Business has changed radically in recent decades and is becoming more sophisticated. The public relations of today has become perception management. Communicators have increasingly come to the conclusion that perception is what really counts. You might run a great company, but if analysts don’t feel that way the stock does not go up. And your products or service might in reality provide great benefits, but if the customer doesn’t perceive it, that way, it remains on the shelves.
The growing need for communications with key employees
The one public that has grown the most in terms of the need for effective communications are the key employees. The reason is simple: Company Loyalty Is Dead. No company will promise lifetime employment. Anyone can be fired and, since they know that, the good employees are nearly always considering other options. And as demographics has changed with a smaller proportion of people in their 40s and 50s, it is vital to keep those people. So why do employees stay with a company, if not out of loyalty? They stay because they believe in the vision of the company and how they are involved in making that vision happen. So management, whether through the written, or spoken word, must continually communicate that vision to the key people and underline their role in making it happen.
Preparing a Public Relations Program.
For your public relations campaign to be successful, you must first understand the real perceptions of your key audiences. There are only three major categories of perceptions, but these can vary in degrees. If the perception is favorable, you want to enhance it. If it unfavorable, you want to change it. If there is no perception, such as with a new product, you want to create it. This underlines the need for intelligent research before any significant program is undertaken.
One key to a successful PR program is don’t wait for a crisis! Too often, public relations is relied upon to help solve a problem. A crisis has occurred. The stock price has plummeted. Employees are leaving in droves. New competitors have arisen. But just as you should have check-ups when you are healthy, so you should have an active public relations program when times are good. This could make sure times don’t become bad. The key is to decide which of your publics need the greatest emphasis and how to reach them efficiently. To be successful, your PR activities should take the following issues into consideration.
Balancing your internal and external resources: Years ago, the chief internal public relations officers viewed PR as a threat to their position. They feared they would have access to top management that they themselves often didn’t have. Times have changed. As the understanding of PR has grown dramatically, so has the internal function.
Internal PR departments are smaller but more effective. The top PR executives are much more qualified and better paid and work closely with the management. They are usually internal part of the planning process. What had been the norm was for the in-house people to want to move to agencies as a step forward, now the reverse is true. And it is they who now not want outside help but also have the major say in agency selection. A key rule is: don’t hire an agency for what can be done in-house.
When selecting an agency it is important that you do your homework and use contact in the PR industry. The Public Relations Consultants of Nigeria (PRCAN) is a trade sectorial group for the public relations industry in Nigeria. Founded in 1984, the PRRCAN aggregates and articulates the interest of member firms and works to upload the best practice in public relations in Nigeria in the areas of standards, conduct as well as economic well-being for the public relations industry generally and public relations consulting in particular for the benefits of stakeholders. They maintain lists you can review.
You should also provide a carefully prepared brief. The emphasis should not be on what you want to know about them but on what you feel are your needs and how they would plan to fulfill them. If time allows, it is advisable to call them in for a discussion before they make a presentation. The list of prospects should then be narrowed down to three. You should allow time for questions, because it is usually then that you get a better understanding of who really understands your business and its needs.
Make sure to find out exactly who will be on your account and the proportion of their time that will be spent working for you. That is far more important than who is making the presentation because you might never see them again. Also ask the hourly rates of those on the account because, in addition to expertise, a PR company is also selling time.
The Internet
The internet can be used to reach every public of importance, including your own staff. New uses are appearing all the time such as launching a new product or ad campaign, supporting takeovers or IPOs, reporting to Wall Street, fighting elections, and fashion shows. Increasingly, journalists are using it for updates on companies and background for articles they are preparing. So the question is not whether to use the Internet but how to do it most effectively. Here are some guidelines:
- The use of a company’s website calls for a public relations strategy on its own. Who do you really want to reach and how?
- There is a need for continuous updating, which can be costly.
- It is ideal for monitoring competition.
- It is a major vehicle for advocacy groups, some of who might be hostile to some aspects of your company, so you must be prepared not only to monitor but to react to claims.
- As the number of web sites grows, giving the user more and more choice, the need for professionalism will continue to increase if your site is to be successful.
Crisis Management
A recent study listed the characteristics of crisis as: surprise, insufficient information, escalating flow of events, loss of control, intense scrutiny from outside, siege mentality, panic, and short-term focus. There are key principles in handling any crisis:
- Centralize/ control information flow coming in or going out;
- Isolate a crisis team from daily business concerns;
- Define the real problem short-term and long-term;
- Recognize the value of a short-term sacrifice;
- Resist the combative instinct;
- Be willing to admit error and be 100% sure of any facts you issue;
- Assume a “worst case” planning position;
- Depend on no one individual fully;
- Understand each of the media’s role and purpose;
- Remember all constituencies, internal and external (for example, unions, employees, family, local community residents and leaders, local authorities, and so on);
- And remember in the Chinese language there are two characters which together make up the word “crisis”. The first means “problem: and the other means “opportunity”
Conclusion
The future of public relations/perception management remains very exciting. Companies, communities, governments, government bodies, NGOs, and individuals are appreciating a greater need for handling it more professionally and are expanding their efforts. The key now is for those using perception management to make sure they do everything possible to use it as effectively as possible.
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