You're reading: Business Sense: Tighter budget should not be obstacle to learning, creating

A few weeks ago, my employer, Pulse marketing agency, tried a little experiment. We sent out an e-mail offering a free one-day seminar for young corporate public relations managers. It was to be a "PR Boot Camp" of sorts, a rigorous seven hours of basic training on everything from writing and speaking skills to how to organize a news conference.

A cynic would have noted that the offer had two “deal-killer” problems: The seminar was offered in English only and it was being conducted on a Sunday. Despite that, the seminar was fully booked in less than two hours.

I was beyond shocked. “Do they know what day that is?” I asked a colleague. “Do people really want to attend a seminar all day on a Sunday?”
They did. There were 21 people in the room that Sunday. They learned from each other, made some contacts and had great fun.

The calls kept coming. Within a week of the original announcement, registration had closed for an April seminar (this time, more reasonably, on a Saturday) and most of the seats for a May seminar had been spoken for as well.

“It’s easy to give stuff away,” the cynic would say, and he would be right. Yet I feel that our PR group struck a chord.

Spreadsheet-obsessed managers would do well to remember that the best employees actually care about the work they do. They want to learn and to grow professionally. They are so hungry to improve their skills that they really don’t care that the training is on a Sunday, in their second language, or uncompensated. And if their employers don’t provide for their continuing education, they’ll seek out opportunities themselves. That’s how committed they are to doing great work.

Hurrah for them. They’ll ultimately do more to make their companies successful than any budget document ever written.

The recession has caused businesses to cut back or eliminate items like corporate events and staff training – items perceived to be non-essential. When budgets are tight, projects thought of as frivolities or activities not immediately connected to the generation of profit quickly fall victim to the budget axe.

That this is shortsighted is an understatement.

In business, we shouldn’t feel guilty for enjoying what we do. We can’t look at a few hours away from the desk to participate in a team-building exercise as slacking off. It, too, is work, and it is an important work function. Moreover, we should enjoy what we do, or find another, more rewarding occupation.

Plus, teaching and mentoring are essential attributes of a good leader. It’s no secret that a motivated, happy, fulfilled workforce feels better about their jobs and is more effective at work.

In the Feb. 12 issue of the Kyiv Post, Aleksei Kredisov, head of Ernst and Young’s office in Kyiv, said that his firm had researched how companies had addressed the crisis, and found that those that dismissed staff and slashed expenses performed worse than those that held the line. Ernst and Young found that the firms that prospered focused on making the most of existing resources, rather than implementing cutbacks. The companies with the best EBIDTA (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) results spent time and money to keep staff motivated. They continued to invest in their people, and they stimulated key managers through training programs.

But when what’s done is done, and funds for events and training have been eliminated, it’s over, right? After all, without a budget, there isn’t much that you can do.

It’s true that the $25,000 (or more) company New Year party may be on hiatus, but that doesn’t mean that we stop building cohesive teams, learning new skills, or just celebrating the arrival of spring. Nor does it mean that we stop wooing new clients or building our corporate reputation.

There is life after budget cuts. Remember when you were a student – young and broke? Relative poverty was no barrier to having a good time.
Pulse Managing Director Stuart McKenzie put it best: “Not having a budget is liberating. You’d be surprised how creative you can be when you don’t have a budget!”

McKenzie is a master at seeing opportunities where others don’t. He passionately believes in forming partnerships that bring two or more companies together to share resources, build relationships and make new contacts. That they are able to do so enjoyably, at a greatly reduced expense that is not just a bonus, but a key incentive.

Scott H. Lewis is director of public relations at Pulse, Ltd. He has lived and worked in Ukraine for a decade, serving first as editor of the Kyiv Post and later as a public relations counselor.