who they
report to and the staff they are
responsible for.
There is a tendency for
small businesses in New Zealand
to build a role around a
person. Let’s just say a particular
person has a unique
skill set and it is in your
interests to utilise that person
to your advantage.
You create a role that
is specific to that person.
Examples would be:
• An engineer who has studied
law
• A builder who has previously
worked as a welder/
fabricator
• An IT expert who has
run their own recruitment
business
• An HR expert who had
years of experience working
in banks
• A warehouse employee
who also has experience
in designing electronic
inventory systems
• A chef who just happens
to have a marketing degree
Their unique skill set and
experience will provide you
with benefits but also creates
a level of risk within your
business.
You need to acknowledge
that when that person
leaves you may end up with
an unusual type of position to
recruit to.
There is no easy way
around this, especially for a
small business where a jackof-all-trades
approach is very
handy.
Also, Kiwis, more than
anyone, are happy to work
‘outside the box’.
By reviewing the structure
and roles within your business,
at least on an annual
basis, this allows you to
identify risk around these
types of roles.
You may flag them and
decide to split or modify
when the opportunity rises,
creating roles that are more
generic and easier to recruit
to. Try to develop a strategy
around what you’ll do when
a “unique” team member
leaves. You may be able to:
• Recruit to the key portion
of the role
• Move part of the role onto
another team member
• Contract out part of
the role (which may
be smaller or specialised
– for instance, IT or
marketing).
If you do change the structure
of your business post-holiday,
be sure to communicate
this to your team. Of course,
you will know what you are
doing but let the team know
what your intentions are!