CorpComms Magazine

Just as Britain's MPs are having to cope with less extravagant expenses so its communicators are learning to manage with restricted budgets. Sadly, there's no chance to sneak in a claim for a departmental duck house or to splash out on a corporate freebie to Wimbledon to ease the daily grind. It is back to basics of long hours and hard work.

Ros Kindersley

Managing director, JFL Search & Selection

It's a bit like coping with food rationing - you have minimal ingredients and have to be inventive. And to continue with the wartime analogy, the shared experience of reduced budget can create a certain camaraderie. We are all in the same boat, keen to survive the recession while protecting our brand, corporate reputation and the quality of our work.

For us, this is most evident in our advertising, marketing and promotional budget. Advertising may be our life blood, but it would drain away pretty quickly if we continued to advertise at the same volume as 2007 and 2008 so we have had to take a collaborative approach with our key advertising suppliers in order to be creative and sustain brand visibility. This happens to have coincided with a seismic shift from print advertising, to online. And the beauty of the Internet is space and versatility, the ability to create imaginative content without space restrictions and to link through a variety of channels, from a job board to our own website or via a business networking forum direct to one of our consultants. One of the real benefits of this recession has been the willingness to embrace new ways of communicating.

I am reminded of the wartime bride who, unable to buy fabric for her wedding gown, is given a discarded parachute and uses the copious amounts of parachute silk to make the most beautiful billowing dress. In this way, our key advertising suppliers have given us the leeway to move from expensive print to the burgeoning new opportunities on the Internet, which has become our leading media for all communications.

One of the most frustrating elements of the recession has been the 'if in doubt, do nothing' mantra - and I think we have got to a stage where most people realise that inertia can be just as damaging to an organisation or individual as making the odd mistake. So let's all boldly go and communicate proactively on the Internet.

Rebecca Whitney

Managing director, Armstrong Hope

As an executive search firm that specialises in placing directors of corporate communications we speak to an awful lot of you out there. We have been monitoring trends since last summer when the effects of the credit crunch really started to take hold. The first thing to note is that it really isn't as bad as the press would have us believe. Clearly there are a number of industries that have been badly affected but on the whole our clients in the private sector tell us that it is heads down and business as usual. The other thing to remember is that we are not seeing masses of redundancies from the in-house sector. This is good news as it signifies the importance chief executives attach to good corporate communications in the bad times, as well as the good.

Having said that, we have recently surveyed most of the FTSE 250 and have found that budgets have been hit. It would seem that between £350,000 and £500,000 has been wiped off the average communications director's budget. Similarly when people leave the organisation they are not replaced. Recruitment freezes are widespread even where companies are doing well. Therefore, your typical communications director is being asked to do more with less budget.

So how do you manage? The first thing to do is to make a list of activities and sort out what the priorities are. The remainder need to be delegated or set aside for the time being. Assess the needs of the chief executive and what the corporate strategy is and align your activities accordingly. With less budget, you'll have to make some tough decisions. The biggest saving that most of our clients have made is by cutting what you spend on agencies. Three quarters of our clients are reducing agency spend and this will account for their biggest saving. There are many other ways to cut costs such as moving the internal magazine online or printing less editions. This is when your creative abilities are giving the chance to shine, so use them to the best of your ability.

Sarah Leembruggen

Managing partner, The Works

We know of in-house teams that are facing all sorts of challenging conditions due to the 'credit crunch' - from roles made redundant to catering with reduced budgets, an inability to replace team members due to recruitment freezes, reduced flexible working hours, cuts in PR agency spend and yet the pressure to perform and keep their company in and out of the paper remains the same. In some cases increased.

How do you cope? You adapt and, in my experience, fast. This is the most challenging part as we are all so used to working in a certain way and have enjoyed a buoyant market for so long and all of a sudden you are perhaps doing a slightly different role, are being expected to take on additional responsibilities, working longer hours and it's 'all hands on deck'.

Adapting to this change and staying motivated is a challenge for all of us. Managing a team not used to working under such restrictions isn't easy either. My advice is to keep talking to the team and stay on top of how they are coping with the change and sit down with them regularly. Taking them for a drink or two won't break the bank either.

Continually reassess the ever-changing challenges the team and company face and tackle them head on. Being flexible and making sure that the value you add is understood can help. It's amazing what you can achieve when things are exceptionally difficult, it certainly makes you focused when you know you need to perform. There is no alternative but to get your head down, be creative and get on with it.

It's going to be a long drawn out recession so changing your mindset to this being the norm is surely the way forward. Plan and prepare for recovery but in the meantime, stay focused - what doesn't break us will make us stronger. 

share me: del.icio.us | digg | reddit