Neil E. Herman, a new crisis management director at Burson- Marsteller, has a resume that would impress just about anyone. He's tucked under his belt 27 years of law enforcement work, which includes investigating terrorist acts, such as the World Trade Center bombing that snuffed out 230 lives. But Herman is about as low-profile as one gets - a strange fit in the land of PR.
Enter the new era of PR gurus.
When the FBI veteran joined BM several weeks ago, his arrival in New York represented more than a coup for his new employer. It is evidence that PR agencies are headed in a different direction to round out their strategic staffs.
Agencies are in search of everything from lawyers to lobbyists, and recalcitrants and researchers to human-resource experts. From creating new titles for veterans to plucking people from the corridors of Congress, PR firms are becoming smarter about who they hire - and also about the titles they divvy out.
Nationwide, recruiting heavies like Herman may help PR firms compete with management consultants like Deloitte & Touche, Wilton, Conn., and Andersen Consulting, Chicago. While these firms are paid millions every year to handle delicate restructurings and highly publicized corporate transitions, the role of PR in the process hasn't been a priority.
But by beefing up counsel a PR firm provides for its clients, the PR-versus-management-consultant rivalry likely will take on a new twist, says Stephanie Nora, a principal with Wixted*Pope*Nora*Associates, Chicago.
Taking on New Titles
Other large firms are hiring from the outside and creating unique titles in an effort to expand expertise and the PR professionals' role.
For example, Shandwick, New York, appointed a chief learning officer, Bruce Bednidt, and is paying Charles Fombrum, a research professor at NYU's prestigious Stern School of Business, to develop learning training/methodologies to help the company attract and retain people.
These examples are proof of how atypical the internal make-up of a PR agency can be. Another is Marybeth Belsito, founder of newcomer Belsito & Company Inc. Prior to her entree into PR in 1988, when she joined Cohn & Wolfe in Chicago, Belsito was a social worker with a master's degree from Rutgers. She arrived in PR after an intense job search and career refocus.
She agrees it appears to be a strange fit but it's been 10 years since she retired her social worker hat and found a place in medical communications that allowed her to hold true to her altruistic nature. PR provides an outlet for her commitment to communications as way for businesses to better mold reputations and to be seen as members of communities.
In fact, community relations, corporate citizenry and philanthropy are becoming industry buzz words, labels probably used more prolifically today than press kit and media tour. And then there's the lingering reputation management and crisis management phraseology. Which is where people like Herman come into the picture.
For example, someone like Herman surely can provide a shot of adrenaline when it comes to promoting a business, especially when clients are sometimes charged $5,000 for the creation of one press announcement.
Moves like Herman's and talent like Belsito mean the industry's knowledge base is receiving an injection of fresh talent and insight that will allow it to compete with firms, like Watson-Wyatt, Bethesda, Md., which have become image-management champions.
"Issues management is going to play a significant part in PR," adds Belsito. "We will become more strategic the more we recruit diversity and as [PR] people become more sophisticated. The barrier has long been that there hasn't been enough attention paid to intellectual capacity." (APCO, 202/778-1260; Belsito & Co., 212/586-8877; Chisholm-Mingo, 212/697-4515; Hill and Knowlton, 202/333-7400; Shandwick, 212/591-9708; Wixted*Pope*Nora, 312/280-9280)