Keeping Your Job During the Recession
Recession-proof PR, Advertising or Marketing Jobs in the Downturn
It’s no wonder if even the most positive PR professional is fretting about the potential for losing a viable job in these challenging economic times. Unfortunately companies do have a tendency to make cuts in PR, advertising and marketing during difficult times, whether or not that makes good sense for the overall well-being of the enterprise. So what can you do to recession-proof your job and ensure you escape downsizing? Here are some proactive measures to adopt now to keep your role intact.
Quantify Your Value-add to the Bottom Line
Drawing a direct line between PR or advertising efforts and the company’s profitability can be challenging, but there are ways of showing that investment in outward-facing activities builds brand awareness and influences sales. If you’re in a front-line PR role make sure you track metrics associated with your activities. As boring as maintaining a count of media mentions, interview successes and broadcast exposures may sound, it could mean the difference between being here today and gone tomorrow.
Advertising effectiveness measurement and direct mail campaign response rates have never been more important to track and share. The higher customer and prospect awareness the more likely sales people will meet with success – a win-win for everyone – so make sure you have quantifiable, positive results to report.
Maintain Visibility in Challenging Times
You’re a professional communicator but you may be accustomed to thinking only of the media, customers and prospects as your target audiences. Not so, especially in a down-turned economy. It’s important to turn your communications skills inward to ensure that employees are aware of the work being done in communications and that especially the leadership team – right up to and including the CEO -- knows the impact of the work being done.
It’s easy to make cuts to programs one doesn’t understand or even know about, so ensure your message gets through that the work being done in marketing and PR is critical to the business. You’ve just finished quantifying your results so go ahead and share them in a weekly or monthly report, at employee Town Halls, or in departmental meetings.
Adopt Best Practices for Demonstrable Results
If you’re going to measure the success rate of your programs and publicize those internally, then you’ll need to ensure you have a solid program that follows best industry practices.
Are you and your team responsive within minutes to customer or media queries? Do you have your expert media spokespeople well trained and ready to respond? Are you working with a reputable agency to ensure your advertising dollars are accountable and well placed? Be prepared with a well-run team that follows best practices so that when the spotlight shines, you’ll have a stellar performance.
Take on More to Support the Business
While there are probably days when you wonder how you can manage your own workload or that of your team, if at all possible this is the time to reach out and offer help to other departments. Can your PR team help with a particularly demanding period for the advertising experts? Can the web writer provide some copy-writing support to other team members in marketing?
The success of the organization as a whole is critical so if you can help where there are gaps --perhaps from other cuts in the business -- it will increase the value that you are bringing to the organization in tough times.
Rise above the Noise to Avoid Downsizing
People in PR, advertising and marketing communications tend to be upbeat and extroverted and that will help you rise about the noise and not get sucked into the vortex of doom and gloom. While others lose their focus on the business while they worry about potential downsizing or are paralyzed by political game-playing, you will be doing the job, delivering and documenting strong results, and sharing the good news with influencers in your company. A strong and positive attitude will be noticed and appreciated during difficult times.
Stay Focused and Keep Your Current Communications Role
Remember that you have a specific set of talents which adds value to the organization. You’re no doubt someone who knows their craft, works hard and is accustomed to contributing to the overall progress of the organization. If in spite of all your best efforts the company makes a short-sighted decision to curtail spending and staffing in your department, don’t despair.
You’ll bring the same determination to finding a new role that you brought to your current position and you will find a soft landing – and sometimes a more viable one with a company that places more value on your function in PR, advertising or marketing. Holding that knowledge close can provide some insulation from the fear of downsizing and prevent you from losing focus on your current job.
Recession-proof your job now
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