Bob Feldman « PulsePoint Group - Communications Management Consulting

Engagement Has Become the Business World’s New Currency

Bob Feldman
February 12th, 2010

Originally Published PR Week, February 12, 2010

The impact of social media on how business is run is just starting to mainstream in corporate America. I’m not talking about online promotional campaigns; I’m taking about the very heart of how business is conducted.

The consequence is a redefinition and reframing of how a company and its various stakeholders relate to one another and the impact each has on one another.

Call it “The Engaged Enterprise.” Engagement is the new currency. It suggests an authentic, dynamic, deeper relationship in which conversation and business ideas are shared up, down, and sideways.

In the Engaged Enterprise, stakeholders have deeper relationships with the company. Stakeholders actually talk to one another. Their voices are heard, respected, even acted upon in exchange for their loyalty. The result: The enterprise is smarter and more engaged with their constituents leading to better decisions and deeper, longer-lasting relationships.

Some examples? Consider these three: (more…)

Tags: Commentary, Engaged Enterprise, Internal Communcations, Leadership, Organizational Design, Social Media, Trendspotting
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Don’t Duck the Tough Employee Talk

Bob Feldman
December 22nd, 2009

Originally Published PR Week December 11, 2009

Most companies are not paying out big bonuses this year, if they’re paying anything at all. Exacerbating the situation is that many employees saw their salaries frozen during 2009. They’re anxious, to say the least.

So how do managers throughout the company have conversations with employees as the year comes to a close?

Here are some thoughts:

First, don’t duck the discussions. Employee anxiety only gets worse in the absence of credible information. You and your people must fill the void. No discussion is the worst possible scenario.

Second, the primary concern of many employees today is job security – (more…)

Tags: Commentary, Compensation, Leadership, Talent
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What We Need to Nurture: Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Bob Feldman
October 26th, 2009

Originally Published PR Week October 2009

If you’re a Tom Friedman fan, you know he doesn’t write much about the world of public relations. But he might as well have in one of his recent columns.

Headlined “The New Untouchables,” Friedman writes that in addition to our banking system needing a “reboot and an upgrade,” so too does our education system.

Against a backdrop of who is getting laid off in this economy and who isn’t, a clear trend seems to have emerged: “Those who have the ability to imagine new services, new opportunities and new ways to recruit work (are) being retained. They are the new ‘untouchables’,” Freidman writes. Those simply waiting for the economy to improve so they can resume their jobs the way they had in the past are the very people apt to be let go. (more…)

Tags: Commentary, Leadership, Professional Development, Talent
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The clock is ticking for comms pros to grab leadership of social media

Bob Feldman
September 21st, 2009

Originally published in PR Week

We’ve entered the next phase of social media. The experimenting is over. Social media has transformed our business; how companies communicate will never be the same. And I mean communicate in the broadest sense of the word, including marketing, customer engagement, market engagement for R&D and product development, etc.

From where I sit, many chief communications officers are helping to drive this change and will be at the forefront of this corporate transformation.

But I also see many who aren’t. The clock is ticking and it’s time to do what’s required to provide leadership.

The alternative: Marketing will do it for you. (more…)

Tags: Commentary, Leadership, Social Media
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Newsflash: Our future is about talent

Bob Feldman
May 20th, 2009

Originally published PR Week

I recently had the privilege to be invited by the Council of PR Firms to join some colleagues in a teleconference/webinar about the strategies agencies can employ to do well in this difficult economy.

I was joined by Kathryn Metcalfe of Pfizer, Baker & McKenzie’s Mark Bain, Peppercom’s Darryl Siry, and by our moderator, Darryl Salerno of Second Quadrant.

It should come as no surprise that these folks had some terrific insights, ranging from high-value ways to help companies drive their businesses forward to basic recommendations on the importance of passionately focusing on client loyalty in such a tumultuous time. (more…)

Tags: Commentary, Leadership, Professional Development, Talent
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Agency consolidation growing, but do it for the proper reasons

Bob Feldman
April 6th, 2009

Originally Published PR Week

Any CCO whose company retains multiple PR firms and is not considering some form of roster consolidation is outside the norm right now.

This urgent desire to gain stronger control of external business partners does not necessarily mean consolidation to just one global agency. That remains a rarity.

Why are companies looking at consolidation right now? Well, the problems with the status quo are plentiful: an absence of global integration at a time when many corporate issues are uniquely global; message inconsistency; greater risk to the corporation; too much client time spent on firm management; diffused accountability; an absence of efficiency in idea creation and execution; reduced quality control; potentially reduced market impact; and the total absence of leveraging scale for better pricing. (more…)

Tags: Agency Consolidation, Organizational Design
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How to keep your people focused in a tough, volatile environment

Bob Feldman
March 10th, 2009

Originally Published PR Week

How do you keep your people focused, motivated and engaged when their friends are being laid off, their budgets are getting cut, their bonuses aren’t being paid out and the future of their companies is uncertain?

Not easy. And of course there’s no simple solution.

But to paraphrase white house chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel, every crisis presents an opportunity and it should never be wasted.

And this crisis is no different.

So I asked some leaders in our field how they’d suggest tackling such tough issues.

“Sometimes a reminder is helpful to communication professionals that continuing to advance their own skill sets is critical, even in the midst of an economic downturn or tough business environment,” said Johnson & Johnson’s Ray Jordan.  ”In the face of reorganizations, I’ve seen a number of folks who have stepped up to much bigger challenges that might not have been accessible during ‘business as usual’ conditions. Do those engagements always mean bigger inside opportunities? Not necessarily. But it means the individuals have expanded their repertoire as professionals - and that’s a terrific investment in their own futures.” (more…)

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Tough Times Demand Research, But Go Beyond Usual PR Metrics

Bob Feldman
January 26th, 2009

Originally Published PR Week

If I had to guess, despite the tough economy, public relations research companies are probably doing pretty well these days. When the bottom line gets extra scrutiny, everyone typically steps up to make sure they have quantifiable metrics in place to support their business operations.

Still, I would encourage a deeper dive.

Most chief communications officers are under increasing pressure to link communications performance to measurable business results.

It’s no surprise. Most corporate executives I meet, from CEOs to heads of business units, cannot readily articulate how the public relations activity in their organizations measurably impact key business drivers.
(more…)

Tags: Commentary
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It’s time to hand out bonuses: but wait, in this environment?

Bob Feldman
December 15th, 2008

Originally Published PR Week

Many companies are in a predicament right now. Their financial performance during the first half of the year was fairly strong and, as such, their full-year numbers are good enough to provide bonuses to key staff members who performed well.

But the second half of the year, especially the fourth quarter, has been terrible, with signs that things will only get worse in 2009. In an environment of staff and budget cuts, how can a company also pay out bonuses?

This dilemma raises two questions, one financial, and the other moral. First, is it financially prudent to pay out bonuses, even if “earned” in 2008, when 2009 has the potential to be a financial disaster? (more…)

Tags: Commentary, Compensation, Leadership
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Lessons from Tuesday’s election: confidence, consistency are key

Bob Feldman
November 3rd, 2008

Originally Published PR Week

I’m going out on a ledge here, and writing this column two weeks before Election Day. There’s a decent chance you’re reading this after we know the identity of our next president. So if Sen. John McCain won the election, what follows won’t hold much water. But, if Sen. Barack Obama is our next president, I think there are some lessons we should all consider.

The last weeks of the campaign were particularly volatile due to intense problems with the economy. The quickly assembled bailout package, followed by the wild fluctuations of the stock market, created a crisis mentality, adding to the already combative election cycle. (more…)

Tags: CEO Counsel, Commentary, Leadership
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Author Archive

Don’t Duck the Tough Employee Talk

What We Need to Nurture: Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Newsflash: Our future is about talent

Agency consolidation growing, but do it for the proper reasons

How to keep your people focused in a tough, volatile environment

Tough Times Demand Research, But Go Beyond Usual PR Metrics

It’s time to hand out bonuses: but wait, in this environment?

Lessons from Tuesday’s election: confidence, consistency are key

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