Montpellier’s relationship with Weymouth College clearly demonstrates how PR is not merely ‘spin’ to deliver a message. Instead, when used most effectively, it is an integral element of the management function and is employed to influence policy working hand-in-hand with other managers. When handling a crisis management situation, particularly, the PR has to be more than just a gloss if it is to have an effective and long-lasting effect. Moreover the PR ethos must be embedded in the management culture so that it cascades through the entire organisation.
Weymouth College employs 600 staff and provides Dorset with a wide range of learning/development opportunities. Last summer the college relocated from run-down ‘60s premises in the town-centre to a purpose-built site.However, when the new Principal Sue Moore took up her post she was faced with a number of challenges. They included:
• Weak financial health of the College, which could potentially lead to a position of
total insolvency
• Disatisfaction amongst some staff and an entrenched reluctance to change
• In FE College league tables charting 400 institutions, Weymouth College was judged
one of the bottom of its kind
• An Ofsted examination, conducted within weeks of the new management team’s
arrival, was to be published imminently, and would highlight years of poor
governance and weak leadership
In January, term was due to recommence, together with the vital enrolment process and, following a period of welcome-back-to-term presentations, Sue intended to tackle the need for change and inform staff of the background to the College’s critical situation. But the imminent announcement of the damning Ofsted report was likely to make this task extremely difficult and
Montpellier were commissioned to guide the college’s internal/external comms and put the college on a sounder corporate communications footing for the future.
• Diffuse the impact of the Ofsted report on Weymouth College - due for release in
late January 2003.
• Announce to staff the need for change at Weymouth College, but without
detriment or disruption to the vital enrolment processes occurring throughout the
year.
• Communicate past (and future) periods of change/trauma into a business context,
in terms which staff could understand and, ultimately, embrace
• Prepare the workforce for dealing with the difficulties and challenges associated
with putting the College onto a more viable footing.
• Manage the media’s interest in and likely negative perspective on Weymouth
College’s situation, and thereby build the foundations of a more positive, lasting
relationship with the media.
• Build confidence in Weymouth College from its strategic partners and customers.
• Board/Management Team
• Stakeholders (LSC, funding agencies, banks etc)
• Present/future Staff
• Parents
• The Media
The critical factor behind this programme lay in timing, not just the imminence of the Ofsted report, but the time required recruiting new managers. Morale was at an all-time low and unless internal communications was able to balance the bad news with the positives of the future, there was a danger of losing the confidence of the 600 staff, students, parents and strategic partners.
• Montpellier’s first recommendation was to accelerate the appointment of new members of the middle-tier management team (CMT), because without a robust line of devolved accountability, the Principal would be over exposed. A new hierarchy of internal comms needed to be established and set as a firm precedent for the future.
• A ‘brand for change’ was developed by Montpellier, together with logo, named WeyForward. This would be the ‘standard’ for the future and a reminder of the ‘journey of progress’ unfolding.
• A press release announcing WeyForward would be launched prior to Ofsted’s report. This would set out the road-map for recovery, and be supported by a poster/flyer, describing in detail the background/rationale for the future.
• A cascade of briefings would take place in the January, starting with a central session led by Sue Moore, followed by break-out sessions to be led by the newly recruited CMT.
The Ofsted report was released in mid January, and the local newspaper, the Bournemouth Echo, reported this in detail, but was tempered by mention of the launch of WeyForward.
The college staff has responded positively to the new focus of the College under the firm and fair guidance of the college’s new senior management team.
An interim Oftsed inspection of the College (in May) has provided significant encouragement that Weymouth is on track, and the LSC has underwritten the college with a £3m transitional finance package.
 |
Sue Moore explains: “This is probably the most challenging of my appointments in managing a Further Education college through change, and our work with Montpellier’s senior consultants has been a much appreciated test of their abilities to respond to extremely complex issues.”
|