Will you leave us alone? Not likely.
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time recently with industries which might be described as ‘beleaguered’. The press have decided that they are evil and to blame for society’s ills. The online world is awash with negative comment as people pile in to criticize. Politicians denounce them and regulators sharpen their knives.
In many cases it’s all tremendously unfair, and certainly they think so, but as we know this is not really the point. They are, as the saying goes, being tried in the court of public opinion and are generally looking at a pretty stiff sentence.
What always surprises me is the continued desire by companies or organizations to adopt what might best be described as the “leave us alone” strategy. Broadly, this depends on a line of argument which goes something like this. “We’re really important to the (normally global) economy. You don’t really understand what we do because you’re not technical like us. We’re quite capable of self-regulating. We’re really very responsible (no, really). Best to leave us alone.” Whilst I totally understand the attraction of this approach, I have one small issue with it. I’ve never seen it work. Ever.
Sometimes, one has to bow to the inevitable and even to see the opportunity in said bowing. Do we have a vision for a different and better world? Do we have a solution which everyone can embrace, or at least a suggestion of one? So many companies want to be thought leaders and this can be very hard to do (not least because you need leading thoughts). But in sectors under attack, genuine leadership is often difficult to find as everyone runs for cover, and people are genuinely interested in informed opinion. This is powerful stuff for the company prepared to stick its neck out.
The challenge is always to look beyond the immediate crisis, to the positioning opportunity. A positive, solution-oriented, industry-leading point of view, stated passionately, widely and consistently, can only stand organisations in good stead. It puts their opponents on the back foot and shapes the debate. It raises morale internally and galvanizes the sector. After all, they might as well. The one thing we can say with certainty is that they won’t be left alone.
Nick Andrews
Challenge: Internship. Approach: Coffee. Implementation: Still following outlined procedure. Outcome: To be confirmed.
Wednesday 2 November 2011: a significant and anticipated day in my diary for two reasons. Not only did this day mark the fact that I have been working for Fleishman-Hillard for exactly two months, but it also marked the milestone of my 21st Birthday.
Taking both of these events into account, now seems like a great time to expose the true thoughts of an overly keen intern entering the manic world of public affairs. In the hope that I still have an internship after this, here goes…
The day before I arrived in Brussels two distant months ago, I left bewildered and highly confused friends behind asking the same questions that they have always asked me; something along the lines of ‘What is wrong with you’? They justify this accusation, this time at least, with three core reasons: I am coming to Brussels to undertake a full time job in public affairs. Although I’m 100% sure that most of them don’t know what public affairs (or the EU for that matter) is. As they packed their sombreros, beach towels and a bottle of ‘England’s finest Spanish Sangria’ (I mean really?) for a year of Erasmus in Valencia, I packed my suits, a pair of high heels (or two) and a pink pencil case. I got on a plane that morning, the small business jet type where you are surrounded by highly important looking people and therefore try not to even breathe too loudly, and not once have I looked back.
So the question is, how do I explain to my sun soaking friends on a beach in Valencia just how fantastic this decision was, and that actually, my judgment of the ‘year abroad’ in my opinion, was without a doubt the best. This is where my 21st Birthday would fall into my explanation; I genuinely felt that there was nowhere else I’d rather be on this day than doing a job that I’ve fallen in love with and working in a truly unique office that I feel privileged to be a part of.
So how has this happened so quickly?
Yes, I have a very small tendency to be over enthusiastic about everything but my diagnosis of this situation is, I believe, justified.
Something that a job advertisement could never tell you about is the truly exceptional atmosphere of the office. I am surrounded by people who are clearly experts and completely dedicated to what they do yet this is magnificently combined with good humour and a great spirit and this hits you as soon as you walk through the office door. Additionally, I am fortunate enough to work amongst an impressive range of nationalities which I am informed is particularly unique to the Brussels office. It would be hard not to enjoy working in this office.
In the past two months I have learnt more than I ever did in my past two years at University. I have been involved in organizing and attending events (Christmas party included), I’ve discovered that things such as ‘logistics’ are actually relatively interesting topics and I’ve even had the opportunity to visit the Paris Office for a day. I now tweet about everything (within reason) and I am genuinely committed to Renovating Europe and the 3% pledge. I am even going to have a go at being on the FH football team. The pace is fast and every day is different and it actually keeps me occupied; being someone with an uncontrollable amount of energy, this has always been a particularly difficult task.
So all in all, I would recommend this internship at Fleishman to anyone that would ask me about it. I would probably tell them that yes the job is hard work and yes sometimes it can get a little difficult, but I would also tell them that it is beyond rewarding and that this opportunity is absolutely incomparable. The job is exciting, the people are fabulous, there is an office band, the coffee machine isn’t half bad, there always seems to be cake in the kitchen and for me, it is a great position to be in when you really care about what you do.
I had a 21st Birthday that I will never forget and my fingers are crossed that I enjoy the next eight months just as much as I have enjoyed the previous two. Perhaps I’ll write a sum up article at the end of my internship year in June and compare the two…!
Emma Cracknell
Is the climate right for change?
Not so long ago, I had the privilege to visit our team in South Africa, where our world-class team has been in overdrive helping a range of clients prepare for the upcoming COP17 global climate talks in Durban later this year.
It is clear the government there – and many of its biggest companies – are determined to put on a big show. Anyone suffering hearing damage from the sound of vuvuzelas at World Cup 2010 would surely agree that the country does “big show” very well. But now, football has been replaced by climate change as the subject on everyone’s lips.
That strikes me as a contrast to the way the subject is being viewed in Europe. The continent has historically led the world in the development of climate change policy and practice, but lately, I get the feeling that other concerns – economic recovery, job creation and so forth – have caused politicians and business leaders to focus elsewhere.
While in many ways this is perfectly understandable, it fundamentally misses the point. I say that for two reasons. Firstly and most obviously, the problem hasn’t gone away. Climate change is still happening, we’re still making more of an impact on the world than we should, and many complex issues have yet to be solved before we are able to live sustainably within the world we created.
Secondly, there is a mistaken notion that tackling climate change costs money and jobs. In reality, it often makes good business sense to tackle climate change. High energy prices mean that measures taken to make operations more efficient can give companies a competitive advantage. The opportunity to do our part to save the planet motivates employees, inspires innovation, and creates new jobs in cutting-edge industries. The notion that reducing our impact on the environment has to mean increased costs or job cuts is outdated.
That said, I also think that it is important to put a value on our environmental impact if we are going to seriously address the problem. It has often been said by companies that “we will not buy our way out of environmental responsibility;” but the real issue is about changing behaviour. Behavioural change is always difficult, and cost is a much more powerful motivator than goodwill.
I’m not sure whether COP17 will produce a watershed of political support for environmental and social sustainability. Early signs are promising – China, for instance, is sending 2000 delegates to Durban, South Africa intends to unveil a comprehensive carbon tax, and the EU remains ideologically committed to furthering the discussion. But international agreements are complicated, the world is deep in recession, and – and as COP15 in Copenhagen showed us – intent and result are often very different things. Time will tell.
In the meantime, however, each of us can focus on where we can personally have an impact. If we each can assess and show improvement in a small way, and actively think about and manage our energy use, it can make a huge difference. It is also important for each of us – either as companies or as individuals, to communicate: to talk about what we’re doing; how successful we have been, what we have learned along the way and – of course – how much money we have saved. Doing this will make it much more real than talking about it in the abstract.
There is no one-size-fits-all model for reducing environmental impact. But if each of us does a little, we can have a big influence. The future of the planet is too important to be a passing fashion.
Dan Baxter
Gastein is the place to be in October
There were a few empty seats in the FH Brussels office back at the beginning of October as many of our healthcare team members made the trek to a very far-away place. Clock up an 8 hour journey involving 2 flights and one shuttle bus journey, and you get to the town of Bad Hofgastein in Austria. Now why on earth would they go there at such a busy time of year?
Our healthcare team was making their way to THE healthcare policy conference of the year in Europe, the annual European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG). The almost weeklong conference is jam-packed with seminars and workshops, involving a cross-section of high-level speakers spanning Commissioners, health economists, patients and industry. Besides helping to run three such workshops, our healthcare team thought they’d share here what makes the trip to EHFG so worthwhile:
- Bringing people together – The EHFG brings many of the top EU, national and regional level policy stakeholders engaged on health issues together in this one isolated place. Real progress by the EU on health can only be achieved with the engagement and cooperation of this mix of stakeholders around the table to discuss common challenges and workable solutions.
- Building a partnership approach- The conference brings together different points of view on the health issues of today. EHFG highlights the need to unite business and policy perspectives, in line with patients who are placed at the core of the discussions. This allows for everyone not only take part in the discussion but also be a part of the proposed solutions.
- Glimpse into the future – EHFG gives a sense of what future challenges lie ahead and what health policies are needed to address these.
- Being part of the solution – Gastein gives everyone an opportunity to propose solutions across all the different health issues from NCDs, e-health, HTA, and more. It’s a great venue to put forward solutions for discussion and contribute to future policy making initiatives in the making.
- Making friends –EHFG provides a unique opportunity to meet and build relationships with the key players on health policy at all levels possibly because you all have nowhere else to go, and because of the inexplicable pull of the infamous Ice Cube bar !
So in the end it really is worth the 8 hour trip (door– to –door) from Brussels, well that and the view’s not half-bad either.
Michelle, Aoife, Clemence and Tatiana
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A Brit in Brussels: Bonfire Night Blues
For British expats living in Brussels, Guy Fawkes Night on November 5th is a low, low point in the calendar. It’s not that we don’t see fireworks all year round here – of course we do. The Brussels authorities make fine use of our over-generous tax contributions to put on a whole range of displays throughout the summer months to mark various, indecipherable occasions. I’m told the same thing happens over Christmas and New Year but, being an expat, that is something I can’t confirm.
No, I’m not going so far as to say that there are no fireworks in this country AT ALL. My point is that come this Saturday, the British expat community will be overcome with a sense of overwhelming ennui. Sure, they’ll be a few scouts putting on a show at the local British School of Brussels, and good on them, but for most of us, November 5th will be just another day sans fireworks. A quick glance at Angloinfo – an online forum for English speakers − shows I’m not the only one to feel disappointed at the prospect of this.
I’m fairly convinced that most people don’t even celebrate Guy Fawkes Night in the comfort of their own homes here. Natural instincts will be telling all right-thinking Brits to take an old shirt and pair of trousers from the cupboard, stuff ‘em full of dead leaves in the garden and burn them on a clumsily constructed bonfire. But we won’t do it. Why? Well, I suppose it’s a bit to do with the origins of the celebration itself. Although few people bat an eyelid at the idea of burning a (symbolic, happily) effigy back home, it’s not really the done thing here – and can lead to all sorts of awkward conversations with indigenous friends and neighbours. It’s hard to explain that although the celebration has lost all sense of historic and religious significance, it remains a central tenet to British culture. Basically, it’s just a bit of a laugh.
So November 5th is a right-off. And it’s a shame really, because for 364 days of the year, Brussels is a fairly natural destination for Brits abroad. Unlike expats of other nationalities, the weather is far from a shock for us (read what Lindsay has to say about how American expats respond to Belgium, for example) – in fact it’s fairly similar to our own weather (invariably awful). Also, we’re a paltry two-hour train ride from home (well, to London at least), the beer and food are heaps better, there’s a trendy international, multi-lingual vibe, loads of cultural stuff to enjoy, clubs to join – the works. Sure, the bureaucracy is time-consuming and shops are shut on Sundays (inconvenient, yet economical) but overall we know we’re onto a good thing.
In spite of my love for Guy Fawkes celebrations – and deep-seated belief that fireworks can only be enjoyed on freezing cold, autumnal evenings – I have to admit that this country’s refusal to mark the occasion doesn’t distress me for longer than a few days each year. If it’s the only time I genuinely feel foreign in Belgium, I suppose I should count my blessings.
Perhaps next year I’ll take a trip home for November 5th, and get all this Bonfire-Night angst out of my system.
By Catherine
FH Podcast: Journalists & Digital #4 – Ian Wishart of the European Voice
Continuing our occasional series on how Brussels journalists use social media, today we feature an interview with Ian Wishart of the European Voice. Ian talks about how – as a new arrival in Brussels – Twitter helped him navigate the Brussels maze. He also muses on the potential for better Twitter performances from the Brussels power brokers.
Click here to listen to this edition of the podcast.*
Click here to subscribe to the FH Europe podcast on iTunes.
* If using Internet Explorer, you may have to right-click on the link and save target as, then play the saved file by double clicking it.
In case you missed it, here’s the Storify page and the web page of the recent seminar held by the Council on “The Impact of Social Media on Journalism”. Outside of the Brussels bubble, here’s an interesting analysis in writing and film from the BBC of how social media had changed its newsroom.
Anita
Breaking news from UK PM – Commission supports completing internal market
I have to admit to being a little bit of a pro-European (no? never! you say), so it is with some fidgeting discomfort that I read overnight the happenings in my native land on the EU. Our London office have done a quick round up of the rebellion on their blog (sounds like something Darth Vadar would want to crush).
I think it’s worthwhile reading the Prime Minister’s full statement to the House of Commons from last night in case you missed it. As Jon Worth notes (hat tip for making the front of the Guardian’s online edition yesterday) being in office has driven probably the most Eurosceptic of Prime Ministers closer rather than farther from Europe. As I read through his speech I noted many of the arguments that pro-Europeans make for why the EU is a good thing and in our national interest. Pity it’s taken a financial crisis and frightful backbench rebellion to get Mr. Cameron to say these things out loud and in public. I do have to laugh however that he’s only just noticed that the Commission are actually for completing the internal market and a friend of the UK’s agenda generally…One has to wonder where’s he’s been since the Single European Act, oh, the UK (well that explains it).
As for the future, I’m of the opinion this debate is not going away, especially in light of the further integration needed as a result of what’s happening in the Euro-zone and the PM’s desire to fundamentally renegotiate our relationship with the EU as expressed in the same speech. As the Americans would say, “Good luck with that”. Well, so be it. It’s time the UK had this discussion and that those who are generally have an aversion to “Europe” acknowledge the good things that the EU does deliver for UK business and citizens. As someone who takes delight in seeking to convert London cabbies to the European cause I’m up for it.
James
(note – see top right, all views expressed on this blog are personal)
FH Podcast: Reputation and Public Affairs
Public Affairs in Brussels has traditionally centred heavily on government relations, namely the practice of communicating with policy-makers. In a digitalised world, however, organisations and industries are increasingly finding that reputation issues that have little to do with the legislative, often very technical, debates that take place in Brussels, are having an impact on how they are perceived here.
For that reason, Public Affairs professionals are increasingly required to appreciate and incorporate elements of reputation management in their work.
In this interview, Dan Baxter, Senior Vice President and Partner at FH in Brussels, tells us more about why reputation management matters and provides some pointers on how to successfully conduct reputation management.
Click here to listen (if using Internet Explorer, you may have to save the file – right-click and save file as – and then play that file separately.)
Click here to subscribe to the FH Europe podcast on iTunes.
Steffen
