Quit stressing about red tape – reach out to the top talent

Employers seek people who are head and shoulders above the rest.

SMEs need to keep developing and challenging their people.

That was the overriding consensus at a recent Yorkshire Business Insider Economic Forum at Headingley to which over 100 CEOs and MDs flocked on a bitterly cold, dark and bleak winter morning.

Reading about the event now from the warmth of our offices reinforces the importance of the vociferous call to action from a panel of heavyweights including Terry Hodgkinson, chair of Yorkshire Forward, and John Goodfellow of Skipton Building Society, who has risen through the ranks to become CEO.

Hodgkinson was appalled at the decline in investment in people development highlighted in a joint Yorkshire Forward and CBI biannual survey – at a time when it is most needed. Having invested an unprecedented number of days and budget in training for the Quest team (39 days and over £30,000 in budget) in 2007, it appears that we are in the minority.

And in the knowledge that “twentysomethings” will expect at least six career progressions, it’s up to employers to act now to keep them challenged and stimulated. The more savvy, such as Above & Beyond Architecture and Paul Waite Associates, are setting up scholarships and mentoring schemes respectively to attract, develop and retain the best people and maintain a steady flow to ensure smooth succession planning.

And on that very topic, we too are seeking a first-class operator for the role of deputy MD.

Happy talent-spotting, fellow SMEs!

Cut and blow with a side order of politics

Following up from Nick’s previous post, cabbies aren’t the only ones being geared up to deliver word-of-mouth marketing. The owners of Fabulous Salon and Fantastic Fingers in South Caroline, USA are – according to a story in the Guardian – on the Obama campaign trail.

Recognising the salons’ customers offer a captive audience (apparently the black female customers at Fabulous Salon can spend up to three hours having their weaves re-done) for the prospective Democratic candidates. Targeting potential supporters in this way is not new the article goes on to say – apparently Martin Luther-King drew upon a similar tactic in recruiting black women to his cause in the sixties. Well done to Obama on picking up the mantle from King – maybe Clinton will have to rely on more than a few tears to ensure she remains the frontrunner.

On a separate point, Borkowski makes an excellent comment on this week’s ‘story-celebre’ – the strength or otherwise of Mr Paxman’s knicker elastic. In my book a classic PR tactic by M+S though the ethics of revealing private correspondence for corporate gain invite discussion – particularly when many (including this venerable publication) have commended the retailers’ apparent commitment to operating on an ethical platform.

Cabbies drive marketing to new heights

For generations, vociferous cabbies have shared their unique, faux-leather perspective with passengers - but now marketeers have their eyes on the humble cabbie as another opportunity to pitch their products at us.

The Times reports on a London cabbie who, courtesy of the Thai tourist board, sampled the delights of Thailand and now – in a cab sporting a new ‘visit Thailand’ motif – is sharing his experience with passengers. The theory is that word of mouth advertising like this is worth the extra investment in an increasingly ad-saturated consumer environment.

For all of us in the PR industry, word of mouth communication is an intended by product of our work and an integral part of the service we provide, but for many the thought of paying for it crosses ethical and moral boundaries.

As Alex Burmaster’s comment in PR Week points out, word of mouth led activity requires the delicate relationship management public relations practitioners are well versed in. It’s quite a risk allowing your message to be communicated through agents who feel no loyalty or legal obligation to you or your client.

I for one certainly don’t believe what every cabbie tells me, but it’s a worrying thought that in the near future swathes of service providers - not to mention people talking loudly on the bus or in the supermarket - are walking, talking adverts.

Actually, that reminds me. Did I tell you about the PR agency I’ve just started working for……..?

Free-range chickens come home to roost

So Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall tried to turn his sleepy town of Axminster into Britain’s first free-range town. He sort of succeeded – 60 per cent of chickens sold that one week were free-range – but the real success will be whether the good intentions continue.

I watched each of the programmes intently and thought it presented a worthwhile opportunity to dissect his approach.

Top marks for effort Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall and well done for trying nearly every trick in the book – community engagement,
third party endorsements, media coverage to name a few. There were a few gaps though (not least using social media) and most of all he failed to choose a message that his audience would grasp. Axminster’s seemingly down-at-heel population cared more about the cost than the quality of their chicken so banging on about animal welfare was unlikely to ring true with many.

What would I have done differently? Well, firstly I’d have drawn upon the local advocates much more – handing out flyers is rarely going to make a difference – and I would have given away more free-range chicken to highlight the taste benefit. An extension to the avenues he chose could have been to persuade Tesco or another retailer to cut the cost temporarily of free-range to encourage more to buy it (his own shop could have led the way). Equally, he could have produced information packs with recipe guides to demonstrate how versatile a chicken is – assuaging the concerns of those who felt they couldn’t afford the higher cost.

As a final point, I was dismayed by the supermarkets’ refusal to engage with Hugh. It strikes me that if you sell a product you should have no qualms in explaining why you do. There seems no reason why you shouldn’t sell battery-farmed chicken if your customers demand it – in which case stand up and be counted rather than shying away.

Reaping the rewards of an ethical approach

When M&S chief executive Stuart Rose was knighted in the New Year’s Honours List, the accolade was awarded for services to retail industry (no surprise there) and to corporate social reponsibility.

His CSR credentials were burnished most recently – and most impressively – when he balanced the customer-empowering “Your M&S” campaign with the “Plan A” environmental initiative (so called “because there is no plan B”). The twin strategy has done much to brush up what had become a rather haggard-looking corporate image and M&S now tops Management Today’s Most Admired Companies poll with the highest-ever score.

Yet the strategy was not merely an image-enhancing exercise. Despite today’s gloomy share-price news, M&S has still enjoyed a positive change in its financial fortunes and in doing so has illustrated very clearly that “profit” and “principles” are no longer mutually exclusive concepts (if, indeed, they ever truly were). In fact, these days they can make very comfortable bedfellows.

According to the Co-op Bank’s ethical consumerism report 2007, the total ethical market in Britain is now estimated to be worth £32.3 billion – up 9% on the previous year – and growing. What’s more, companies taking the lead on environmental, social and governance performance have outperformed the stock market by 25% over the last two years. Conversely, companies deemed unethical can suffer: Nike, Nestlé and Barclays Bank have all been hit by boycotts over allegedly unethical practices.

The fact is that consumers increasingly value values – and not just low prices. Given the rewards available to companies with strong ethical positions – and the penalties awaiting those who ignore the ethical aspect of modern business life – there is more reason than ever to adopt a robust CSR agenda. As Dr Emma Harvey of CSR Consortium member SaltaSustainable points out, “There’s really no excuse not to.”