June 28, 2016
Working alongside our many successful clients, we get great satisfaction in seeing the contribution of our work. Being part of a productive, vibrant client/agency relationship is truly one of the reasons I enjoy our work so much.
But often we are called upon to help companies – and to a much lesser extent individuals – weather tough situations. We’ve worked on a lot of difficult issues in our 22 years: kids sickened by contaminated beef; companies brought down by the illegal or improper actions of its leadership; businesses caught in economic sea changes that force them to make difficult choices in their attempts to keep operations afloat.
In each of these instances, we’ve always told our clients that the fastest, safest and most direct way out of a crisis is to be abundantly transparent and completely honest. Generally speaking, as a culture we are willing to forgive (and forget) as long as people are straight up and honest. Conversely, organizations that try to gild the lily, attempt to slide by with half-truths or point fingers in other directions are in for rough sledding.
What I am saying is the work we do as professional communicators isn’t all upbeat and fun. In fact, some of the work we have to do is downright crappy.
Recently we helped a client through a tough situation, culminating in a horrible day; having to break the news to their staff that the company was closing their operations after being a vibrant part of the community for many years.
Through a set of unimportant circumstances, colleague Annie Alley and I were tapped to help hand out WARN notices to understandably shaken and often tearful employees. The company did everything they could to do right by their team members, with extended job placement assistance and generous severance, but it was a dark day for all involved. It was a humbling experience for us, but not nearly as impactful a day as it was for those on the other side of the table.
For those who are considering a career in communications, just remember what the Bard said: “All that glisters (cq) is not gold.” PR and communication work is not all happy stuff.
