My blog

Tag: public affairs

  • The Great Gig Economy: Is Freelancing the Future of Work?

    Stuart Thomson looks at the growing trend of the gig economy

     

    There can often be an emphasis, especially at the start of a career, on getting a job. That role is seen as a foundation stone for building networks and experience. But is that right for everyone? Is there an alternative? Is a more flexible, freelance approach something to think about?

     

    My own experience is of having worked for large legal and PR consultancies for my entire career until a few years back when I was made redundant. I am not the first and certainly not the last to find the whole experience shocking and, at times, distressing. It does lead to a period of reflection.

     

    The obvious choice would be to simply look for a new role but there are alternatives. I chose to consider those in more detail. Choices about potential next steps do not exist in a vacuum. There are always financial requirements to consider potentially alongside caring responsibilities and other commitments. Those could be to spend time traveling or exercising, issues much more focused on personal needs. There are no right or wrong approaches. It is all down to the individual, but it is always considering what your priorities are.

     

    I already had a company set-up for the communications training I deliver so I chose to go down a freelance and consultancy route. The aim is not to build a business and employ people but instead to engage in challenging projects and work with people I like. That means my ‘gig’ approach is a mix of short-term projects, longer-term consultancy, and membership of an in-house team. Alongside this I also hold voluntary positions for a Board and delivering mentoring which is very important to me.

     

    This could be considered a ‘portfolio’ approach with a range of different projects on the go. That is not without its complications. Balancing the needs of clients and projects means that there is no typical working day and there are no fixed hours.

     

    If you are considering making a similar career move, based on my two years as a freelancer, I would suggest the following:

    1)    Talk to others who have already made the move to freelancing and chat to them about their experiences. Otherwise, it will always seem like a hugely daunting prospect. People are always willing to chat because they remember what it was like for them.

    2)    Get some professional advice – for me that was getting an accountant who could help me get the fundamentals of my business right.

    3)    Spend time getting your ‘credentials’ in place – it might be easy to try and crack on with reaching out to connections for work, but do you know what you are really saying to them? What is it that makes you different from others?

    4)    Materials – another important foundation would be to get a website up and running and for it to feature those clear ‘credentials’. Employers, customers etc need to see that you are serious.

    5)    Join networks – there are professional and work-related networks to join across sectors, nationally and internationally. Being a freelancer isn’t just about generating your own work, it can also mean working in partnership with others to deliver for a client or project. Those opportunities often come through networks.

     

    The danger with being a freelancer is that you can sometimes feel quite isolated. When you engage with your network do not think of it as solely being about trying to generate new work, but also as time chat and not think about work. That is valuable time.

     

    Being part of the great gig economy is not a panacea and it is not for everyone, but it is an option and maybe provides the flexibility that many are looking for. Think about the option.

     

    See other articles by Stuart Thomson here:

    Stuart Thomson on the importance of personalising your job role

     

    Company Spokesperson, “Your key role at work?

     

  • 2022 Highlights: Stuart Thomson on the Crucial Role of Public Affairs

    Stuart Thomson

     

    All organisations come with their own jargon, language, and structures. Understanding all that can be a full-time role. Public affairs can play a critical role, but it may not be talked about or can be a small part of a larger practice area. So, what it is all about and why should you take it seriously?

    The work a public affairs team focuses on involves influencing public policy outcomes. That means fundamentally knowing their way around policy making including politics, politicians, and Parliament. They are the people who know how government works.

    The foundation of any good public affairs operation should be to use the information, insight and intelligence gathered to play an active role in an organisation’s operations.

    An effective public affairs team, for instance, uses their political knowledge and understanding to inform an organisation’s assessment and management of risk. Politicians and government can bring attention to an issue but, crucially, also have the power to inflict operational damage.

    But it is not all down beat, good political insight can bring potential market and commercial opportunities with government as well.

    The public affairs operation may stand alone or can sit within a wider communications department which may itself be called external affairs. It can be part of a marketing function. For other organisations, it reports into the head of legal. There is no right or wrong organisational structure as long as its voice can be heard. It should all be about the constructive role it plays and how best it can engage and feed into the work of other parts of the organisation.

    In particular, that means having a role in the wider reputation management of an organisation. Having a strong reputation is critical with a range of audiences, not least political ones. Developing a strong reputation takes time, effort and resources and the public affairs team should have a critical role. Not least, it needs an organisation to consider all aspects of its delivery against the standards expected of itself. That can mean difficult and challenging conversations but unless any gap between ‘saying and ‘doing’ is removed then there is a potential for reputational damage.

    Any public affairs role is also well positioned to help grow a reputation through, for instance, thought leadership which can be tied into political and policy development. There are obvious ways in which a public affairs team can work closely with different parts of an organisation.

    Let’s take the HR function, for instance. Public affairs may have a role in the internal communications of an organisation so there is a direct relationship with HR. Public affairs will be very aware of the need for employees to act, sometimes vocally, as champions for an organisation. They are your best advocates. Employee relations and governance are also critical elements of an organisation’s reputation.

    Government and politicians always want to know how well run any organisation is, but employee relations are often an area where a ‘say-do’ gap can emerge, and rhetoric and reality diverge.

    So, whilst HR and public affairs fulfil different roles they often need to work together. This can also happen if something goes wrong. If someone on the management team were to misbehave then HR obviously needs to lead but the communications and reputation management are critical as well.

    So, what about the skills needed to be part of a good public affairs team? Firstly, it is about being a policy navigator and understanding how policy is made and what the processes are, as well as the audiences.

    Secondly, you need to be a strategy developer – that is, able to develop a public affairs strategy, pulling in the information and knowledge needed to do so. Thirdly, it helps to be a communications expert. That will include, everything from message development through to being able to work with the channels needed to get out to audiences.

    Other things are important too. You need to be an audience engager, and have the ability to know and understand stakeholder audiences so that you can identify what drives them, how to communicate with them and how to work with them over a potentially prolonged period. It’s also key to be a risk analyser, and possess the ability to consider a raft of information, as well as knowing and understanding politics, to identify potential risks. But also, how they should be addressed as well.

    That’s not all. You also need to be a networker – both inside and outside of the confines of work. It also helps to be a partnership developer, with the ability to work with a range of audiences, outside of politics as well, to build appropriate coalitions of interest.

    So look out for the public affairs in your organisation, you may wish to work with them. They can be hugely useful.