Addiena Fachrunnisa Azmir Fikom Unpad Alumni who became “PLN Corporate MC”

Communication is indeed a science that cannot stand alone. There is a need for other supporting sciences so that communication can be applied. This is why communication is often underestimated and considered a science that does not need to be studied formally. As a result, many communication degree holders are overtaken by other degree holders who have a talent for communication in the workforce. However, this FIKOM UNPAD graduate believes and proves that communication graduates have their own added value, namely a strong awareness of the importance of communication.

Addiena Fachrunnisa Azmir, or familiarly called Mbak Addien, is an alumnus of the Public Relations Study Program class of 2011 who is now carrying out the mandate as the PLN Corporate MC. Born on August 31, 1993, she was born in Medan and was an active member of the Public Relations Student Association from 2013 to 2014. Mbak Addien is indeed a talented and passionate figure in the field of communication. But who would have thought, Mbak Addie’s career journey to finally become a Corporate MC was not that easy.

At the beginning of her career at PLN, Mbak Addien was placed in PLN Pematangsiantar Area, under PLN North Sumatra Region, precisely in the field of commerce. This is due to PLN’s procedure which requires every new employee to work in the field first for some time in order to be more familiar with the company’s business processes. However, with Mbak Addien’s idealism and passion in the field of communication, Mbak Addien often demonstrated her capabilities in the field of communication to convince the company that she deserved to be immediately placed in the field of corporate communication. One of the efforts he made was to become an MC in various company activities. With her slick public speaking skills, Mbak Addien is often trusted to bring corporate events.

Apart from being an MC, Mbak Addien also proved her communication skills when the government made the Targeted Electricity Subsidy policy. At that time, PLN was mandated to communicate the policy to the public. Armed with creative thinking skills and with the help of her colleagues who both have a communication background, Mbak Addien created a campaign in the form of a motorized rickshaw parade as a medium to disseminate the information. Mbak Addien and her team designed informative stickers that were attached to the becaks to inform the public. However, unfortunately at that time the campaign did not get exposure due to the company’s lack of awareness in using various communication tools .

Thanks to Mbak Addien’s real work and ability to handle the ‘sundries’ of communication, after six months in the field of commerce, Mbak Addien was finally transferred to the field of corporate communications in 2017. Eits, but the struggle does not stop here. When Ms. Addien joined PLN’s communication field, communication was still not considered an important aspect of the company. There are still very few members and the job description is very narrow; only as a documentary of the company’s activities. This is certainly a big challenge for Mbak Addien, because she knows very well that the scope of competence of a communication practitioner is very broad and has a huge impact on a company.

This led Mbak Addien to her first ‘breakthrough’, which was to conduct media monitoring. She worked together with members of the communication field from other units to make clippings from various newspapers and categorize them based on the tone of the news. They do this to find out which media are in favor of the company and how the majority of people perceive the company. This is certainly a big step for the field of corporate communication in expanding the scope of its work. This also gives the company the opportunity to learn more about its public. In addition, Mbak Addien and the team also conducted research to PLN’s regional units to find out which areas were experiencing electricity problems.

Not only doing media monitoring and research, Mbak Addien also continues to show her ability in MC-ing during her career in PLN communications. She continued to volunteer to be an MC in various company activities until finally she was trusted to become the Corporate MC of PLN Headquarters until now.

Mbak Addien’s career journey and struggle in proving the importance of communication in PLN can certainly be an inspiration for other FIKOM UNPAD students and alumni. Therefore, the author does not forget to quote the message conveyed by Mbak Addien in the interview,

“During your time in college, make sure you don’t just study, but enrich yourself with many things; update with issues in the community and also multiply link with classmates and cross-classmates. Because, in the world of work, being smart is not enough, you must be adaptive and easily fit in all situations and groups. Good luck always.” (RAK)