Importance of Public Relations in Management Communication - Research Paper Example

Importance of Public Relations in Management Communication Introduction: This paper is an effort to throw light upon the role of public relations in management communication. It gives a brief introduction to the basic definition and explanation of the concepts management communication and Public Relations. It is followed by in depth explanation of the relation of PR and communication management through examples of the role PR plays in communication. Firstly, the paper elucidates the role of PR within an organization with a descriptive analysis of the methods used and their effects on the business. Then an analysis of the role of public relations among organizations and the public is given with description of a few techniques and emphasis upon its importance in managing communication. A critique of some of the PR practices in vogue which are transgression on the ethical boundaries has also been elaborated upon. The importance and requirement of PR has increased with the changing times, some suggestions are given in the conclusion in due consideration to this increased need of PR in communicating a managements aims and goals. Public Relations: Public relation (PR) is a way for companies and organizations or people to develop their reputations. It is also a method of communicating information within the company to the employees, keeping them motivated and directed towards the goals of the management. The PR personnel use different tactics to accomplish this task[Lan70]. Management Communication: Management communication is a field that is used for the systematic planning and implementation, and also the monitoring and revision, of all the channels of communication used within an organization and between organizations. It also includes the distribution of new communication directives connected with a communications technology, organization or a network[Pam95]. Important aspects of communications management are developing corporate communication strategies and designing internal and external communications directives. One important role it plays is that of managing the flow of information, which includes online communication. The advancement in technology requires the communication management personnel to use innovation in their techniques. Role of Public Relations in Management Communication: We live in a very competitive world where only the fittest can survive. The organizations and corporations are constantly looking to outwit their rivals in introducing efficiency to their systems. The workforce is the most important aspect of a company and the PR department uses various techniques to keep the workforce happy and free of grievances. These techniques are in turn a tool of management communications. An even more important role of the PR department is to project a favorable and attractive image of the company and its owners and CEOs to the target audience and to manage the communication between organizations. Therefore, Public Relations and Management communication are intricately linked together[Gri05]. Researchers have written extensively about whether the organizations give their top performers a reason to stay and whether the organization is communicating enough with the rest of the workforce to motivate them to become one of the top performers. Regular discussions on career development are necessary to keep up the morale of the employees. Companies cannot risk the top employee of a company left the company to join another competitive company just because of not knowing what he expects out of his hard work. This is where public relations come into action. The simplest way the public relation personnel can do this is to either meet with the employee or interact through some sort of social media like e-mail and simply ask them what their goals are. However, the employee can sometimes prove to be less than forthcoming. If the employee is a particularly capable and versatile member of your team, they may find it hard to ascertain a specific career path because they are open to development in multiple areas and do not want to limit their options[Fie06]. The PR person can help them identify the most promising possibility by using key questions to probe further. Here are some examples: • What assignments have you found to be most engaging? • Tell me about an accomplishment in the past six months you feel good about. • What makes for a great day at work? [Fie06] Here are some suggestions of career-development discussions that the public relations officers dealing with employees of the organization should follow along with an analysis of the specific business benefits: 1. Listen- To understand their employees’ unique abilities and versatilities the managers have to be able to listen. That means getting people to communicate about themselves, about their likes and dislikes, what’s most important to them in the work environment as well as work aim, and how they interpret their roles in the workforce. You might have somebody with a particular skill who, as it turns out, is sick and tired of it, and ready to move on and who could in fact be important to the managers. Business benefit of this activity includes uncovering underused or overused skills, and matching your employees’ talents to the needs of the business. 2. Level- This means not only providing your own forthright feedback about the performance of the employee but also getting responses from others. Business benefit of this step includes achievement of a more accurate development plan design. 3. Look ahead- Investigate trends in the organization and your relative industry, and analyze how they may affect employees’ plans. Business benefit of looking ahead is that you can better prepare your team for ups and downs on the horizon. 4. Leverage- In today’s fast evolving workplace only one option may not be enough. The PR manager has to help employees think about multiple options and contingency plans. Business benefit includes coming up with a more convincing set of options for your employees. 5. Link- Once employees know where they’re headed the manager needs to think about how they can support and advocate for them. Business benefit of this is that as you help your people develop you increase your capacity to attract the good talented people. Methods and mediums used in this communication include audio and video releases and conferences to the employees, interaction through e-mail which is one of the most common ways and one on one meeting which is the most effective way[Pet00]. Newer innovations in this field involve blogs and micro blogging along with other social media. Online communication is a field which can be developed significantly large organizations to carry out PR as personal contact is not as common in these bid corporations. Management of communication between the organizations is generally undertaken on bigger scales like publicity through advertisements and press releases along with press conferences. The PR in this department is committed to promoting particular interests to the public in the most favorable light. Thus, its goal is to create, through the organization of news and advertising, an advantageous image for its client, be it a business corporation, cultural institution or public or private individual. In doing so, numerous research techniques and communication infrastructures are utilized. There are two common techniques of two-way communication used in this regard: Two-way asymmetrical communication - an asymmetrical public relations model is an unbalanced one. In this model, an organization gets feedback from the public and then uses that feedback as a basis for attempting to persuade the public to change their opinion in favor of the PR people’s agenda, Two way symmetrical communication - a symmetrical public relations model signifies that the organization takes the interest of public into careful consideration and the public relations practitioners look for a balance between the interest of the public and the interest of the organization. The stakeholders theory says that the PR should be directed to the people who hold a direct stake in the issue or the organization. All audiences are stakeholders or at least presumptive stakeholders, but not all stakeholders come under audiences. For example, if a charity commissions a public relations agency to produce an advertising campaign that can help raise money to find a cure for some disease, the charity and the people with the disease are direct stakeholders, but the audience is anyone who is probable of donating money. One disturbing practice that has come in vogue is the use of ‘spin’ by the PR specialists. This is the biased and highly manipulated reporting of facts to gather favorable opinion about a certain event or situation[She02]. The trend has taken off in such a way that the people who profess to be experts in it are called spin doctors. Another technique used in to turn the public away from your rival by doing negative PR of them, looking for skeletons in their cupboards and exposing them to the public. These are not healthy trends and need to be condemned. Conclusion: At its core, Public Relations revolve around this universal truth that the people act based upon their perception of facts or their frame of reference. By controlling, managing and influencing people's perceptions, the public relations professionals aid the management in a very vital way. The importance of Public Relations in all fields has become so vital that universities should run doctoral programs in this field to overcome the burgeoning need of tomorrow. These scholars can help carry out newer research and formulate theories dealing with PR and its role in communication management[Cul93]. The world has condensed into a global village and no organization can keep itself aloof of the rivalry or competition. It is through the role of effective PR that the war has to be won. At the same time the use of tactics like spin and disingenuous manipulative tactics has to be discouraged at all costs. Every profession has ethics and these are the ethical boundaries of PR that should not be transgressed. REFERENCES: Lan70: , (Mashaw, 1970), Pam95: , (Kiesler, 1995), Gri05: , (Grimshaw, 2005), Fie06: , (Field, Spring2006), Pet00: , (Jakobsen, 2000), She02: , (Baker, 2002), Cul93: , (Culbertson, 1993), Read More