Strategic communication - Diane Cromer interview - Emagazin

If you are a manager, or business man, politician, or just somebody interested in modern business methods, this fall in Belgrade there is something you should write down in your agenda. Company “Cromer group” (www.cromer-group.com) is organizing series of seminars on various subjects like “change management and motivation”, “advanced PR”, and “business leadership”. As part of my job as a journalist, I get to go to various trainings and seminars held by leading business “gurus” from abroad. You have probably read some of my interviews on the subject. This one I warmly recommend. I have seen and heard Diane Cromer, and I can tell you her seminar is something you would never forget.

Who is Diane Cromer?

Diane Cromer is a strategic communications specialist and organizational development consultant with more than 25 years of experience in the US and abroad. For the last 12 years she has worked in Eastern and Central Europe especially in Serbia. She uses her organizational development expertise and her experience as a former journalist and business and government communications strategist to help her clients solve complex business and policy problems.

She started her career as on-air reporter for TV station. While only 23 years old, she was the only woman to travel on the Presidential bus covering the reelection campaign of former President Gerald Ford. In her long and successful career, among many big business clients, Ms. Cromer has worked with three Senators, 13 members of Congress, JBF Financial Service of Pennsylvania, and American Medical Association.

With IBM Business Consultant Group, Diane managed strategies for acceptance of key economic reform principles, including small and medium enterprise development, privatization, and anti-monopoly measures. She had overseen seminars for SMEs in 10 Serbian towns and cities.

One of the biggest projects that Diane has helped lead was work with the US Department of Defense Human Resource Management Department between 2005 and 2007 on the restructuring of civil work force. The task was to introduce the new organizational structure for 750,000 civil employees.

Diane Cromer has taught at the Yale University’s Campaign School for Women and the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business on communications and presentation techniques, where she taught MBA students business communications, public appearance and presentation.

What has motivated you to “come back” to do business in Serbia?

I grew up in Pennsylvania and somehow Serbia reminds me of my birthplace. Belgrade is situated on two rivers as is the city of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. You have similar sense of humor, you are hard working resilient people, and of course I have many friends here in Serbia. Of my last seven birthdays, four of them I have celebrated in Belgrade. I have worked on and off in Serbia since the spring of year 2000.

Serbia is a country undergoing deep transformational change. With my extensive personal experience in communication and change management, I believe I can help that transformation on many levels: in privatization, foreign direct investment, improving effectiveness and efficiency of Serbian businesses. Our company’s is about “Workforce development”. To succeed on the global marketplace employee training itself is not enough. We perform employee assessments, to find out how your work force align to your mission and goals. We partner with HR departments to help create the learning organization.

Everybody who listened to you said that you are excellent teacher. What is needed to successfully transfer knowledge to others?

We use business case studies and practical exercises. We take examples from the real world and explore them in detail. They are case studies from international and local companies. This way people can easily identify with the problem, comparing business practices of global companies with their local examples. For example in our change management seminar one team is given to prepare change plan on business merger situation and another on acquisition. What we want to accomplish for our participants is not only to learn the business skills, but to learn how to think and make decisions.

Our seminars are performed as interactive workshops. Forty percent of the training is in the form of giving formal information (hard facts, or as some call it – theoretical knowledge), and sixty percent is as active participation, where participants exercise or practice in teams. Learning has to be fun, for the people to get deeply involved in the learning process, they have to enjoy it.

What is the key to managing change?

The most important is to have all employees understand the change. To be able to demonstrate it clearly so they understand how this change relates to their own interests and interests of their company. One of the most important exercises on our trainings is on how to create organizations vision. Clear vision is the essential element of successful change management.

The research shows that some 66% of all change management initiatives fail. The most common reason for failure is that companies don’t create milestones, or time pointers, and don’t monitor achievements. They make decision on what needs to be changed, they start the process of change, but they don’t follow-up on how is the change really going on. Especially when compared to previously planned time line of events-changes.

How do you make change happen?

The change is about changing people, and you change them by changing their attitude and behavior. Also it is about communication. Communication is not part of change, it is the whole of change. Change can not be dictated, it must be interpreted to people in the right way, so it makes sense to them, it needs to be meaningful. They need to understand the reason for change, especially from their point of view (what’s in it for them).

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Miodrag Kostic - Director of VEZA d.o.o.