Ana Adi · #2 Ildiko Kovacs_Women in PR with Ana Adi
Episode Summary (AI generated)
summaryIn this episode of Women in PR, Ana Adi speaks with Ildiko Kovac, a seasoned PR professional with over 15 years of experience. They discuss Ildiko’s journey into public relations, the international aspects of the field, and the importance of effective leadership and onboarding processes in global communications. Ildiko shares insights on building trust within teams and the value of communication in achieving business goals. The conversation highlights the challenges and rewards of a career in PR, emphasizing the impact of communication on local communities and the importance of diversity in the field.
Episode transcript (AI generated)
Ana Adi (00:03.788)
This is Women in PR, a weekly podcast about inspiring women that have embraced PR and made it shine, changing it for the better every day. It’s about mentors, founders, researchers, role models, leaders. I am Ana Adi. Women in PR is brought to you by Quadriga University of Applied Sciences in Berlin and professionalpodcasts.com.
Ana Adi (00:34.926)
Why do people get into PR? What’s the attraction? What does leadership in PR look like? And what does that have to do with half-year-long onboarding processes? We’ll be tackling these issues and more with Ildiko Kovac, who is managing global communications at Continental’s Tire Division, with its 22 international plants and a team of about 25 people.
Half Hungarian and half Romanian, with an experience of over 15 years in PR and comms, Ildiko is also graduate of Quadriga University. Now, our audio might be patchy at times, so don’t worry, it’s us, not you.
Ana Adi (01:19.373)
So, Ildiko, welcome to the show and thank you for joining us. Thank you, Anna, for the opportunity to be part of your series. So, as you know, we talk about women in public relations and their journeys and stories and lessons and frustrations. But first thing first, why PR? How did you end up in public relations? Well, I believe that I have…
always been fascinated about the world international. And when I look back and I see, I already have, I can say this year around 17 years in this job, there must be a passion for it somehow. And of course, I think that once you experience communication, it’s very difficult to move away to another area, so to say.
So for me, I am from my background, half Hungarian, half Romanian, I grew up in Romania. And the world of public relations and communication in 1997, when I finished high school and I started university, was completely new. It was very exciting. And it fitted to me because I believed that it would open up new doors for me.
Not only that I was from my background with this growing up with different languages and so on, but I wanted to explore more and I believe that public relations would give me this opportunity. Of course, in Romania at that time you would have the opportunity to go and teach, which would have been one of them. And then also this new study of communication and public relations, which was very exotic. And then, of course,
I decided to study it. Okay. So you have studied or joined the study of communication and public relations at a time when it was completely new and unheard of back in own country. Exactly. What did you study? What was PR presented as in a country that was just
Ana Adi (03:40.979)
relatively fresh out of communism. Yeah, I mean, for when you speak about communism, I remember this, for example, brands almost were not existed in Romania. So all the story of brands, all the story of being able to promote something. We had the only spokesperson at the
City hall for the government and then maybe some local brands, right? So here the communication and public relations comes and says, okay, I can open up new worlds of possibilities for also for companies. also advertising was quite interesting. But at the core of it, I fell in love with communication and public relations.
probably that is also linked to the experience. Okay, good, very good. But what does it have to do with the practice? So how do I apply this? And I started looking around and I said, okay, in Timisoara where I did my studies, there were not big possibilities of gaining practical experience. And then I looked abroad and I said, wow, actually an internship probably in Germany. Yeah, I had some personal links to Germany.
I spoke the language, that would be actually amazing. But of course, for that you also need some capital, And there it started. So a dream, so to say, needs also some sacrifices. So basically, I was in Bavaria, the castle near Svanstein and so on, gathering some capital and going from corporation to corporation to…
ask for an internship possibility. And then it was 2002 when ZF Zaks accepted me in the Department of Corporate Communication. And that was for me, so to say, when the door, so to say, officially opened and I could experience corporate communication, all the areas, internal
Ana Adi (06:04.46)
media relations and so on and so forth. They just confirmed to me that I am at the right place and I wanted to continue from there. So wait, let’s go a bit back. So you’re saying that in 2002 you were a recent graduate left Romania and took a summer job, any sort of summer job.
And sort of in the breaks or evenings you went about and knocked at doors and rang the doorbells if you want of these big corporations in Germany saying hire me? I was actually it was very funny because that was the fact that I worked in gastronomy and
hotel area that was a frustration for all my colleagues because they were saying, okay, you are a person who thinks, yeah. But I knew that it was the only possibility to keep me here and to give me the opportunity to travel and participate in interviews. yes, so basically I would have only one day off, you know, per week.
And I was trying to somehow maybe one time I remember, especially when I had the interview with Sedef Zaks, and I put two weeks together so that I’m able to have two days off and arrived after midnight in Schweinfurt. And then I believe that already at eight o’clock in the morning was the interview with the head of corporate communication. And probably
The big eyes that I had filled with curiosity and a really deep wish to experience and to be given this opportunity, convince the people, okay, we are going to give Miss Kovaca an opportunity. And it was great for me because I could spend really nine months in the company.
Ana Adi (08:27.177)
And I could go to every stage from marketing, as I said, to internal, to the local media I could do by myself. So for me, that was the entrance. there it was when I knew, and I also knew that, for example, the automotive industry is quite interesting for me. So from there, I started seeing even more opportunities.
So you talked about right at the beginning about how for you public relations has always been associated with an international aspect to it. And I mean, if we look around, there’s still a lot of organizations, agencies who serve very local clients. Exactly. So tell me a bit more about this international aspect. What is it?
from public relations that makes it so international for you? I mean, probably it’s the way you see things, Of course, you’re serving local clients and that is excellent, but probably the wish of going beyond your borders and so on. And I think that’s probably my generation at that time had this wish. That would be one thing. And of course, when you grow up being so
so international yourself. You basically only feel good in such an environment because whenever it gets too restricted you don’t feel yourself. And that I can say for example also in my current job. So I think that everybody has a direction where he moves and he feels comfortable. So for me I feel the best right now in my current position where I have people you know from
all continents and for example from or if I look at Asia from India, from Malaysia, from China and United States and Ecuador and all these countries and also Europe and for me it’s just I think that also my team just sees me okay she’s one of us yeah because a little part you know
Ana Adi (10:51.243)
of my person, you know, fits somehow to their cultural background. So a little bit fits all the time and that brings us together. And this being so diverse, being myself diverse, the team being diverse, it just makes it fit. There are two things here. I mean, you mentioned you’re leading a team right now.
That is international. But you mentioned that you believe your team sees you as being one of them. How do you do that? And what do mean by that?
Well, I think that the road of leadership in communication takes a lot of humility. And I always speak now the direction also in communication, especially in global corporations. You don’t build up structures based on hierarchy. You rather build communities of experts that are…
supporting each other and helping each other and that is the way that I also built my own team. yeah, think that basically communication and public relations, that is the essence of what we are doing. And then all the cultural aspects are enriching us.
And as I said, I think it takes a lot of humility. You have to believe that you are not better than anyone and accept and try to make an asset of the different cultural aspects that everybody brings. So I see, try, if for example, a relationship with a specific culture is more difficult, then I am not trying to look okay.
Ana Adi (12:54.315)
this culture has something, yeah. I try to look at myself and I say, okay, maybe I have to dig a little bit deeper to be able to understand. And that’s what I believe is linked a lot with leadership. So a leader has the responsibility, I believe, to think deeply about these aspects and
Make sure that every person is welcome in the team and feels comfortable in the team and that their talents can develop. It’s great that you bring talents into the discussion because one of the other things you said before you mentioned your team, you spoke about a very international environment. Now, is public relations the same all over the world? And if it’s not the same,
then how do you, apart from humility and building these communities of experts that you have spoken of, how do you bring your team to that common place where public relations is the same? I think that as a corporation at Continental we have specific standards that we can follow.
And that makes our life easier. But of course, when we look at the various countries and various regions, the universities are probably also teaching differently public relations and communications. And of course, when the people enter the labor market and so on,
they are also faced with various challenges. in my experience I see different focus for the communication and for the public relations and also different quality standards. So sometimes it’s very difficult when you’re trying to recruit people for the teams, especially because we also have these high expectations from our people.
Ana Adi (15:13.735)
and they have to have the ability to cope with this big and international environment and they also have to speak English and so on and so forth. So they have to be able to navigate and that is quite difficult. Therefore, for example, we have at the entry phase, we have an assessment where we test our candidates for specific skills.
in communication and public relations. And then we have a very long onboarding program which takes about six months. So also trying to integrate the people and also the other parties that we try to compensate, for example areas which are not that developed with trainings. But even there it’s a bit difficult because you don’t have, for example, sometimes providers who can support you all around the world.
And of course, the efforts of bringing the people together are also huge, but we have very good examples of cooperation. For example, almost every second year we are having our global communication workshop and I use this workshop where I bring all the people together as a learning platform too.
So you know Anna because you have participated also at our last workshop in Berlin. for me, bringing knowledge from outside and also experts from the inside and also ensuring that the teams are working together brings the best results.
Now, you and I have met recently also at the European Communications Summit in Berlin, where we were discussing how do we maintain trust and confidence in the profession. And you gave then your example of the six months onboarding process, which was very welcomed and very well received by the audience.
Ana Adi (17:34.911)
Now, how did you end up with the idea of this lengthy, lengthy onboarding process? And who was there to help you, if at all, along the way to make it happen? Thank you, Oana. I think that it was for me a lot of learning also by doing.
And of course, if I look at everything, I think it’s a bit also of compassion towards myself because we are following a decentralized structure in our communication. That means that in our 22 tire plants, we have basically one position dedicated to communication and the central is very slim, which means we are working with two, three people at the headquarters.
In my experience, if you want to have a decentralized structure, then you must make sure that you have the knowledge in the country. So basically the only alternative would have been a huge central department or really having the knowledge of the location. And I realized that I and our team is only as good as the
results that our people are bringing in the locations and basically with accompanying the people because in theory we can give a lot but the work is not done with how to say a guideline. A guideline is helping a lot but people are confronted with situations right and first of all we are giving them the opportunity to learn the local organization
And basically afterwards, after that, we are trying to meet either in the headquarters or I go and visit the person. So it’s a lot of direct contact too. Then we are making the short term plan. Then we are making the long term plan. We are developing also then the local communication strategy.
Ana Adi (19:52.851)
And basically all the process has also part of evaluation because at some point in time during the first year, so after the first six onboarding months, we are also conducting a communication audit of the plant, which also gives again the opportunity for improvement. But for the person, it is great because during the six months we are giving the person a little more attention, also via
regular telcos. We are coaching the people in learning the tools and platforms that Continental is working with. We are supporting with deciding for the first trainings that the person needs and we are exchanging more also on operative topics. This has proven to be very good because afterwards the people are functioning very well by themselves and we are only exchanging operatively on the
important topics, example big events or for example if there is a major incident situation and so on and so forth but basically we see a very very good result for this program.
So now going back a little bit to 1997 and then 2002 when you started your career. Exactly, yeah. Could you have envisaged where you would be today? that sort of the job that you envisaged? One where there’s collaboration, are onboarding processes that are very lengthy, there’s coaching along the way.
and you’re looking at harnessing everybody’s best while also giving them a sense of community? Well, at that point in time, I wasn’t able to think so far. Yeah. So the world of communication and public relations was already, it was an unexplored world for me. and as I said,
Ana Adi (22:07.755)
At that point in time in my head it was okay. I want to explore the world. want to see what is possible. I want to see what is possible in this area. And I remember how passionately, for example, I wrote even my bachelor thesis, I think I did it in French, about perfumes and the rhetorics and the argumentation in advertising.
So I was very passionate and hungry to learn about this area. And I think it is a very beautiful area. And most of the time, the complaint that I get also in the companies that when people come and do, for example, three weeks exchange with my department or longer, also the dual students, they would prefer to work in communication and, for example, in controlling or other areas. So I think that the creativity
is still there. You can really develop and I think a job is what you make out of it. Of course, for me now my work is getting more strategic and I am working in an area where I have to deal a lot with the engineers. you called
and you see is women in PR. think that men are also doing a great job in PR. I don’t know why we have lots of women in PR. We speak about diversity and less men. Yeah. But also in the world that I am navigating in, there are lots of men and less women. And also with the area of…
communication where basically you have to very hard fight to be able to show that you are working according to KPIs, that you have structure, that you have methods, and that you can bring a value add to the business. So basically, probably the common thing when I started to do now is that although the communication has gained in recognition,
Ana Adi (24:27.691)
internally and I believe also externally and that is thanks to people like you Anna who are fighting hard for that on every front and of course all of us but I think here the collaboration between all of us is bringing us further. So it is not an easy road and I think together we have done a lot but still
Having to explain the value-add of communication, it is probably, in my perspective, a bit outdated. I have a little sense of frustration coming out when you say that having to explain the value-add of communications. Tell me a bit more about that.
Yeah, think that, of course, at that time when I started my job, was clear that probably communication and PR wasn’t even known there. But of course, in Romania, and the value it can bring because everything was new. Even doing business was new, yeah. and communication was just something okay.
Probably sometimes and especially in a business even ours when you are very close to the customer so we have an end product which we have to sell. So probably many people are bringing communication in relation to okay if I can sell more tires or if I can sell more products but basically communication is much more than that and I think that at least in my organization we
Now, after so many years, we have managed to gain the trust of the management because what we are doing, are strategic about how we can support our business, but also how we can support our people. So I we went a long way, but still.
Ana Adi (26:53.515)
still sometimes and from parts of the organization which didn’t have to work with us. So I don’t think that from CEO side or from the top leadership team because probably 99.9 % of their jobs is also to communicate, to communicate the strategic targets and so on. And they see the benefit and the value add of our work. But sometimes there are areas in the organization which come in the first contact with us and they’re wondering, communication, yeah.
What are these people doing? However, for now, as I said, probably this is in the contact with experts from other areas, especially some engineering departments and so on, but not really from the CDO, CEO and leadership team. Yeah. So what did you do in order to get to that point where you are understood?
by your leadership team and you’re welcomed into this leadership team, especially when you kind of indicated that you’re one of the few women in a team like this and in such a position. I think that many people are afraid of changes and many people are afraid of crisis situations, But my department was born
after a crisis and that was the financial crisis in 2009 when we had an acute need for communication. And basically we have seen that we cannot really manage to answer every question and to communicate in every location without having the expertise for it and basically it was then when the management decided that okay we are going to invest in this area.
Yeah. generally, when and there are also many theories confirming this, that when something is wrong, then we start to think, why is this wrong? And why is, for example, the performance not good? And so on and so forth. And many times we see that basically we are doing very good in terms of processes and so on. But everything comes down to communication.
Ana Adi (29:19.699)
It is still that we are working with people and as long as I think that we are working with people, we have to find the right tone and so on. And it is about people and working in teams and having the same goals and values and that brings us together. And I believe that through communication, we do that. It is very nice to see, for example, our people globally, you know, being
bound by the values of, for example, at Continental Passion to win freedom to act, trust and for one another. I think it brings us together, but these values have to be communicated, right? And we all feel bound by them. And that is, for example, the task of communication. But as I said, to come back to what you said before, how did we prove and how did we gain the trust? In critical situations, we have shown the management
What can be done with the support of communication? We have shown that we have the expertise to ensure also, let’s say, in good times and also in more difficult times that we have transparency in communication, that we can reach our teams, our people, that we can support the reaching of the business goals. Because that is basically it.
We are business and we want to reach our business goals as a team. And not only as a team, but the global team of only at TIEIS we are around 60,000 people. But in order to reach your leadership team and be understood, did you have to speak differently or was it enough that there was this
shake-up in 2009 that brought the business to a level, and your leadership team as well, to a level where they realized that there’s no way out. Communication is essential in order to move on.
Ana Adi (31:33.771)
I think that on one side, the letter that you have said, yes, so they realize that, yes, communication is important, but I believe it also has to do with how you are basically doing your job. Yeah. It takes a lot of humility. For example, a practical example, when I first did my audit and I went to Brazil,
And of course there are various parts of the communication audit. are looking at internal, external communication, crisis communication and so on. And I entered the room of the top management and I didn’t listen.
Yeah, so I think that most of the time we bind, we link communication to speaking. But most of the time the successful communication is linked to listening. Listening to the management, listening to your stakeholders, listening to the organization. And only then you can find the right solution.
for them. And also personally, in my approach, I have learned that I have to listen and then I am coming with my solutions. So that was in Brazil when you didn’t listen, what happened after? So basically, when we are coming from the headquarters, you know, you know how it is. So again, the corporate people want something from us. Right. And
I basically entered the room and put my PowerPoint on the screen and said this, this, without giving the room for a discussion and without starting to understand the need of the person in front of me. So basically our services are coming as an answer to the organization
Ana Adi (33:44.651)
goals and needs. That was for me and then of course you don’t have the how to say. Then you have to again immediately a wall of resistance. When okay, so somebody is coming wants to audit my plant, what gives you the authority? And in time by showing the quality of your work and how you can support the business, you earn that trust. So basically you have to
earn the trust. how did you get the Brazilians on your side? When they saw me, actually, so we discussed, okay, I realized that basically I should have listened first. And then afterwards, you know, after spending two, three days in the plant, being close to the people and after them seeing that my PowerPoint
was that I wasn’t coming with theories, but I was coming with lot of experience. And basically what I was offering was something of value and could help the organization. Then we got in good terms. But it was a huge learning. So from that moment on, whenever I go to a plant and one party is really discussing with the management and then seeing the challenges of the local organization.
The first thing that I do is listen. And I recommend this in every situation. And also my team knows me because… So one thing that I say is, of course, that we always need a concept. And then the second thing that I say that makes our life very successful…
Now both for women and men is to say that I understand. So now I want to take you back right at the beginning. because we talked a little bit about education, about how you, how you try to, to bring practice, to, to a level that makes an international team with various levels, coherent and cohesive. I’m just thinking.
Ana Adi (36:03.141)
We started asking you why PR. And so I’d like to ask you, was it worth it to study PR? Are there things that you’ve studied in university that you’re still using today? Or if you were to have a choice now, would you follow that same path?
Sometimes, of course, when we have the frustrating days, then I say, wow, isn’t it amazing to work maybe in controlling and just have to deal with some numbers? Of course, also there you have to deal with people. communication and peer is really a part of me and I believe that it has so much to offer.
And it depends, a job, as I said, depends on how you do it. And for me, it has offered me also a lot of, how to say, challenging moments, but also a lot of joy and satisfaction. so let’s, let’s finish today on a positive note. What is one of those stories that brought you the most satisfaction? That if you, if you look back,
it still makes you smile as you go through remembering it. Well, I think I have a lot of moments to think back about. I believe that probably what is bringing me most joy is to really
For example, I had the project, for example, when we integrated our entire plant in India. And for me, when my local colleagues is telling me that when I go and visit the plant and the people remember me, and sometimes they even write to me, that is for me probably the biggest thank you. That means that I am going and I’m having an impact.
Ana Adi (38:14.187)
after one of the first meetings that I had there and of course I was coming with lots of branding material too, besides for example creating the first newsletter for the location and so on and so forth. But we really operated, we started with decorating the offices with our branding and my colleague came from the plant and said, yeah,
Do you know, the people say that there is a lady here in the offices and she’s changing everything. So knowing that I can make an impact from the operator to the leadership team is for me the biggest thank you. Well on that note, Ildiko, thank you very, very much for joining us today. Thank you too.
It was my pleasure.
Ana Adi (39:19.711)
So there you have it, passion, curiosity and resilience turning into long-term vision for the profession. Next week, we’ll take a research detour and talk about PR history and its missing voices, among them the SuvaJets with Dr. Michaela O’Brien from Westminster University in London. She’s the author of a book chapter called Activists as Pioneers in PR.
historical frameworks and the suffragette movement. Women in PR is brought to you by Quadriga University of Applied Sciences in Berlin and professionalpodcast.com. To learn more about the show and my guests, do check out the show notes. And if you liked it, by all means share it. If you have comments and suggestions, find me on Twitter and LinkedIn. My biggest thanks go to Miguel Fecke and Regina Carana.
My team at ProfessionalPodcast.com. Without them, this podcast wouldn’t be here now. I am Ana Adi. Thank you for listening.