Nico Wattimena, Jakarta
A professional engineer must chose the correct set of precision tools for any job at hand.
A Formula I mechanic or a jet turbine specialist takes pride in his tools, using them wisely — and proudly.
The same analogy can be superbly applied to senior management in major corporations.
Deep down — and I mean DEEP down — most Indonesian chief executive officers (CEOs) do indeed appreciate that “tooling” the behavior of their most significant external audiences ranks in importance with increased sales figures and stronger earnings.
Understanding this is one thing, but whether they spend the energy to do anything about it is entirely another question.
As a professional, I believe — as do Indonesian legislators who know they cannot govern without the consent of the governed — that management cannot “rule” their enterprises without the support and understanding of their most important audience.
In this case I refer to such audiences as shareholders, customers, sponsors, regulators, employees, politicians, public interest groups, journalists, suppliers, non-governmental organizations, strategic partners, educators, trade unions — and of course the general public.
If this appraisal is correct, then there are some bright days ahead in 2008, not only for public relations people in Indonesia but for national commerce at large.
Fortunately for all concerned, such success will spring from the fundamental premise of public relations: people act based on their own perception of facts — and those perceptions lead to behavior about which something can be done.
When public relations create, change or reinforce an opinion by reaching, persuading and actioning those people whose behavior may exert a critical effect on an organization, the public relations effort is deemed a success.
What that should mean to a CEO should in fact be obvious. “I guess that the money I’m spending on public relations really could result in precisely the kind of change in behavior in my key shareholders that feeds directly into the achievement of my organizational objectives,” a CEO should say.
That conclusion will allow us to accomplish what we do best — reach key audience perceptions with the facts, presented as we know them. Hopefully, the message we convey will be clear and persuasive, and will create, change or reinforce perceptions within that target audience. And in turn it will monitor to what degree audience behavior has shifted in our favor.
This matters in a very important way. Management really can establish desired behavioral change up front, in the planning phase, and can then insist on achieving that result before pronouncing a specific public relations campaign a success.
What this signifies is that management’s comfort level with their public relations investment will increase when that investment yields the behavioral modification they indicated they desired at the beginning of the program.
This will prove to them they’re getting their money’s worth.
This is powerful stuff. A chief executive of an association, a business or even a public entity in Indonesia will work enthusiastically with their public relations counsel and agree early on, in the planning phase, what they must do to achieve a targeted adjustment in the behavior of a really important external audience.
What will management want from us as we move ahead to 2008? I believe they will call upon us to apply our special skills in a way that facilitates the achievement of their precious business objectives.
But, as always, no matter what strategic plan we can create to solve a problem, no matter what tactical program we put in place, at the end of the day, we must modify a target audience’s behavior if we are to deliver real value to the management – and show them we are earning our money.
Now, it might occur to you to ask, “If public relations is so effective, why do some managers in Indonesian companies shy away from it”.
I would answer you by saying it’s because they don’t really understand or accept the direct connection between what public relations is capable of delivering, and their need to achieve specific business objectives.
How tragic: this is a lost opportunity of the worst kind. And it is a shame, because the reason we engage in public relations in the first place is to change the behavior of certain groups of people — people critically important to the success of a business.
When at last we come to the end of the game, we will continue to ask — did we indeed manage to meet the behavioral modification goal we set for ourselves up front? If we did, our public relations program may be judged a successful one. If we failed to do so, we must carefully take stock, revaluating our goals, strategies, messages, communications tactics and audience perception data gathering methods; we then “reset our tools” and adjust our techniques for the next effort.
Now, when will management be fully satisfied with the public relations results we have achieved? Only when our “reach” persuades and moves others to a desired result — only when our efforts have produced a visible modification in the behavior of the target audiences they wish to influence.
Let me conclude our look at public relations: I acclaim it a “sharp tool” for 2008, by highlighting once again the three benefits management will continue to receive when the behavioral changes become apparent and when they meet a program’s original behavior modification goal.
First, their public relations program will be a success; second, by achieving the behavioral goal they set at the beginning of the program, they will be using a dependable and accurate public relations performance measurement tool; and third, when “reach, persuade and actions” produce a visible modification in the behavior of the people they wish to influence, they will be using public relations to their very best advantage, ensuring they really do receive their “money’s worth”.
The writer is a public relations consultant and lecturer for the post graduate program at the London School of Public Relations (LSPR) in Jakarta. He can be reached at nico_wattimena@yahoo.com.
