Hannes becomes a PR professional

Hannes muses to himself: "The main thing is that he can mark the boss. Because those present are precisely those who are not responsible for the situation. Anyway: HE approved the time off and signed the maternity leave over to the HR department. You could have seen that coming," Hannes concludes in his train of thought. You create instructions upon instructions to ensure that everything runs in a coordinated manner, and you demand consideration from the employees in the team and the family parents. Two people from the same team must never be absent at the same time, and the replacement must be ensured.

What applies to the secretariat, the logistics department and all the others is obviously no more than a recommendation for the management. The fact that the communications manager

"If nothing's going on, stage something."

...okay, that might be fine. But that she doesn't know that 15 months in advance? Even worse, a time-out without organising the replacement ... Hannes is beside himself.

For Hannes, everything would only be half as bad. Because basically it's the HR department's and the marketing division's problem. If it weren't for the majority decision of his colleagues that he, Hannes, is responsible for external communication for the next two months. He is the only one who has time, because at the beginning of the year, production is running at low capacity, and that too only with standard products. That's what the long-term trend says. So now Hannes has the additional title of "PR and Communication Manager adinterim". The assignment of this task goes hand in hand with the CEO's fervent wish that finally something positive should be in the papers. Press work at its best - it's good and costs nothing.

Good advice, on the other hand, is expensive. Because at the moment, the company is making headlines with poor business performance at best. The products are not particularly good for PR either. Hydraulic pumps for sawmills are not exactly what the public is craving for in the daily papers. Hannes consults advisors and finally calls his tireless schoolmate Sebastian. "He's always on the move - he's bound to have a good idea." Hannes was to be proved right. Sebastian advises, "If nothing works, stage something."

Sounds good - but what? Hannes is faced with the next problem. But suddenly he is struck by a flash of inspiration: Next week the bicycle racks with shelter for the production employees will be moved from the east side of the buildings to the north side. There's going to be a party! Hannes is euphoric, because the entire communications department has never pulled such a brilliant PR move out of the hat in five years. Hannes draws up a checklist of everything that needs to be done, and then sends the press a press kit that beats anything that has ever come out of this company. He begins to take notes in key words:

• Torchlight procession with school children from the village accompanying the procession of bicycle racks
• Balloon competition for the older children, a balloon is attached to each bicycle hook.
• The priest blesses the bicycle racks at the new place.
• A former professional cyclist races onto the course shortly after the opening ceremony and shoots his racing bike into the first stand.
• Beer is of course free until the end.
• The two hooks on the far left of the new bicycle stand serve as barbecue poles. Underneath there is a fire and sausages in the form of old tyre tubes, which the butcher produces specially, are thrown onto the makeshift barbecue and given away free of charge.
• A goal wall shooting at the bike shelter thrills the male guests and makes noise to boot. "It has to make noise, otherwise they won't hear you," Sebastian said.
• The ceremony is drawn out by 14 speeches so that the press simply cannot avoid reporting on it.
• Immediately afterwards, families and the press can climb the new bicycle shelter with a view of the parking lot from above. After all, the world looks very different 1.7 meters above ground.

Hannes is in the pink and already regrets that he has to leave this job after two months. But who knows, maybe he will be so famous that he can lean back a bit in the future and have time for cycling (including climbing various shelters all over the country).