Today's business environment, rife with layoffs, senior management shakedowns and other internal and external communications challenges, demands a new level of cooperation
between in-house communications pros and human resources execs. But tough economic times tend to reinforce the siloism that is all too common at many major corporations, making it
next to impossible for PR to gain the inroads it needs to work effectively with HR.
Shirley Robinson and David Aker are living proof that it can be done, however. In their respective roles as VP of internal communications and SVP of worldwide human resources
at computer giant Unisys, the two have joined forces in recent years to put Robinson's PR skills to work in the service of delivering Aker's HR message.
"Six or seven years ago we really had a disconnect between HR and PR, operating in silos and not coordinating well together. We were suffering because of that, particularly on
the employee-communications front," says Aker.
In order to solve the problem, Robinson migrated out of the communications department and for almost four years led a team that operated under the auspices of the HR shop. Only
when the internal-communications wheels were turning smoothly, with PR staff and their HR counterparts working in full concert, did she once again report to the head of
communications.
"Over time she really built relationships within HR that allowed her to build a bridge back to the communications department," says Aker.
Corporate executives on both the PR and HR sides of the fence agree that personal relationships between colleagues in both areas, especially those relationships nurtured
between key individuals, can help PR pros bring their skills to bear more fully in the realm of internal communications and thus boost their stature in the corporate
hierarchy.
Getting Started
Before a PR expert can begin to forge ties with his or her counterparts in HR, both sides need to clear up some common misconceptions about each another.
In its crudest form, the mutual cycle of prejudice goes something like this: PR practitioners think HR is all about administrative nuts and bolts, while HR execs think the PR
staff exists solely to communicate with the outside world.
"When an employee-benefit change is going to come up, it's the job of HR to communicate that to the workforce, and they have a valuable asset in-house that they typically don't
take advantage of," says Linda Kobel, SVP of operations at Atlanta-based Duffey Communications.
"By the same token, the PR professional often fails to realize that that internal message is just as important or even more important than the press release on the last
shareholders' meeting," she says.
The surest cure is talking, at least according to Susan Russ, director of internal communications at Reader's Digest. "It takes some perseverance," she says of her evolving
relationship with HR. "I join their meetings, and I bring information to their meetings that I draw from a variety of sources, so that it becomes a give and take. I don't just
wait for HR to tell me what is going on in the company."
Nor can the PR pro afford to wait passively for HR to come knocking. "The HR managers have to be taught the value of internal communications," says Richard Laermer, CEO of RLM
Public Relations. "HR people know it is a hard job to keep people in tune with that is going on, but many of them still need to learn that there are resources available to help
them to do that."
How to teach them? "You call a meeting with HR and you sit down and put together goals and strategies for HR and for corporate communications," says Laermer. "You come up with
a goal for the company that is led by HR, a goal that corporate communications can help on. Let's not make this meeting the world's largest brainstorm. Let's find something HR
really needs to accomplish, and let's set some deadlines."
Top-Down Effort
For this tete-a-tete to produce results, the effort typically needs to begin not at the departmental level, but with the senior executives. "You have to start from the very
top, because if it is not supported at the top it is not going to happen," says Claudia Kolmer, HR director at Levick Strategic Communications.
Mark Scott will vouch for that. He has headed up PR at HomeBanc Mortgage Corp. for almost four years. The strong ties between his shop and the HR side of the house are due
primarily "to the fact that the CEO of the company insists that we work together and encourages us to work together on internal stuff," he says. "The CEO will be in a meeting with
HR people, and if I am not there he will say that they need to bring me into this in order to help sell it internally."
With that kind of support from the top, Scott is able to bring to bear the full weight of his skills on the company's HR issues -- and it turns out that once everyone is
working toward a common goal, this is a relatively easy task.
Those who manage to break out of their silos may find themselves going to more meetings and writing more memos in addition to their usual duties, but the extra effort typically
is offset by a vastly higher stature within the corporate hierarchy.
"I am extremely lucky to have a CEO who really appreciates the importance of both internal and external communications," says Scott. "Most people know my name, they know what I
do, and when they have projects with some level of communication, I will get a call. It certainly raises my profile within the company."
(Contacts: Richard Laermer, 212/741-5106, [email protected]; Mark Scott, 404/459-7452, [email protected]; Susan Russ, 914/244-5488, [email protected]; Linda Kobel,
404/266-2600, [email protected]; Kristine Grow, 215/986-5497, [email protected])
First Steps
Want to make yourself an invaluable corporate asset? Walk across the hall and get to know the folks in the HR shop. They need your help, and they'll be happy to get it if you
go in with the right attitude.
Get real: Check out HRWire and other info courses aimed at HR professionals. "Get to know what HR really does, and not just what you think it does," says Richard Laermer, CEO,
RLM Public Relations.
Get your boos on board: "You have to have senior management be part of this process, or else it will be pretty lightweight."
Get personal: "You have to have a sit-down with HR and there have to be other higher-level people involved," Laermer says. "If the CEO and COO appreciate and like this idea, it
will help if they will demonstrate their ultimate buy-in. Their presence in the meeting shows that this is really important to senior management -- and things that are important
to senior management tend to get done."
Get busy: After you've met with HR, set a definite goal, "and have deadlines, so that you will be perceived as having accomplished something."