Arcuris: Managing Excellence

Want to reassure your company of a succesful rebranding? What about a risk-free product launching? Worrying about a major restructuring within the company?

We, at Arcuris, provide a fully certified freelance manager, up to date with the latest technologies, ready to change your company’s risk into an opportunity. He comes in at the project level and leads your company’s project team, in tight cooperation with your programme manager and according to the preset guidelines of your company. After the succesful completion of his task within time, budget and quality requirements, our freelance manager draws up a lessons learned report which can be used for future reference when faced with a similar risk problem.

This is what you can expect from any risk manager, right? So why take Arcuris on board then? Well, here are two important reasons why:

Firstly our freelance manager focuses on the long term benefits for your company. He knows how important motivated employees are for the future of the company so, in contrast to many other freelance risk managers, he takes the people aspect of the project at heart and reassures your company of a motivated team. When the project is finished, the team members will have more respect for themselves, their work and their company. Secondly, our freelance manager takes the perceptions of all the important stakeholders into account through continuous, effective communication to reassure your company of the desired outcome.

In other words, when taking Arcuris on board to lead your team through a risk project, you secure your company of attaining the desired outcome within the time, budget and quality requirements, whilst boosting your employees’ motivation. We, at Arcuris, know how to change your risk into an opportunity.

So why wait any longer? Contact Arcuris NOW for excellence in risk management and get a free concise risk analysis.

internship at Interel

Within 3 weeks, I will start my internship at Interel. This company is an agency that provides services in public affairs, corporate communication and brand communication. I will work at the department of public affairs. Up till now, I don’t know what my task will be. When I went for an interview in November, Interel didn’t know what kind of projects they would be handling in April and May. It is possible that I will make Q and A’s for Interel’s clients who have to go to the federal and Flemish parliament. In order to do this, I will have to learn more about Belgian politics, e.g. what kind of authorities our Ministers have. Another possible task is stakeholder mapping. In that case, I will draw up a list of all persons who have to be warned in case something happens with a company, like a big fire with environmental and health consequences. If you want to know more about Interel, you can go to the following link:

http://www.interel.be/

Go and spread the word…

Employee communication is a very important aspect that is often neglected. However, if you do it right, your company will blossom. To help companies, Fleischmann-Hillard, a famous communication agency, has created a guideline for employee communication: http://www.eu.fleishmaneurope.com/downloads_a/9_steps_en.pdf

There are 9 steps a company must take.

1. Assess the situation. This means collecting as many information as possible.

2. Develop a communications document. This document contains key messages and the business goals.

3. Align senior management. It is crucial that you have the support of all your senior managers. Often, these people have a lot of influence, so it’s good to have them on your side.

4. Engage middle management. That way, they will feel more connected to the company.

5. Begin a dialogue, not a monologue. Let your employees play a role in your succes. If they are happy, they can serve as ambassadors.

6. Determine the right mix of communication channels. The keywords here are: less is more.

7. Measure results. Show these results to your employees, make sure they notice them.

8. Establish a system of reward and recognition. This provides long lasting performance improvements.

9. Stay the course. Succes won’t happen overnight, it takes a while. In the end, however, it’s worth the effort.

So go and spread the word to your employees…

GM and Opel collide

It’s not a secret that GM is in trouble, even though they were bailed out by the US government. GM had to come up with a rescueplan in order to benefit from the federal aid. In this plan, they announced that 26.000 jobs outside the US will disappear. However, the company didn’t mention the plants that should close. As a result, there’s a lot of turmoil in the Opel factory in Antwerp, which is a part of GM.

This is not a good example of crisis communication. With this type of communication it’s very important to name facts and figures. The more concrete, the better. This should be done as soon as possible. Instead, GM delayed the final decision until March, 31, as can be read on this link:  http://www.deredactie.be/cm/de.redactie/antwerpen/090218_Opel_Antwerpen_Reax

In crisis communication, there are 3 “sounds” one should remember. Ooh, stands for objectify, Eeh for empathise and Aah for action. GM clearly forgot to objectify as much as possible.

Now, the workers of the Opel plant in Antwerp fear for their future and will continue to do so, at least until March, 31.

London is just around the corner

This slogan was used in a advertisement by Eurostar. Last week it won the Mixx Award in Brussels. Mixx stands for the Marketing and Interactive Excellence Award. This award is given to ad campaigns that focus on the use of digital media and the interaction with the public. The advertising agency behind this particular advertisement is called Agency.com and they received the award in the category Brand Awareness/Positioning. There were also a number of other categories, such as Product Launch and Use of Interactive Media. The jury consists of marketers, publishers, media agencies, creative agencies and advertisers. There is just one catch to the price Eurostar has won. One of the members of the jury works for Eurostar, so he or she might be a bit prejudiced. What do you think?  Wouldn’t this award have more meaning if the jury consisted of people who have nothing to do with the company? Now, only one member works for Eurostar, but he or she can have a great influence when it comes to voting.

Lien Van den Broeck

http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=DMF24102008_072&kanaalid=23

http://digimedia.be/mixx/nl/jury.php?id_menu=3