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November 17, 2004
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How to Save Your PR Job: Fate and Self-Help
By Ben Silverman
If you have an opportunity, tune into Lou Dobbs' show on CNN
on any given night. Chances are, he'll have at least one
story about the "Exporting of America," also known as
offshoring, in which U.S. companies move jobs to places like
India, where high-quality labor costs a lot less than it
does here.
Technology companies may be the leaders in outsourcing jobs
overseas, but everyone from beverage producer Anheuser-Busch
to sign-maker Zimmerman Sign Company is getting into the
act. Media companies such as Reuters, which is U.K.-based,
are also getting into the act, and Time Warner's Business
2.0 even did an outsourcing experiment earlier this year
(see http://www.prfuel.com/archives/000273.html). If you
don't think offshoring can happen in the PR industry, you're
wrong - because it's already happening, and indications are
that the industry could move more jobs overseas in coming
years.
Steven Vass, Business & Media Correspondent for Scotland's
Sunday Herald, recently explored this subject
(http://www.sundayherald.com/45934). Vass found that while
there's little evidence that PR outfits are moving jobs to
India, many are expanding into the region, and it's only a
matter of time before they begin shipping jobs overseas.
"Some people believe that Indian graduates could create
lists with journalists� details, distribute press releases
and make phone calls to organise events. Writing might also
extend to basic articles for the trade press," Vass reports.
"[Simon Quarendon, secretary general of the International
Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO), which
represents PR consultants in 24 countries including the UK],
believes that this kind of work accounts for 25% to 30% of
industry billings in the UK, and that much of it could have
relocated over the next few years."
Vass suggests that the idea of offshoring jobs may not
appeal to PR firms, which obviously have not just their
image to maintain but the image of their clients as well. By
the same token, PR is as competitive as any industry, and
contracts are often rewarded with one thing in mind: the
bottom line.
It's not just PR firms that may end up shipping jobs
overseas. I recently spoke to an executive at a mid-sized
U.S. technology company (over $100 million per year in
revenues) who told me that approximately 75% of the
company's trade articles, his company's media monitoring,
and even some press release generation comes from an outside
contractor based in India. The reasoning? Cost-cuts.
"We've been forced to cut a number of jobs over the past few
years," the executive told me, "including more than half of
our PR and corporate communications staff. We tried keeping
some people on as outside contractors, consultants and
freelancers, but it was just too expensive. We could only
pay so much out of our budget for certain things, so we
looked overseas and found a PR firm in India that could
handle our business. What we found out later - and we're
fine with this - is that they are outsourcing most our work
to individual contractors."
The executive, for obvious reasons, did not want his or his
company's name used. He said the decision caused
considerable debate internally, and the company decided to
offshore as an experiment. When the experiment went well, he
said it became a permanent arrangement. There has been one
positive effect for the company.
"We were able to hire two people back because of the cost
savings, albeit at lower salaries, but they have their jobs,
stock and benefits," the executive said.
Offshoring became a passionate issue with this year's
election in the U.S. Some Americans view offshoring as
un-patriotic, and they believe it is hurting the economy.
Others see offshoring as a natural extension of the global
economy - something that America, more than any other
nation, has promoted and pushed for. Whatever your personal
view may be, one thing is certain, offshoring is a rapidly
growing business, one that many companies believe offers
economic advantages, especially in a slow job-growth
economy. The trend is sure to continue, especially if the
dollar eventually closes its valuation gap with other
currencies and strengthens.
It is difficult to gauge the PR industry's appetite for
offshoring at this time. Many major PR firms have an
international presence, and offshoring jobs would not
constitute much effort. Smaller firms may eventually find
that offshoring is needed to enhance or expand existing
services. Companies big and small looking to lower the cost
of PR activities may find offshoring some PR duties as a
natural cost-savings extension (as the tech company featured
here apparently has).
With this backdrop, the question for PR professionals is,
how can you protect yourself from offshoring? The simple
answer is you cannot. A more involved answer is that you can
prepare yourself for what may be a new atmosphere in the
sector.
Consider some basic questions for a moment. Can you write a
press release? Can you a convince a reporter to see your
side of the story? Can you quickly build a media list? Can
you write a trade article? Can you schmooze at a trade show,
sell a potential client on your services, or get on the
phone and calm down a client in the midst of a PR meltdown?
A good PR person can do all of these things, just as a good
reporter can write about everything from a school board
meeting to the price of oil. In creative fields such as PR
and journalism, we absolutely must have the ability to break
out of our "business card roles" and assume new duties when
the pressure is on, or even when someone is just out sick.
The Chief Executive Officer of a company doesn't necessarily
need to know exactly how the technology works, but it
certainly helps (for a good example of this, take a look at
MCI's Michael Capellas, who took over the company with
absolutely no telecommunications background but has a proven
track record of running successful businesses). PR
professionals, however, should know how their client's or
company's technology works, and they should not have to push
a reporter on deadline off on a company engineer to explain
something.
Too many times in the past I've recounted bewildering or
aggravating experiences I have had with PR people. What I've
learned over the years is that most of the people who caused
my blood to boil were, in some way or another, ill-equipped
for their jobs. A PR person at one of my old companies
churned out press releases that read like they came from the
pen of a seventh-grader. Another PR person I worked with, a
wonderful writer in fact, had no people skills and often
caused journalists to believe that she was uninterested in
answering questions. Still others I've encountered are great
on the phone and terrible in person, or they could talk you
blue in the face but couldn't write you a readable email
with some basic information in it.
Some of the best PR people I know are constantly learning. A
friend who has been in PR for twenty years recently enrolled
in writing classes to brush up on her skills after her "best
press release writer" went on maternity leave and decided
not to come back. Another friend in the business told me he
spent a week essentially interning on the production line so
he could better understand how one of his clients
manufactures its products. And still another friend, someone
who has actually taught PR classes at a college, said he's
been reading at least one PR-related book a week to keep
fresh ideas flowing.
All of these people are doing this so they'll not only be
better at their jobs - but so that they'll still have their
jobs.
"After you've been doing something for ten years," said one
of my PR friends, "you end up being pigeon-holed as 'the guy
who is good at this, but not so good at that.' This doesn't
help you when it comes time for a raise, or when you're
ready to move on to another company. You have to keep
improving if you want to keep the kids at bay. I don't want
some twenty-three year old taking my job because I can't do
something."
When I told my friend that the twenty-three year old may not
be his biggest competition in the near future, he sighed.
"Great," he said, only half-jokingly. "Now I'm going to have
to compete with people half-way around the world."
My friend, however, understands that despite the whims of
employers, he can do plenty of things to stay competitive in
the global workforce. Or, as an Indian proverb goes: Fate
and self-help share equally in shaping our destiny.
---
EDITOR'S NOTE: Don't forget the PR Fuel Reader Survey
(http://www.prfuel.com/archives/000342.html). I'll be
sharing some of your insight next week and later in the
year. Thanks to everyone who has responded so far!
---
Visit the PR Fuel website at http://www.prfuel.com for daily
PR industry news and commentary.
---
Ben Silverman is a former business news columnist for The
New York Post and a Contributing Editor for FindProfit.com
(http://www.findprofit.com), an independent investment
newsletter. He can be reached via email at
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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(c) Copyright 2004 by MEK Enterprises d/b/a eReleases.com
9403 Good Spring Dr., Suite P-3, Perry Hall, MD 21128
All rights reserved.
The opinions expressed by the writer are his own and not
necessarily endorsed by MEK Enterprises d/b/a eReleases.com
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