Power is great, just ensure you use it to send the right message.

Education is what you get from reading the fine print. Experience is what you get from not reading it.

All of us who have worked for quite a while, always have to give the Pink Slip many a times, reasons too vary. It is never an easy task to do this but it has to be done. Over the years I have had to do it personally a lot of times & believe me it is never easy.

However, over time I have realised that doing so with “Grace” is the best way & have also personally drawn up what I refer to as Appropriate etiquette for communicating bad news/handing out pink slips.

Bad news in face to face meetings only with Human Touch - I never ever believe in giving bad news by telephone, email or via. As the Boss Man to your direct reportees, it is their right to hear it from you straight & without embellishments AND never use 3rd person…’Management has decided; Boss has decided etc’. It just demeans the whole communication and relationship.

Privacy This is another important criteria whilst imparting bad news. Yes even in these days & age of open offices also. If need be take him/her out for coffee or wait till the office is empty.

Spend time Nothing is cut & dried that you announce, get up & walk away. Spend some time, share good thoughts.

Extend Support Unless it is a ‘Termination’ for serious offense, always extend support in terms of reference, help to connect with people etc. It really does not cost anything much.

Keep in touch This is one thing I believe in strongly. There is no need to be apologetic about the whole thing & avoid facing or meeting them or even avoiding their calls. They are your good will ambassadors and there is every chance that a time may come when they would be able to assist.

What are your thoughts on this? Do share and add to these.

I am always asked, how do you manage to recruit people without paying them the Sun, Moon & earth - that too in Retail.

I do not have many points or gyan on this, except that I am Upfront:

I tell people you’re in a very competitive industry.
I am always honest with them.
I tell them that I am Not right everyday, neither do I expect them to be. As long as they are 6/10 times and keep me informed about the others, it works for me.
The reason this works, because in the retail business, you’ve got to be right every single day. There is extremely high day to day intensity associated with retail.

All great leaders Gandhi, Mandela, Washington, were all ordinary individuals, who took a decision to wriggle out of comfort zones. They took a decision to challenge themselves & the world around. Took a decision to look beyond themselves, to get involved, to make a difference to the lives of millions of people around & that is what is required from everyone.

I have been always an experimenter so to speak with basic applied technology (that is to say, I use what I am comfortable with) for the past 10 years and found it pretty effective.

Ryze, Blog, Linkedin, Facebook & finally Twitter used it all. Some good, some bad but it all balances out.

And it was in 2009 that I kept hearing this “Social Media” being used very often. Gentleman from a company that I was consulting about their Online foray kept throwing it to me and soon enough their agency got into the act, giving me the whole nine yards.

Trying to understand the entire social media jungle, I started delving deeper into it - reading about it, meeting people, trying my little experiments that I have chronicled on this blog.

After having joined my current organization, I was bombarded by everyone (except the peon, receptionist & driver) about online strategies, social media (there again) & how PR would help.

In a bid to get away from all these I finally caved in & agreed to meet the shortlisted PR agencies (three in number). And there began my nightmares…

All of them came in with the CEO/VP; Account Director; Account Executive and practically the same Power Point Presentation of 30 plus slides which could be broken up as:

1-10 About their company & our company (straight lift from brouchere)
11-20 About PR snapshots - how it works, value vs straight advertisements etc.
21-30 Social Media - snap shots - print screen of some clients

None of them could answer the following basic questions that should have been internally prepared at their end:

1) Why have you not studied the client? (not even googled it properly)
2) Do you think the client 106 years old has no clue of PR
3) Did the PR brief not tell you client expectations? In which case where are they on any of the 30 slides
4) Social Media - nice meaning from a host of sites etc. But do you think we need it? What should be our strategy? (Answer was FaceBook, Twitter & mind you our Ecommerce site is yet to go up)
5) How would PR work keeping in mind the recommendations? (Sir, worked for our other clients)

Nowhere during the course of the three meetings was the work complete integration, interaction with old, new consumers, commitment used anywhere. Retainer mila, bus kaam ho gaya. And YES they are yet to get back on the questions asked.

I guess this may be one of the reasons that some of my agency friends, acquaintances avoid talking shop with me, which actually may be a good thing.

But that leaves one with a Question - Is PR harnessing the power of social networking sites & blogs to help businesses generate strategic mind share & presence. and If so how many Indian Brands have enjoyed the fruits till now.

I sure would welcome suggestions, criticism, inputs, thoughts on the above….it does not matter whether you understand social media or not; whether you are an agency or client.