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What's NewS Issue 8 August/September 1997
JollowinqVor stal
In our April issue we asked you for your evaluation
of What's NewS. We, the people who make it for you,
were gratified at the numbers of international
Rabobankers who took the time to, and especially
for the numerous suggestions you put forward.
These will certainly help us in our efforts to
continually improve the magazine. Editor Anne
Lavelle responds to criticism and explains what we
will be doing to incorporate your ideas.
This is the first time we have attempted
such an extensive survey. Although in
terms of quantity the response was rather
disappointing (16 percent from the
international network and four percent
from the Netherlands), it was still good
enough to give us a realistic indication of
how the magazine is perceived and
evaluated by our readers around the
world. According to the people who
helped us analyze the survey results, the
international response is certainly high
enough to be considered representative.
All respondents (except one) were
reasonably to very favourable about the
magazine. 'We were very pleased with
that result, of course, it scored high on
the feel good factor,' says Lavelle, 'but we
were much more eager to see what people
considered negative and what suggestions
they had to make. As the network has
become bigger, it is increasingly hard to
be in touch with every office on a regular
basis. This is why our correspondents
around the world play such a crucial role
- if I was asked what I would improve
The editorial teamfrom left to right: Samantha Dobson, Anne Lavelle,
David Brown and Len Fraser. Noor Tania is missing from the picture.
Rabobank,
about What's NewSthen I would have to
say we could certainly use more
proactivity and commitment from the
network itself. But that is another story.
Let me talk you through some of the
criticism.
people other than international
Rabobankers, we could certainly go
further in our coverage of a whole range
of subjects. But this is not realistic. I've
seen What's NewS in a variety of places,
such as the coffee tables in reception areas
at a number of offices around the world.
1've been informed by people joining us
from competitors that they'd love to be a
New Face and wasn't the magazine great
- and these were people not even on the
payroll yet. And every month we
interview a cliënt who is always sent a
copy. I'd say our editorial policy is that
we will carry constructive criticism, but
we will not provide a platform for peopl
with a grudge to air or who aim to make
a personal attack on a colleague. Our
mandate is to inform, to promote
involvement in the Rabobank Group,
especially now we've grown so large. And
to promote networking.
'Finding the right balance between
accessibility for all personnel and
satisfying the curiosity of people with
know-how in the field is very hard. We
try and succeed sometimes, but certainly
not always. We also have another
problem in that many of the precise
details of a deal are confidential. We
always ask the cliënt concerned for
permission to carry the deal and many are
'This really is a tough one. At least three
people said we were too nice and
someone described us as 'His master's
voice'. We're not unaware of the fact that
we tend to emphasize the 'good news'.
Journalists always say: Good news is no
news, so by cheer-leading for RI rather
enthusiastically, we may appear tied to
the party line. But I'd refer these people
to, for example, the round-tables we're
doing on an occasional basis - we'd do
them every month if the logistics of
bringing together people in various time
zones were easier. I certainly think these
are constructively critical and you may be
interested to know that the series was
suggested by one of our senior managers.
'Still unconvinced? Okay, let me put it
this way: if there was a way to guarantee
that What's NewS was never be seen by
