Appraisal Time
17th Aug 2010
"Like all professional services firms, ours is a people business. Our success is grounded in the skills and expertise of our people and the ability they have to maintain good relationships with clients, journalists, politicians and lots of other categories.
So like any sensible firm we develop the skills of our people, and the bedrock of this is our professional development appraisal system, the half-year part of which we've just completed for all staff - including me as Managing Director.
We see the process as central to our company's success. It identifies people's strengths and weaknesses, and helps define continuous training needs. It sets objectives to which people can work towards. And, finally, it serves to demonstrate the key role all our people play in our firm, binding their career trajectory in with the company's.
Poorly run public affairs and corporate communications agencies - and fortunately there are fewer and fewer - ignore this at their peril, and watch their people, which is their business, walk out the door."
Dominic Church - Managing Director