Managing PR in a dynamic environment: Secretariat of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

The site visit to the Secretariat of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union provided important insights into managing public relations, as well as internal and external communications, in a dynamic environment. Managing communication and public relations is a critical function, since this is Latvia's most important historical event since independence.

Since Latvia joined the EU in 2004, it became eligible to be a part of the EU decision making process; it most important role will be taking on the presiding state function in 2015, as part of the joint Trio presidency. Accordingly, it is essential for Latvia to communicate and demonstrate its willingness, readiness, and ability to govern at the EU highest level. The role of the Secretariat involves coordinating the formulation of the Latvian part in the joint Trio Presidency 18-month program and the Presidency’s six-month work program.

One important example is how the Secretariat approaches explaining the functions to both Latvian citizens and the media. Staff, websites, social media and communications with the media deliver a consistent message about Latvia's role and impact when it becomes President of the Council of the European Union. Every 6 months, on a rotating schedule, a European Union (EU) member state becomes the presiding state and is leading the work of the EU Council. The presidency is an opportunity for every member state, regardless of its size or length of membership, to influence the EU agenda and guide EU endeavors. The Presidency organizes and provides leadership to the EU Council, Permanent Representatives Committee, and working group meetings. There can be up to 2000 meetings during the 6 month period. The objective of the Presidency is to be a neutral mediator. Additionally, the Presidency's tasks are to act as a coordinator within the EU Council, work with other member states, and the EU Council General Secretary, as well as with the European Commission, European Parliament and the President of the European Council. The Presidency represents the EU Council in relation with the European Commission, and acts as the EU Council's representative outside the EU.

The Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union will occur during the first 6 months of 2015. Although most of the agenda's specific items within the working program result from current events, long term planning, international organizations, and previous agreements within EU membership, Latvia's can influence at least 5% of the presidential priorities. The agenda includes involvement, growth and sustainablity. The presidential priorities for this term includes: 1) Growth and competitiveness; 2) Digital agenda; 3) Global focus.

Another example is coordinating meetings, social media communications, and media communications during the Presidency, as 200 meetings will take place in Riga (held in the National Library), and another 1500 meetings organized to be held in Brussels or Luxembourg. Furthermore, the Digital Assembly Agenda will be held in Riga in 2015.

According to the Director of the Secretariat, Ms Linda Jakobsone, the Secretariat also carries out numerous other tasks:
coordinates the work of public institutions in the matters of the preparation and management of the Presidency, by cooperating with public officials delegated by the public institutions;
in running the Presidency, cooperates with public institutions, social partners, non-governmental organisations, physical and legal entities;
coordinates devising decision making procedures for the preparation and execution phases of the Presidency;
in association with ministries, the State Chancellery and the School of Public Administration, coordinates the planning, recruitment and training of the Presidency staff;
in association with the ministries and the State Chancellery, evaluates the plan of measures, activities and financial means for running the Presidency; sums up and prepares the total cost estimate, as well as producing a report on the process and expenditure of implementing the measures and activities;
applies the required procedures and carries out procurements to enable the organisational activities of the Presidency;
coordinates cooperation with international and non-governmental organisation, social partners and businesses to attract co-financing for events or services;
coordinates the events in Latvia, also dealing with matters related to receiving delegations, security and transportation, and provides support when the Presidency events are organised abroad;
coordinates the setting up of a national scale information system required for the Presidency operations and a uniform computer network for the work with the European Union documents;
ensures premises and equipment for the needs of the Secretariat;
makes an estimate of the funding required for the Secretariat’s operations and the implementation of the planned events, as well as being answerable for the use of the Secretariat’s funds;
on behalf of the state, enters into deals under private law in order to ensure the Secretariat’s operations;
carries out other tasks, as laid down in laws and regulations.

My take-aways from this seminar include:
1) establishing and evolving a consistent message, one that extends beyond branding and imagery;
2) using agenda-setting as a tool to influence execution;
3) developing and applying contingency and crisis plans;
4) leveraging and influencing perceptions using social media engagement;
5) using responsiveness and anticipation as a way to manage and, in part, shape the external environment.

The Freeport of Riga: Leveraging quality management and marketing to drive revenue

The Freeport of Riga is a significant part of global and regional cargo supply chains and passenger traffic network in the Baltic Sea region, providing safe and reliable services. Cargo and transit is an important component of Latvia's GDP, which makes the Freeport of Riga Authority not only an integral part of the city, but Latvia as well, thus highlighting how important its is to coordinate and manage its social and environmental responsibilities in addition to the vital contribution to the growth of Latvia's economy. The Freeport of Riga manages this process through providing quality and breadth of services to clients, as well as establishing high performance standards.

The role of the Freeport of Riga is to maintain and extend the edge as a leading port of the Baltic States and as a source of GDP growth for Latvia through: Strengthening the customer base and seek to avoid dependency on any one cargo type; Developing a sustainability framework to ensure environmental and social issues are fully integrated in our business; Investing in new technologies and employing innovative approaches which enhance the quality and efficiency of services; and Working closely with the government of Latvia, the city of Riga and its inhabitants to create a seamless, integrated transport infrastructure. The Port not only has a marketing team, it provides governing activities and helps coordinate partnerships, exhibitions and commercial development supporting the Port.

One example of facilitating expansion was provided by Vita Gerharde, Marketing Specialist, who explained that the Freeport of Riga helped coordinate the infrastructural support, environmental and social responsibilities, and additional funding to build a new port adding 22 million tons capacity and $162 million euro annually to the regional economy. The Freeport of Riga already is the Baltic's biggest coal port, not only only facilitating transit with one of its largest partners Russia, but also the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands as well, in part due to its strategic location. Coal represents nearly 40% of the 36 million tons that are shipped through the Port each year.

Another example is attracting NATO cargo, which diversifies the Port's transit as well as adds security for the region. The costs and location advantages were marketed and supported, which helped leverage and extend the Port's capacity as well as the cargo emerged.

My take-aways from this seminar include:
1) location advantages;
2) building competence in transit (augment low cost with service as a differentiator);
3) infrastructure as a source of competitive advantage (support, operations, impact on capacity and costs);
4) opportunities and threats associated with relying on international cargo (EU, Russia/CIS);
5) build to suit partnerships;
6) free economic zones.

LIKTA: Managing electronic infrastructure and marketing

The seminar at Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association (LIKTA) provided several important insights in managing risks associated with infrastructure, as well as cooperative marketing techniques.

LIKTA was founded in 1998 and is a professional association that regroups over 85 important ICTE product and service providers and educational institutions, as well as about 130 individual professional members of the ICTE industry sector in Latvia, especially in computer hardware and software, electronics, and telecommunications infrastructure and service providers. It is a non-governmental, democratic organization, respecting and balancing the rights of its corporate members and its individual members, as all of its decisions are consensus based.

This organization facilitates the objectives of e-Europe and Latvia emerging as a full partner of the knowledge based global economy. LIKTA has elaborated its own e-Latvia strategy as well as an e-government model. Crucial prerequisites for this mission are a knowledgeable, ICT literate population and a well developed ICTE industry. LIKTA actively uses social media, especially through Facebook and Twitter through the "If you like Lativia loves you" pages. Collectively, these initiatives break down barriers and facilitate opening businesses faster in Latvia.

One example that stood out is LIKTA's role in developing a local coalition for e-skills and jobs in Latvia to support both the EU Grand Coalition for Digital jobs initiative and Latvian domestic policies such as Latvia 2030 and the National Development Plan for Latvia 2014-2020. The “E-skills partnership” memorandum was signed by representatives of governmental sector, non-governmental organizations and industry representatives − Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association (LIKTA, representing ICT industry with more than 220 members employing more than 25000 ICT specialists), Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Ministry of Economics, Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Welfare, Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (representing entrepreneurs from various sectors with more than 1000 members  and employing more than 70 thousand employees), Latvian Open Technology Association and Latvian Internet Association.
This memorandum facilitates and coordinates cooperation between government, non-governmental organizations and entrepreneurs in four main areas: ICT training for the labor market needs; Youth involvement in ICT: Modern and interactive learning processes: and General awareness raising about importance of digital literacy and  ICT skills, according to Katherine Goebess of LIKTA. Specifically, LIKTA has evolved "E-skills week" into a tradition, as it has held the event four years in a row now, and the cooperation helps inform different societal groups – small, micro and medium enterprises, government and public sector workers, teachers and parents, children and youngsters – about the e-skills and ICT solutions, effective use of e-services as well as about customized training programs for seniors.
Another example is LIKTA's role in helping the Secretariat of the Presidency of the European Union manage the Digital Agenda event being held in Riga in 2015. The Digital Agenda focuses both the EU's, and specifically Latvia's, attention on its importance for economic growth, job creation and social inclusion. Target audiences for the Digital Agenda include high level government officials, industry leaders and digital agenda stakeholders, NGOs and information society opinion leaders.
Furthermore, the LIKTA center coordinates and displays marketing for its members, especially those receiving "Platinum Mouse" awards for being the best and most innovative e-services, ICT and e-business solutions. For instance, data visualisation application "Infogr.am” (http://infogr.am/) in e-services category, Jelgava city student and citizen multi-functional contactless smart card (E-card) in e-business and innovations category (www.seb.lv/ekarte), teachers Laura Katkeviča and Roberts Rožkalns from Liepāja in best e-facilitator category for their website intiative (http://www.citadaskola.lv/), and the Internet access development received the project "Lattelecom WiFi for free" (http://www.wifi.lv/). Also, LIKTA displays several examples of biometric recognition systems, which helps not only market the services but facilitates improving their usability as well.
Additionally, the collaboration has evolved into an internet-based "Baltic Highway", where infrastructure supports one of the world's fastest speeds. Collaboration has also facilitated supporting e-documents, which executes e-documents defined in Latvian governmental codes (elatvia.lv) and supports additional measures such as i-banking and e-Treasury. Also, Latvian citizens can propose legislation through submitting drafts electronically on the Chancellory website, and organizations can register as corporations online in less than 2 hours (compared to days in most countries, facilitating enterprise. Government regulations, corporation paperwork, and even the content of the National Library are fully electronic and transparent. The collaboration between private and public sectors helps evolve standards for speed, service and security.
My take-aways from this seminar include:
1) managing risks;
2) security concerns;
3) cooperative marketing;
4) collaboration;
5) infrastructure;
6) anticipating needs.

EKA- listening, relating and learning

My Latvian business seminars began with an introduction at Ekonomikas un kultūras augstskolas (EKA) in Riga, Latvia.The EKA visit and interactions throughout the week demonstrated how important interpersonal communications are to sustainability, particularly in terms of using language as a source of competitive advantage.

10 EKA students participated in the partnership with Walsh College, and several observations stood out during the week. Most noticeably, all the students were fluent in at least 3 languages (Latvian, Russian, and English), oftentimes more (including Spanish and German). They also had a willingness to learn, observe, and actively participate, which was especially impressive since the college was on break and this was a voluntary program at EKA. Furthermore, they were collaborative, whether it involved organizing and redesigning activities based on changing conditions or translating difficult questions. They also facilitated an enhanced learning experience through their interactions, especially as they were direct on issues. Finally, their abilities to listen first, then respond, demonstrated an important link to EQ, as that built trust and engagement.

My findings on EKA as an institution included:
1) the education programs emphasized application as well as theory;
2) the faculty and school itself not only engaged students, but encouraged them to share experiences (including through social media);
3) the curriculum and experiences highlighted developing competencies in multiple languages;
4) EKA's programs, through fairly recent, were accredited for the maximum 6 years instead of 2 years, demonstrating strengths comparable to a larger university and well-established programs.

There are several points I see as a take-aways from this experience:
1) it is important to continue developing active listening skills, as that builds trust and relationships;
2) sharing and collaboration is crucial, both locally and on a global level, as reducing barriers- such as language- bring issues and ideas to the front;
3) encouraging multiway interaction enhances learning and trust;
4) connecting skills to application is extremely important in a service-based economy.

HR as a competitive advantage

The on-site seminar at airBaltic provided several insights on human resources as a critical strategy as well as engaging employees to manage revenues and risks. airBaltic is Latvia's national airline (hence it is hubbed in Riga), and is the 7th largest regional airline in Europe, as well as 30th in the world.  Managing the organization to deploy the right people at the right time in the right place is especially crucial in an industry that deals with safety issues and emergent reputation.

Recruiting the right people is an important challenge for airBaltic, as it impacts its reputation, safety, and sustainability. Latvia does not have a pilot or crew training school. Furthermore, the country's population is a limiting factor, as it has 3 million inhabitants. Also, the industry as well as airBaltic itself has to deal with the career life cycle, to the extent that more employees seek the industry early in the career and exit during growth and maturity, which affects retention. Furthermore,  English and Russian are required languages, and employees by law have to speak Latvian as well. airBaltic has to recruit aggressively both locally and globally to meet its staffing. Some tactics include using gaming as well as social media (such as LinkedIn and Facebook) to obtain recommendations and use e-WOM to leverage sharing. Also, employees engage in modeling behaviors so as to influence and develop other employees as well as affect recruitment (such as having a positive attitude at the gate and in-flight).

Human Resources Development is also a crucial strategy, especially as crew and maintenance workers - operations staff- need to undergo extensive continuous training for their ratings. airBaltic uses a "Learn, Practice, Discuss" approach that builds upon discussing rules and learning from simulations and customer service training into applying the techniques in actual situations. Also, employees are teamed up with experienced employees for mentoring and coaching throughout their careers, which helps in evaluating and developing competencies. Furthermore, performance evaluations are experiential. For instance, loyalty competencies are measured through descriptions of experiences during the review process.
airBaltic also uses a one stop HR contact approach as well as online self-service for managing HR issues, which provides consistency for employees as well as involves collaboration among HR staff. The firm employees 1200 employees in over 300 unique jobs, and this approach allowed the HR function to become more efficient, as 1 HR  representative now serves 175 employees compared to 95 in 2011.

airBaltic currently has a hybrid (low cost/full service) business model, and its sustainability is influenced by capacity management and cost containment. All employees have a role in driving revenue and managing costs, so it is important to develop employees accordingly. Although costs per employee are similar to other EU regional carriers, the revenue per employee is much lower, which provides an opportunity for engaging and training employees. airBaltic has been reducing waste since 2011, and engaging its employees has been crucial to surviving. Also, airBaltic has rolled out additional measures such as bringing out merchandise during flights (a mall in flight) and using co-branding and brand extensions (such as Baltic Taxi and Baltic Bus).
Furthermore, airBaltic has an active cooperative rewards program with non-airlines, which helps drive loyalty as well as engage infrequent flyers through providing travel and related rewards. The PINS program is both a profit center and a way to drive the top line higher.

My take-aways from the airBaltic experience are as follows:
1) how to effectively recruit using a global approach;
2) how important it is to leverage employee mentoring, coaching, and modeling behaviors;
3) HR is a key strategy that can differentiate a firm and facilitate developing well-rounded employees;
4) Vision and mission can be emerging rather than developed and executed top-down, as illustrated from airBaltic's change from survival to growth modes.

It's the final countdown!

When I first read about Walsh College offering a class in Riga, Latvia last fall, it seemed so far away yet it posed a unique opportunity that really stretches me outside of my comfort zone. Being away from the love of my life, Janice, for a long time (missing her immensely). Very long flights. Turboprops (What if I get Captain Chop?!?). Not able to look at my blackberry for a couple weeks. No Sila, Green Lantern, Pizza Papalis or Crispelli's for two weeks. Not a Starbucks in sight. Latvian and Russian were the top spoken languages, neither of which I knew. And visions of ice floating in the Baltic on a summer day chilled my visions of going to a beach. (Keep in mind, ice was floating in Traverse Bay still on Memorial Day). Being away from work (missing the people, calls and at least 6 open windows). And with less than 2 days left, all those visions started coming back again.











This is not the Google Earth view!

Yet, I am not hesitant, as the more I read about Riga over the past few months, the more intrigued I became. I "Google-earthed" Riga and found it had many businesses similar to the Detroit-Windsor area. Not only could I find businesses marketing in English (as well as Latvian, Russian and German) on Facebook, I was able to map out over 20 Italian restaurants within 5 km of "Old Town". And pubs that did karaoke in six different languages. It also sparked interest because Riga started over after breaking off from the Soviets in the early 1990s, really demonstrating how hope, opportunity and entrepreneurship are still alive and flourishing in the world! Most Latvians speak at least two languages, and many under 40 are fluent in English. Talk about a highly educated culture! Latvia has had 3 business cycles since the Global Financial Panic of 2007-2009, each time coming back more robust. Thus, it is a service-based economy that is resilient. An economy that is not only rapid-growth (most likely the highest growth rate again this year in the EU), but actually fiscally sound enough to support adopting the Euro (like it did January 1). My vision became apparent: to relearn capitalism. This inspired a mission: take away lessons that can be applied back in the Detroit area.

Strategy, Marketing, Financing, Technology, Human Capital, and Organizational Culture are all important elements that seem to come together well for Latvia as a system, as well as its businesses. Government that actually creates conditions conducive to helping businesses grow, instead of creating barriers (remember those days?). Organizations that actually focus on delighting customers and mobilizing communities as shown through their actions, including related diversification (imagine: increasing the bottom-line by actually being customer-centric!). New infrastructure that actually produces fast internet speeds (instead of concentrated internet providers). An economy that relies on organic growth and taking global approaches, rather than band-aids, mandates, and short-termism. Finally, the most important piece, the people composing Riga rose above challenges and oppression to succeed and flourish. Inspired, I asked myself what Ronald Reagan would do, and knew the answer: Go, learn, apply!
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It's the final countdown, and I am ready!

Photo credits:  http://www.latvia.travel; http://www.liveriga.com;


The opinions and humor expressed in this blog are strictly my own and do not reflect the opinions or endorsements of my employer or college.