letters and views To The Editor Insight from the JanSan industry. Each month, we welcome readers to opine on the noteworthy — or even the trivial — aspects of their lives as JanSan professionals. The following is some of the correspondence we have received in recent weeks. Letters PR Redefined: What Should It Mean For The Cleaning Industry? The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) — of which I am a member — recently devoted major organizational resources to establish consensus around and redefine the meaning of public relations (PR) for practitioners. Here is the well-chosen verbiage PRSA selected to define how responsible manu-facturers in the cleaning industry and else-where should engage in PR followed by my own cautionary comments and exhorta-tions specific to the cleaning field: “Public relations is a strategic communication pro-cess that builds mutually beneficial rela-tionships between organizations and their publics.” The operative words are “communication … that builds mutually beneficial relation-ships.” This is important because much of what you read in trade journals is generated by PR people — whether they define themselves as “industry writers” or not — represent-ing manufacturer interests, and quite often, the “information” shared does not have the bona fide interests of readers at heart on an equal plane with those of the sponsoring manufacturer. I speak specifically of the trend to use “studies” to validate product claims when that targeted and narrow band of research has been bought and paid for by the manu-facturer to show the reader just what it wants them to see and no more. There is plenty wrong with that. Before continuing the rant, let me share what I wrote for the International Custodial Advisors Network (ICAN) back in 2004 in response to a reader question about market-ing and PR. “The purpose of PR writing is to establish and maintain a relationship with the desired public, hence the term ‘public relations.’ Please underscore the word ‘relationship.’ Good relationships are built on truth, trust, integrity and looking out for another’s inter-ests. I doubt that your relationship with your wife, husband, mother, father, brother, sister, coworker or other associate would last long if your communications were dominated by misleading statements, empty assertions, self-interest and manipulation. Therefore, the purpose of PR writing — also known as mar-keting communications — is first to inform, second to sell. Its tone must be informational, not promotional. This means focusing on what the reader wants and needs to know to make an informed decision.” With this in mind, I implore — yes, beseech — companies who engage in PR to invest in objective research through independent and credible labs such as the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI), found at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, to fairly validate the performance of products, and then use that research to develop even more credible peer-reviewed research to give readers the data they need “to make an informed decision” apart from any sales or marketing agenda. Wouldn’t you trust a company that takes this higher path and shares information based on solid peer-reviewed data — what some call the truth? This is vitally important when public health is at issue, such as with products that market using a “cleaning for health” type of slogan. Let’s help move the cleaning industry closer to the true meaning of PR by encour-aging companies making health-related claims to put their feet to the fire by getting peer-reviewed data that is shared and vet-ted with organizations such as the Cleaning Industry Research Institute (CIRI) and pub-lications such as Cleaning & Maintenance Management in an objective way that helps everyone. -Allen Rathey, president of InstructionLink/JanTrain Inc. Help Wanted There are numerous problems that we face in retaining cleaning staff. I have worked for school districts in the Edmonton area for the past 30 years as a custodial manager and supervisor. I have been directly responsible for hiring custodial staff. Our city of almost one million people is called the “Gateway to the North,” meaning that we service many different industries in the North — mines, oil, oil sands, forestry, etc. 6 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • May 2012
CMM – Archives May 2012: 6
