Role of PR Manager

8/14/2019 Role of PR Manager

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INTRODUCTION:-

Today we live in the age of Interdependence as we are reliant upon oneanother for the satisfaction of our social, economic, political & religious need. Wedo not come across individuals, groups, corporations, governments and nationswho are able to achieve or do any activity without the help of others.

Thus, the mutual dependence of individuals, groups, corporations etc. has

magnified the importance of human relationship in contemporary life. There isemployer-employee relationship society and business relationship, buyer and seller relationship, investor and corporate relationship subordinate and superior relationship and also the dynamics of small group relationship.

The opinions of individuals or that of group of the public cannot be ignoredfor the success of any business. Human relationship and its interrelationship incontemporary life is natural as well as essential.

The order of present century and the forthcoming century exits in totalinterdependence or reliance on each other. This has created the need for a newdiscipline and philosophy as a function of management which is termed as PublicRelations.

Public relation as a concept was critical evolved in business and industry andit subsequently spread to other areas of human activity. This profession isimmensely applicable in government and public institutions like Corporations,Municipalities, Universities, Hospitals, Professionals and social serviceorganizations. Public relations was in practice in peoples daily life even before theemergence of industry, business and government. Public relations is the result of the action inherent in an individual, an institution or an organization.


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MEANING OF PUBLIC RELATIONS:-Public:

Public is group of similar individuals, an assortment of person havingsimilar interest, problems, goals and circumstances. It generally from such sourcesthat OPINIONS emerge. Public comes in many forms and sizes. They have amultitude of desires and wants.

Public has its own likes and dislikes which sometimes can even be strong.

Employees are one form of public and employers another form. Other members of the public are dealers, wholesalers, brokers and investors. Each of these groupstries to attract a distinct audience with its varied tools and techniques.

Relations:

Relations are the outcome of mutual understanding which is derived fromthe process of sharing of the common interest. The need of establish relation withone another is created because of human wants. The respective wants of two

individuals will affect their relationship. To understand any relationship, one mustunderstand wants of those involved.

Public Relations:

By the integration of the above two human element viz. public and relationswe get public relations. It is a profession that is a part and parcel of managementfunction.


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INTERNAL PUBLIC AND EXTERNAL PUBLIC

Public for public relations can be classified into categories:

(A) Internal Public.

(B) External Public.

(A) Internal public :

The internal staffs who work within the organization constitute the internal public. An organization is complex consisting of group of individuals. There isinteraction between individuals & groups within an organization & relationship isestablished. It is the responsibility of the public relation manager to provideeffective public relations.

The employees expect higher pay, companys stability & opportunity for advancement. The employers expect increase production & employees loyalty.

As far as internal relations are concerned the PR officer tries to establishgood relations with the employees 7 the management. Within the organization theexecutives constitute a special public category who are also under obligation toshare some common interest with the other executives.

There are certain requirements for effective internal public relations:

a) Good internal relations must be recognized as it is a basic requirement to build ateam and to achieve the corporate objectives.

b) Internal public must be well informed of the board objectives and policies of thetop management and also about their mutual interest in the organization.


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c) Free flow of upward and downward communication should be emphasized. Thedepartment of public relations is responsible to create a climate conductive towardsthe free flow approach to communicate freely.

d)The top management must establish a good internal climate of understandingand relations.

e) Professional talent must be developed and Training Programmers must bestrategically chalked out to the benefit of the organization.

f) It is the responsibility of the management to recognize the importance of freedom of speech of their subordinates.

(B) External Public

External public is the one who buys the products or the services of the company.This category includes dealers, wholesalers, brokers, supplies, investors,consumers, government, department, financial institutions, creditors, debentureholders, subsidiary companies etc. Every organization is linked with their external

parties. Under all the circumstance a smooth two-way communication channelexternal to the organization must be maintained for running the business

effectively.An external relation is considered as life-blood of modern business and hence themanagement should be aware of the importance of external communication and theuse of feedback.

The public relations department should adopt a multi-dimensional approach inorder to establish relations with the external public of vary groups. It is veryimportant to boil positive attitude, develop good rapport, create confidence, and

win goodwill and mutual understanding with the external public by keeping themwell informed.


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Objectives of Public Relations:

(1) Promote mutual understanding.(2) Persuade individuals, groups, etc,(3) Help in fund raising.(4) Enhance the patronage from the various sections.(5) Change the behavior and attitude of the public,(6) Influence people.(7) Win friends.(8) Avoid the risk involved in misunderstanding.(9) Prepare and supply the public with information about .theorganization like price, quality, export, employment and other special features.(10) Provide information about the activities of the company, to the

press and writers.(11) Liaise, counsel and advise,(12) Improve internal staff relations.(13) Help the public to love life and work for better or for worsewithout conditions.(14) Undertake a public relations education programme. .(15) Promote goodwill.(16) Correct misconceptions and clarify on criticism of its policies


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and practices.(17) Establish relations with federal and state legislators, agencies.(18) Undertake a campaign of public education about anindustry or profession and its contribution to the public.

FUNCTIONS OF PUBLICS RELATION DEPARTMENTS:

The functions of a public relation department differ from organization toorganization depending upon their nature and activities. However, there certain

standard functions which are common to most of the organization. They are asfollows:

(1) Policy : a policy is statement of guidelines to be followed in the company.Public relation policy is required for organization. It has to be develop andrecommended corporate public relation policies and has contribute the publicrelation viewpoint which helps in the formulation of decision. Its function is notonly to provide policy to the top management but also to the other section anddivisions.

(2) Publicity : in ordered to interact with the public it is necessary to havecorporate activities to the external communication media. It also has to handleinquiries from the press. It is one of the important functions of department todevelop and place promotional publicity about the organization as a whole or anyof its units.

(3) Relation with government : it is necessary to maintain liaison withappropriate government infrastructures regulates controls and supervises majorityof the activities. Hence the relations with the government cannot be overlooked.The liaison covers the locals and the state level as well as the national level.Besides this government relations include the following:

(a) Help in preparing and directing corporate appearances before investing

bodies of legislative hearings.


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(b) Direct programmes design to promote the companies point of view inlegislative or regulatory matters.

(c) Report trends in government affecting the company.

(4) Community Relations : community contacts should be well-planned and co-ordinate. Activity such as environmental protection standards, equal employmentopportunity and co-operating in urban improvement progrmmes should beundertaking.

(5) Shareholder Relations : in order to attract public money it is necessary andimportant to maintain good relation with corporate shareholders. This can be donein the form communication between the company and shareholders including me

investors. The company can be made more acceptable among the investors by broadening the exposure of the companies policies and financial results in meinvestment community. These includes preparation of annual reports, etc. it hasalso to plan and stage the annual meetings of the shareholders.

(6) Product publicity : the public relation department has to develop and excutethe promotional product publicity campaign. Corporate publicity is different from

product publicity. In product publicity the focus is on the product and how to popularize them it includes announcement of new product through the editorial

channels of communication media.

(7) Employees Publicity : the public relation department has to publishnewspapers, bulletins and employees magazines. In order to communicate thevarious goals, achievements, performance and future planes of the company.

(8) Donations : the public relation departments has to prepare a corporatedonations policy for company contributions various aspects involved in thisfunction includes processing request for donation, administrating companies

foundation etc.(9) Promotion Programs : PR promotion programmes broadly coversinstitutions promotional programs design to build corporate acceptance of key

policies, special events, public relation, literature and institutional advertising other functions include:


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(a) Public relation education programmes

(b) Advisory functions.

(c) Co-coordinating activities.

(d) Conveying and interpretations.

Essential Qualities of A Good Public Relation Manager:

(1) Mental ability, foreside, orderliness of mind and judgment, willingness tothing straight and promptness decision.

(2) Integrity in the sense of mental honesty.

(3) A restrained self confidence coupled with initiated and resourcefulness.

(4) Ability to see other persons point of view and to be as critical of oneself of other.

(5) A balance temperature particularly the absence of emotional instability andforcefulness and self centered outlook.


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(6) Persistence but not the point of obstinacy.

Edward L. Bernays listed eleven personal characteristics needed by PR

practitioner:

(1) Character and integrity.

(2) A sense of Jegament and Logic.

(3) A broad cultural background.

(4) Truthfulness and discretion.(5) Objectivity

(6) Institution.

(7) A deep interest in the solution of problems.

(8) The ability to think creative and imaginative.

(9) Effective power of analyzing and synthesis.

(10) Intellectual curiosity.

(11) Terming in the social science and in the mechanics of public relations.



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Role Of Public Relation Manager:

(1) To help the management in preparing, interpreting adopting and evaluating

the public relation policies and programme.

(2) To design an effective performance appraisal system.

(3) To conduct education and training programmer for the staff of the PR department.

(4) To develop a mechanism of personally meeting various public like buyers,institutional investors, communities, consumer organizations, etc.

(5) To develop effective internal and external communication system for timelyinteraction.

(6) To prepare different literature matter for different media.

(7) To convey and interpret to the management different information on publicattitudes and views about the company or industry it serves.

(8) To instruct the companys financial advertising agents an all matters relatingto financial and annual reports, advertising, publicity etc.

ATTRIBUTES OF PUBLIC RELATION :

(1)Imagination.(2)Verbalizing skills for writing, and speaking(3)Extroversion, for contact with people.

(4)Sensitivity to people and events.(5) Organizing and planning skills, including leadership andadministrative skills.


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Setting Objectives:

Knowing how to set goals and objectives in the planning of your communicationactivities makes you much more effective.

Setting communication goals and objectives creates several benefits. It lets peopleknow what is expected of them, it lets others know what is planned, it helps toquantify the resources that are needed and when, it helps to improvecommunication between the participants, and it creates measurable results.

A widely held myth for many years was that public relations performance couldnot really be measured and therefore couldnt be expected to undergo the

performance and budget scrutiny that other areas of the organization were obligedto accept. These days you can prove the value of your PR work by setting andachieving measurable objectives for your activities.

Goals are the means to express the end points towards which effort is directed.They are broad, relatively abstract and may be difficult to quantify (Our goal is toincrease our share of the marketplace for [our product].)

Objectives are subsets of goals and should be expressed in concrete, measurableterms. (Our objective is to increase our share of the market in the largest city inthis State for [our product] by 15% by the end of the next financial year.) Anobjective is something that can be documented; its factual and observable.


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A set of goals is achieved only by achieving a subset of interrelated objectives,even if those objectives are not clearly stated or articulated. Therefore, an objectiveis a strategic step along the way to achieving a desired goal.

There are generally three types of goals in public relations:

Reputation management goals , which deal with the identity and perceptionof the organization. Example: We aim to improve stakeholder opinions of our organization significantly within the next year.

Relationship management goals , which focus on how the organizationconnects with its stakeholders. Example: We aim to improvecommunication with our shareholders during the coming year.

Task management goals , which are concerned with achieving tasks.Example: Our goal is to increase attendance at our staff town hallmeetings.

Many public relations practitioners are satisfied to express their intentions in the broad terms of goals. This allows them to rationalize the outcomes, to gild thelily and take the credit for the results. However, in tough times, they cant actually

prove their worth and therefore senior management may subjectively question their contribution.

But if you can show that you have achieved specific, measurable targets, you areable to prove your worth. Setting measurable objectives helps the planning of future campaigns and offers you the political benefit of enabling you to justifymore resources for your subsequent activities. Specifying objectives is also the

best practical way to make senior managers understand the public relations role.

Measuring the overall impact of a PR program or strategy can be difficult unlessthe individual elements or components of the program are clearly defined and

measured, e.g. publicity activities, a particular community relations program, aspecial event, government affairs, speaker program, investor relations activity, etc.

It is often difficult to separate PR programs and activities (such as publicity,distribution of information material, special events, etc) from other activities such


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as marketing (advertising, point-of-purchase promotional activities, give-awayactivities, etc).

Also, the setting of challenging but realistic objectives can be a difficult exercise

requiring arbitrary selection of target figures that depend on a range of underlyingassumptions.

Life seldom consists of black and white issues; it largely consists of shades of grey.Accordingly, objectives should never be all or nothing they should refer to theextent of accomplishment along a continuum of performance. An all or nothingapproach to objectives will subvert the value of the process because people willalways go for low hurdles to maximize the chances of attaining them. If someoneachieves 95% of an objective, how can they be considered a failure? To treatanything less than 100% as a failurewill surely lead to game playing, low-

balling and the massage and manipulation of data. To use objectivesin such asimplistic way invites reactions inconsistent with execution success. 1

Setting objectives and measuring results

It is helpful to think of objectives comprising four parts:

an infinitive verb a single outcome stated as a receiver of a verbs action the magnitude of the action expressed in quantifiable terms a target date or timeframe for achieving the outcome.



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EMPLOYEE RELATION:

A vital role for communicators is to tell all stakeholders, especially staff, about thedecisions and the planned outcomes from the strategic planning process. Keymessages need to be passed on consistently and effectively throughout theorganisation in a tailored way, not as mass-communication, head-office gloss or

propaganda.

The messages should link the big picture with the little picture so that staff cansee how their individual efforts can make a difference to the end result. Research

shows that organisations are more effective when their employees know thedirection in which the organisation is heading and their own personal role inhelping the organisation achieve its goals and mission. This is also called line of sight.

The time of most managers is largely spent in dealing with the local, short-termissues. The focus of the managers is on their daily, weekly, monthly and quarterlyneeds as they deal with employees, customers and other stakeholders. Short-termthinking is fine as long as it directly supports long-term, strategic thinking. This

point may seem to be basic, but the translation of strategy into short-termmeasurable objectives is often incomplete or faulty. Managers usually needassistance in breaking down the key issues, elements and needs of the businessstrategy into tactical, short-term operating objectives and action plans. Thistranslation process is an integral and vital part of the execution of strategy.


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Ask the managers what they intend to say to the staff about strategic direction.Ideally, the CEO would have already led the way with a summary presentation of the corporate plan. The aim is to translate how the strategy becomes fulfilledthrough completion of daily tasks.

Making the connection between the daily workplace and corporate strategy iseasier said than done, but with a little thought, the tasks of even a personalassistant, coordinator or cost clerk can be linked to goals. By reviewing their jobdescription or getting them to list their activities, their manager can link their tasksto measurable work objectives supporting the various goals at the departmental,divisional and organisational level.

One way of checking if managers have communicated the short-term objectives

sufficiently is to ask their staff two questions:

What activities and objectives do you routinely work to in your department [unit, branch]?

What business strategy does these activities and objectives support?

The answers will quickly show the extent to which the respective manager issucceeding in their strategic role.

Senior managers tend to use acronyms and management jargon in the strategic planning process as well as in their daily workplace. As they are surrounded byother senior managers, they take for granted that everyone else is familiar withtheir terminology. This is seldom the case, especially with frontline staff.Therefore it is important to define terms when using them in communication or notuse them at all. Even common terms like mission, values, culture andstrategy are widely misunderstood by lower-level employees.

To be effective, work back from the frontline level. The best way to check about

employee understanding of important terms is to ask them about the acronyms and jargon words used in their workplace. Ask a sample of frontline staff individuallyin each workplace what is meant by terms such as mission, goals and KPIs.etc. Sit in on their team meetings and listen for jargon. Become a jargon detector!


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Make a note of the acronyms and jargon words used in the discussion aboutstrategic direction and get the manager to explain the terms in subsequent teammeetings. Staff would probably be reluctant to admit in front of others that theydont know, especially if their boss uses the words every day. They wouldnt want

to look dumb in front of their peers.

In addition to verbal clarification, if there is widespread misunderstanding aboutcertain terms, the communication team could explain them progressively in thecorporate newsletter or even in briefing material. This can be done quite subtly in

passing.

Operational managers should be responsible for communicating with their ownstaff rather than PR practitioners trying to communicate on their behalf. Why

should PR staff do the communicating when these line managers are responsiblefor all other matters at the local level?

The idea is for PR staff to be catalysts or enablers to equip local managers andsupervisors with the right tools to enable them to communicate effectively withtheir own staff.

Managing the performance of PR staff

If you are a PR manager, how can you get better performance from your staff? Andif you are a PR officer, what should you expect from your boss? If you know goodtechniques for performance management, you can get better results.

Performance management is a poorly handled role everywhere. For instance, aWatson Wyatt Worldwide national US survey in 2004 of 1200 employees foundthat 90% of respondents participated in a performance management program, butonly 30% said their organizations program actually led to improved performance.1

Only 20% said their company helped poorly performing workers improve. Andonly 39% could see the connection between their day-to-day work and corporategoals. On a more positive note, around 40% said their system established clear

performance goals or generated honest feedback.


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It is difficult for many PR managers to find out the most effective ways of managing the performance of their staff because it is difficult to find satisfactoryKPIs to use. KPIs are repeated activities that can be measured from one period tothe next. Many PR activities have intangible or complex outcomes or are not

repeated actions that can be compared from one period to the next, which is thefundamental requirement for KPIs. This makes it difficult to identify suitable KPIsfor PR practitioners.

In view of all this, most PR KPIs tend to relate to stakeholder opinions canvassedfrom one period to the next.

Research shows that the best supervisors informally monitor the performance of their staff during their daily duties and give 50% more feedback about their work than poor supervisors do. The worst supervisors tend not to give feedback to theindividual until they are obliged to in an uncomfortable formal review. So themoral is there give frequent feedback!

A key issue to understand is that performance reviews and pay reviews should bemutually exclusive. Unfortunately, in most organisations the employees

performance review and pay review are conducted in the same meeting. This iscompletely counter-productive because it creates an adversarial environment

with the employee trying to convince the boss that he or she performs miracles anddeserves a maximum rise while the boss tries to find arguments, such as findingfault with the employees performance, to minimise a pay increase.

Performance reviews should be conducted independently of pay reviews. Theyshould be held at quarterly intervals at the start and could extend to every sixmonths if both parties consider this to be appropriate later. Set the next review dateduring the previous review and never change it . Performance reviews aresupremely important to employees. If the boss changes the date invariably adelay it sends a dreadful signal to the employee. Employees will agonise in a

paranoid state over the many possible reasons for the delay of a review and willusually fear the worst. Dont let them down!

The boss is essentially the persons performance coach. The broad thrust of the performance review meeting should be along the lines of the boss asking, How


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can I help you to do your job more effectively? as the two parties work throughtheir discussion agenda.

The discussion agenda at a performance review should:

1. Update the staff members personal details, eg home address and telephonenumber (15-20% of people change address every year).

2. Review the staff members job title, and review their job description, line byline, and jointly identify any changes in the role that need to be shown on anamended job description.

3. Establish the key successes review the job description line by line, identifywhere the objectives have been met and clearly establish the extent to whichthey have added value to the organisation.

4. Review the key performance indicators to:o ensure they are still relevant,o determine that the way of measuring them is still valido determine how the staff member performed in relation to the KPIso determine whether any skills training is required or whether more

resources could be applied to help that person improve their KPIresults.

5. Identify the key challenges only after completing the previous step should

the areas of below-expected performance be addressed. Identify what factorsare contributing to those problems and develop a strategy for dealing withthem.

6. Complete the performance review record by entering the information fromthe above steps, using the job description as a reference.

7. Sign off once the performance review record has been updated and agreed by both parties, the staff member signs the document, which is included intheir personnel file

The staff member should always be involved in the construction and regular updating of their job description it gives them a greater sense of ownership of their job.

The persons review would also include several short-to-medium-term objectivesof activities that are significant but not repeated, eg Complete the promotional


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plan for the new plant by 10 June and Learn how to operate Microsoft Access toa competent level by 30 September. Professional development activities would beincluded here, eg Attend PRSA issues management workshop.

Dealing with poor performers

One thing that should be understood is that poor performers are not nearly as prevalent as mythology may make out. Actual numbers of poor performers are well below the levels perceived by other employees. When there is a poor performer,they have a greater nuisance and irritant effect on other employees, which tends tomagnify perceptions of the extent of the problem.

How can performance management be effective? In a consistent and firm way.

Where there is a poor performer, managers need to show commitment to due process that all their employees can perceive. Performance management should bemore an ongoing dialogue rather than merely a formal review. With such adialogue, it is likely that the problem will be addressed early rather than beingallowed to fester. All employees must be made aware of the processes in place toaddress poor performance, not just poor performers themselves. The more thatemployees understand these processes, the more confidence they will have inmanagement to deal with any problems. 2

Staff member KPIs

A key performance indicator is an outcome. It describes what would happen if thestaff member succeeded in fulfilling that particular role. A KPI is not merely a PR activity. It is an outcome for the business that having you on staff is supposed todeliver.

Each person should have up to five KPIs of repeated, measurable activities that

support the goals of their workplace. It is virtually impossible to accomplish morethan five well-constructed KPIs. If more than five can be found for an individualthen they are most likely to be subsets of larger KPIs. An individuals KPIs couldstem from the PR branchs KPIs as outlined in earlier in this chapter.

Key performance indicators can be best reached by asking questions like:


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Is the proposed KPI an outcome?Are we doing the tasks to produce the outcome?Whatever else happens, you must

At the end of the day, the things that must happen in your job are

Individuals KPIs are measurable either by report or survey. A measure mustindicate how, how often and to what level an activity has been performed, eg

Six monthly stakeholder satisfaction survey shows at least 75% positive response.Quarterly evaluation report on extent of positive media coverage.Monthly report on PR stationery stocks showing stock levels at least 50%.Quarterly running review and update of PR strategy plan completed.Monthly report on corporate advertising committed against budget shows no

budget Monthly employee publication contains agreed proportions of content onorganisational strategy, human interest, local production achievements, safetyresults and staff promotions.

Giving Recognition to employees:

Appreciation is a fundamental human need. Employees respond to appreciation

expressed through recognition of their good work because it confirms their work isvalued. When employees and their work are valued, their satisfaction and productivity rises, and they are motivated to maintain or improve their good work.Whats more, employee recognition is free or low cost!

Employee recognition is the timely, informal or formal acknowledgement of a persons or teams behavior, effort or business result that supports theorganizations goals and values, and which has clearly been beyond normalexpectations.

Recognition is also a powerful means of communication; it sends extremely positive signals to the recipient and others who are aware of the recognition act.Employee recognition is therefore a communication technique to be encouraged by

public relations practitioners, who can play a key role in influencing managementto use recognition as a performance enhancer in the workplace.


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Despite the unquestioned benefits arising from employee recognition, one of themysteries of the workplace is that recognition invariably is done badly, if done atall. Few organizations have well-established and accepted formal or informalemployee programs in place. Therefore, employee recognition remains an

undervalued management technique.

Whats the best way to recognize an employee for work well done? The bestformula for recognizing an individual for their efforts is:

Thank the person by name. Specifically state what was done that is being recognized. Being specific is

vital because it identifies and reinforces the desired behavior. Explain how the behavior made you feel (assuming you felt some pride or

respect for their accomplishment). Point out the value added to your team or organization by the behavior. Wherever possible, also point out the way in which the behavior supports an

organisational goal or objective. This shows a direct connection betweentheir work and your organizational goals and objectives - a strategicreinforcement.

Thank the person again by name for their contribution.

Encouraging the Employees:

Appreciation is a fundamental human need. Employees respond to appreciationexpressed through recognition of their good work because it confirms their work isvalued. When employees and their work are valued, their satisfaction and

productivity rises, and they are motivated to maintain or improve their good work.


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Employee recognition is the timely, informal or formal acknowledgement of a persons or teams behavior, effort or business result that supports theorganizations goals and values, and which has clearly been beyond normalexpectations.

Despite the unquestioned benefits arising from employee recognition, one of themysteries of the workplace is that recognition invariably is done badly, if done atall. Few organizations have well-established and accepted formal or informalemployee programs in place. Therefore, employee recognition remains anundervalued management technique.

Communication is a vital part of recognition

Communication is important in the recognition of good achievements in theworkplace by peers, managers and supervisors. As a public relations practitioner,you can encourage the awarding of recognition for work well done throughout theorganization when you become aware of suitable situations. Such opportunitiestend to arise while gathering information for employee publications and other typical communication tasks.

You can communicate about good achievements and their long-term benefits:

Offer employee recognition ideas to help to drive formal and informal programs of employee recognition.

Supply articles and photographs in employee publications, including theintranet, and occasionally in external media about high-achievingemployees.

Arrange informal recognition functions, such as during the morning coffee break, in which the supervisor or manager thanks the person for their work.

Directly encourage managers and supervisors to spontaneously recognize

employees for their efforts (giving employees a pat on the back). Arrange photographs and certificates of the employees and their awards or

similar, in common areas. Mention employee recognition activities in your workplace and elsewhere at

your regular team meetings.


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Model the desired behavior by giving recognition to your staff and also toyour peers (especially if you arent a manager yourself).

In addition, you can communicate about the long-term benefits that come to high

achievers in the workplace:

Conduct interviews with the staff who manage your organizations career advancement programs, with the aim of publicizing the opportunities for advancement.

Include high-achieving employees in special features in print or online publications that outline ways to get ahead. (You will probably findgovernment departments are reluctant to single out individuals, but persist

because this is an important issue.) List employees who have been promoted, proving that career advancement

is possible from achieving good results in the workplace. Include a career management section on your organizational intranet, which

summarizes all information and resources about career advancement. Ensure that senior managers reinforce positive messages about high

achievers and career advancement opportunities when they speak toemployee groups.

You can play a valuable role by training or arranging training in presentation skillsto assist supervisors and managers to improve the way they recognize their staff for work well done. Many managers have never had such training, and because goodcommunication skills are expected as a given in a job, some are reluctant to admitthey need assistance in this area.

The concept of employee recognition is basically simple, but most managers are poor at it. They need reinforcing and coaching. They need a program, principlesand procedures to help them apply recognition effectively within their area of responsibility.


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Crisis Management:

Since 9/11, the world has become a more dangerous place. Every day we see in themedia the latest terrorism incident that has been thwarted or happened in countriesaround the world. And, of course, there are all the types of corporate crises thatcould happen, many related to the Internet and information technology.

According to a September 2006 poll conducted by Harris Interactive of senior

executives in large corporations, the top crisis situations that worry corporateexecutives were:

61% compromise of corporate information systems

55% terrorism

40% corporate wrongdoing

32% environmental mishaps

30% negative claims about products, health or safety

29% Internet rumors and misinformation

24% industrial accidents


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23% product contamination or tampering

21% product recalls

19% workplace violenceWhether you are in-house or a consultant, crises are relevant to you as acommunicator because crises are largely about the perceptions of stakeholders.Operational managers can deal with operational emergencies, but crises happenwhen emergency incidents impact on stakeholders, whose actions can affect theability of your organization to survive. Thats where you come in tocommunicate with key stakeholder groups such as employees, customers,shareholders, government regulators and suppliers.

Its not easy to get senior management to actively support crisis communication plans. Most of them dont want to know about crises. They know the chance of being caught up in a crisis is tiny and they dont want to take time away from their daily work priorities to deal with something that just might happen one day, andthen again, it might not. And crisis preparation costs money in staff time, inequipment and other resources.

Whats more, many executives perceive crises and emergencies only in terms of anoperational response (put the fire out and return to full operations ASAP). Theylook at communication only as an afterthought to the real work. This is anextremely frustrating attitude to encounter. Those executives will need to beconvinced of the impact on your organizations operations and therefore

profitability before they take full notice of your communication plan. (In agovernment agency the discussion would need to be about the impact on outputand the fallout from politicians to a public shambles.)

One fatal assumption many organizations make is to think their own IT and server will be available during a crisis. You need to ensure you can communicate withkey stakeholders from your back up system for a significant time during a crisis.Lack of thought in this area could come back to bite you. Save your crisis responsematerial on a separate server and regularly update it so that you can use it during acrisis, even from other premises.


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A great crisis communication plan is only as good as the extent to which it isimplemented. Here are some ideas to get senior management to respect your crisiscommunication plan and support its implementation:

Be an ambassador of communication. Every person in your organizationinvolved in emergency management should know your first name and face.Meet the emergency-procedures planners informally and talk to them abouthow better communication with key stakeholders would help them achievetheir crisis management goals.

Inform senior managers of clear objectives for communication in a crisis.When many emergency response planners think of communication theytend to think of two-way radios or other forms of telecommunication. Itmight be better to use terms like stakeholder information or publiccommunication in a crisis.

Tell senior managers how the overall response and recovery operation ismore effective by investing in crisis communication activities. In fact, poor crisis communication could destroy the organization.

Always ensure you have fully completed your allotted tasks in the preparation of a crisis communication plan that you bring to discuss atcommittee meetings. Other people can tell if you have rushed your

preparation or if you have neglected parts of it, so they will lose respect if you have failed to honor your commitments.

Since most executives are busy with their day-to-day activities, they tend to put off the time needing to be spent on emergency and crisis responseactivities. You can take the initiative and systematically arrange meetingswith key managers to discuss the importance and the broad content of their communication role in a crisis

There are many high-profile examples you can cite of good and badexamples of crisis communication to back your case. Document each

example concisely and circulate the documents in a regularly spaced series,ie a month or two apart, to management to drive your message home tothem.

Any concerns about management not understanding the importance of crisiscommunication must be addressed in the pre-crisis planning phase. You need to be


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proactive and meet with the emergency response planners now. Show them your competence and expertise. Be energetic. Set your own time aside for thinkingthrough and documenting for your reference any action points. Act promptly onthose action points

Communicating during a crisis

Organizations can withstand crises better if they have established sound, long-termrelationships with stakeholders, the people and organizations who are at risk fromthe decisions and actions of the organization. No organization has enoughresources to engage in the ideal two-way symmetric dialogue with everystakeholder, so management needs to allocate resources in priority order.Stakeholder relationship management should be a priority task of management.Stakeholders can be assessed and prioritized according to their impact on theorganization.

One important fact to remember is that public companies those listed on theStock Exchange are obliged to follow the rules of their home exchange inreleasing information into the public arena. All information that relates to thefinancial performance of the company has to be announced simultaneously toshareholders through the exchange, analysts, the media and other stakeholders. Bydefinition, a crisis will have a bearing on the future financial performance of acompany, so crisis communication plans should make full allowance for releasinginformation to interested parties simultaneously.


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SPONSORSHIP:

Attract better sponsorship proposals

Corporate sponsorship has a commercial purpose. It requires a measurable returnon investment in marketing or relationship terms. (Sponsorship isnt a donation toa worthy cause. By definition, donations are given with no expectation of anythingin return and therefore have no commercial purpose.) Organizations have to justifytheir sponsorship decisions according to the benefits they will receive in dollars or in better outcomes from their relationships with key stakeholders. Therefore,

sponsorship proposals need to address the specific needs of the sponsor in order tomaximize effectiveness.

The best way to improve the quality of proposals and reduce the number of unwelcome approaches is to communicate tell people what you want! Spell outto potential applicants what you are looking for in their proposals. Your corporatewebsite is the best avenue to outline your sponsorship policy and guidelines. Moreadvice on this in a forthcoming e-book on giving corporate sponsorship.

Sponsorship guidelines

Prepare a concise paper that outlines your sponsorship policy and guidelines, andmake it widely available. Consider where sponsorship seekers contact your organization about sponsorship. Typical approaches are made to your:


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Head officeRegional officesWebsiteSponsorship department

Public relations departmentMarketing departmentCommunity relations departmentAdvertising agencyChairman or CEOs officeManagers in discussion with others on operational issuesOther staff who may be personally known to the sponsorship seeker

Ensure your sponsorship document is circulated widely to every department withinyour organization to managers and especially to frontline staff who receivecontacts from the public staff such as receptionists, personal assistants,telephonists, secretaries and call centre staff. Enquirers can simply be referred tothe sponsorship area of your corporate website or they can be emailed or posted acopy of the guidelines. The job of your frontline staff is made easier by having thismaterial at hand.

Also, your employees will better understand your sponsorship strategy if you

circulate the document internally to them. They will be able to provide usefuladvice to people who may raise the possibility of sponsoring groups they areassociated with. Sometimes employees themselves suggest sponsorship activitiesto you and therefore the guidelines can assist them to understand what is required.

If you receive proposals from people who have obviously not read your sponsorship guidelines, return their application with a copy of your guidelines anda form letter requesting them to revise their application to fit your selectioncriteria. They may not be pleased about being obliged to do more work, but theywill start to realize that tailored approaches are essential if they have any chance of getting to first base.


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Negotiation with potential major sponsors tends to be a one-sided process. Thesponsor invariably holds the upper hand because they know there are dozens of other sponsorship opportunities being offered in the marketplace at any given time.Therefore some sponsor negotiators ruthlessly use their bargaining power to force

a stronger position. You can follow these guidelines to help overcome a weak negotiating position:

1. Dont reveal the full extent of your weak position. It is a common, costlymistake to let slip the fact that you are desperate to complete the deal. Dontgive them the impression you are desperate because you have called themthree times to check if they have received the proposal! Try not to let the

potential sponsor know the full truth of your situation. A weak position isnot so dire if the other party doesnt know your real position. Dont let themknow you are under pressure to sign the deal or that the deal is vital to you.Dont get drawn into any discussion that allows the potential sponsor to infer that you are desperate. Instead, continue highlighting your strengths, even if they are few, or turning the focus to the advantages they will gain from adeal with you.

2. Dont let them intimidate you by trying to beat you down on price or conditions. If you have done your homework and know your proposal offersgood value for money that stands up with other deals in the marketplace,

point to the other similar deals and stand firm. If they want a lower price, tellthem you can oblige, but only for a correspondingly lower combination of sponsor benefits.

3. Increase the other sides dependence on you. When in a weak position, toomany negotiators focus exclusively on themselves and fail to consider theother partys position. Most negotiators have something valuable to offer theother side. The important thing is to identify the unique value you bring tothe negotiating table. Try to understand all the potential sponsors needs,

interests and priorities by communicating with them at multiple stages andthrough multiple people during the lead-in process. If your negotiations are

proceeding to a crucial point, you are well advised to meet with or at least totelephone people from different business units within the sponsor companyto get access to their point of view. Their comments may help you gaincrucial insights that you didnt have before and allow you to offer new


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benefits rather than being caught on the back foot and feeling obliged tolower your asking fee due to the other partys tough line. This is especiallyhelpful if you are seeking to renew an existing sponsorship deal. However,

be politically savvy about this. Some sponsors may feel you have gone

behind their back, so be careful about how you discuss the sources of suchinformation.

4. Dont promise a major sponsor everything up front. Keep some benefits inreserve to sweeten the pot if the potential sponsor is pressing for a better deal. This is far better than reducing the amount of money you are asking.You could keep these extra benefits in hand as an unexpected bonus for thesponsor after the deal is signed. Also, some reserve benefits could be spreadto other sponsors if the benefits havent been used in the deal with the major

sponsor.5. Collaborate with other sponsors to put a proposal together to a potential

major sponsor. If you already have smaller, happy sponsors in place, youcould increase your negotiating power by teaming up with them to offer agreater number of joint benefits to the main sponsor. The new benefitscould, for instance, provide access to a bigger target audience in a wider areaor in a juicy niche market that otherwise would be difficult to access.

6. Use psychology. You can use two psychological principles to help your cause. Firstly, get the sponsor to like you. Two things reliably increaseliking similarity and praise. People are more willing to buy from thosewho are similar to them in various ways such as age, sport, politics and whohave other areas of personal common ground such as interest in a hobby,sport or television program. Create the bond early because it paves the wayfor goodwill and trust in every later encounter.

Secondly, we mostly prefer to say yes to the requests of someone we knowand like. Praise charms and disarms. Positive remarks about another

persons attitude or achievements reliably increase liking in return, as wellas greater compliance with your wishes. This works even when flattery isused. Strangers such as sales people get us to comply with their requests aswell by applying this rule they first get us to like them. Apply these simpleapplications of psychology in your discussions with sponsors without

being too obvious about it.


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7. Obtain testimonials from past or present genuinely satisfied sponsors tosupport your case. Make the testimonials specific get the person to talk about what they thought of you before and after the sponsorship relationshipwith them. And get them to quantify if possible, any benefits expected and

unexpected they received from the relationship. Put all this in your sponsorship proposal. Ensure you include the photo and contact details of the person giving the testimonial either phone or email. This gives aquantum leap to your credibility, and most of the time the potential sponsor wont interrupt the other party by contacting them.

Social Responsibility:Every PR manager working in a corporate entity has certain social obligationstowards it. It means it involves observing certain norms of behavior which havesocial acceptance. Looking from this angle the PR manager who have code of conduct also do have an obligation in terms of social objectives and upholding thevalues of the society.

Corporate public relation officers are also part of a society, so their functioning isgoverned and influenced by the obligations towards the society.

The role of PR in assuming social responsibility of business is not a new concept.Majority of the domestic as well as multinational corporation have reaffirmed their

belief in this concept. It largely affects their professional personality and also their functioning.

A PR manager is a professional with a code of conduct and the ethical obligationand hence directly responsible to the society.

Social Responsibility:

a. PRs responsibilities towards shareholders:

Shareholders are the owners of the company but the management of thecompany lies in the elected representatives known as the Board of Directors. Itis the responsibility of the PR managers to maintain good relations with the


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shareholders. Regular and accurate financial information about the companyshould be given to them. By creating a better understanding between thecompany and the shareholders, the PR managers raise the goodwill and prestigeof the organization.

b. PRs responsibilities towards customers:

It is not possible for corporate form of business organization to succeed, unlessit creates a customer and maintains a good relation with him. A business isconsidered to be successful if it can maintain a large group of loyal customers.By promoting good services and building corporate image in a big way is theultimate job of PR.

Further PR managers responsibilities include intimating existing as well as potential customers as to the quality, variety, utility and continuous supply of product. Some of the other areas of obligations towards the customer are:

1. Adulteration of products.

2. Profiteering.

3. Poor quality

4. Lack of services and courtesy to customer, and

5. Misleading advertisements.

c. PRs responsibilities towards the government:

The government has enacted a number of legislations which govern the business. Itis the duty of PR managers to manage its affairs according to the laws affecting it.The PR policies should be formulated taking into consideration the provisionsmade in the various legislations and the policy guidelines issued by thegovernment from time to time. The public relation manager has to be well versedwith the various legislations and acts governing the business.

d. PRs responsibilities towards the employees:


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Employees are the internal public and they should be treated as human beings andnot as commodity and their co operation is necessary in order to achieve thecorporate objectives. It is the responsibility of the PR manager to keep themsatisfied and content.

The progress of the business is mainly dependent upon the positive attitude andcordial relations of the employee. Therefore, it is imperative that PR must sincerely

promote their interest.

The interest of the employee are fair wages, good working conditions, adequateservice benefits, job security opportunities for career development and so on. Inaddition to this every employee spends a major part of his time, in theorganization.

Hence, the PR should endeavor to build good employer- employee relations, highmorale and above all generate mutual understanding at all levels.

d. PRs responsibilities towards community:

A community is a group of people living in a compact environment share the samegovernment resources, manpower and have a common culture and heritage. Peopleof the community supply human resources, capital and social support. It is for thisreason that PR department must accept its responsibility towards community in itoperates.

They have to take an active part in the community life social and cultural activities,encourage education promote health and provide facilities for recreation andentertainment.

In order to get the support of the community and secure their acceptance there is aneed for a community relation programme policy.

e. PRs responsibilities towards the suppliers:Every company has to depend on suppliers for a wide variety of materials to

produce goods. The duty of promoting supplier relations is assigned to the publicrelation manager. The manager has to formulate a sound supplier policy and

practices for good public relations.


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Fair and impartial considerations and proper settlements are the important areas of the PR.

f . PRs responsibilities towards distribution and dealers:

A company markets its products or services through a distribution network consisting of dealers, wholesalers and retailers. The importance of distributor-dealer relationship has been greatly emphasized.

No business can succeed without the network of distributors. It is the responsibilityof PR department to promote understanding, co-operation and harmoniousrelationship among the dealers and distributors and dealers. It has to preparedealer-distributors relation policies and revise them from time to time in order tostrengthen their relations.

Social Responsibility in India:

1. Neglected area of business management: Due to the domination of traditional management thought the concept of social responsibility wasrather a neglected area of business in India. However the concept of socialresponsibility has now been well understood.

2. Profit main motive: the sole objective of traditional management was profit

maximization. The responsibilities towards different social groups wererather neglected.

3. Widespread exploitation: India is well known for widespread exploitation of consumers prior to independence mahatma Gandhi suggested the concept of trusteeship. According to gandhiji the businessmen should recognize that heis the trustee for all the wealth which he has collected. He has to bring

balance between profit and social good.

4. Gradual acceptance: after 1960, the concept of social responsibility hasgained widespread acceptance at the business level. In general the Indian businessmen have now accepted certain social responsibilities towardscertain social groups and have started to make contribution in this regard.

5. Factors responsible for change in attitude: the growth of trade unions,consumerism, and awareness, among the masses regarding ecological


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imbalance, pollution, consumer protection legislations and businessmalpractices has brought in a change in the attitude of businessmen. In themodern times the CGST & CFBP are playing a constructive rle in makingIndian business community conscious regarding social obligations and social

responsibilities. Leading Indian businessmen like J.R.D.Tata, G.D.Birla andJamnalal Bajaj have accepted the concept of social responsibility since long.

6. Recognition of social responsibility: Today a number of leading companiesin India have been showing recognition of the concept of socialresponsibility. Business opinion is moving towards a gradual acceptance of social responsibility in India.

Role of PR in Technology:

Disruptive technologies are positively impacting the world in which we live,creating new wealth and reshaping economic and social policy.

Having clear messages and public relations programs in place that enabletechnologists, scientists and other experts to distinctly articulate their vision cannot only help them become industry leaders and advance their technologies, but

provides organizations with a voice in the marketplace of ideas, facts, andviewpoints to aid informed public debate.

Public relations - it is the art and science of building relationships between anorganization and its key publics. Its practices have the ability to take technology

from obscurity to prominence - creating important visibility and generating dealflow.

Most all of today's technologies rely on public awareness and support. If peoplemisunderstand the value of technologies, entities will struggle for support. Jobswill be eliminated, budgets cut, and support will be directed elsewhere.


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Public relations campaigns have the potential to turn possibilities into favorableactions. And executives are well advised to put their words in someone else'smouth.

When a prominent scientist wants to pronounce her technological breakthrough,she may do so openly and in her own name. But it is far more effective to have agroup of citizens or experts, a coalition, or the media which can publicly promotethe outcomes desired by the scientist while claiming to represent the publicinterest.

When such relationships do not exist, one can be created by a well-networked

public relations firm. Advocacy frequently involves building constituencies -groups of people and / or organizations who support a particular viewpoint. Sinceadvocacy usually occurs in the public domain, executives must be prepared toconsider the views of many people, and understand how decisions are made withina particular context. The more known about the advocacy issue, the community,and how political institutions function, the more effective the advocate. The use of front groups can enable scientists, technologists and corporations totake part in public debates and government hearings behind a cover of communityconcern. These front groups often times lobby governments to legislate in thecorporate interest, to oppose environmental regulations, or to introduce policiesthat enhance corporate profitability.

There may be times when a position being advocated, no matter how well framedand supported, will not be accepted by the public simply because of the messenger.Any institution with a vested commercial interest in the outcome of an issue has anatural credibility barrier to overcome with the public, and often times with themedia.

Media advocacy is the process of working with the media to influence healthy public policies through shaping debate about a specific topic. Successful mediaadvocacy ensures that issues include a public perspective, emphasize the social,cultural, economic and political dimensions of an issue, and stress the importance


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of participation and empowerment in promotion of the issue.

Media advocacy provides the all important third party credibility, and has meansfor more quickly and furthering a crucial messages.

The old saying, "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity" hasnever been so accurate as with media advocacy. It encompasses the rightcombination of preparation and opportunism in the strategic use of mass media toadvance an initiative. Having systems and planning in place before campaigncommencement is at least as important as the media work itself.

I t is essential to:

Know the territory. Good media advocacy requires some surveying of the terrainand a system for tracking coverage and media outlets. Maintain an updated medialist with names and track coverage regularly.

Define the issue. The issue is the overarching concern that drives the initiative.Whether it's a problem or vision statement, the issue defines the boundaries fromwhich the initiative is shaped. Issues should reflect the mission, core values andconcerns of the organization or coalition -- and should incorporate an institutionalangle.

Issues should be presented by turning facts, scientific knowledge, and analysis intosymbols, pictures, sounds, and labels. As an example, as a public health advocate,it's understood that cigarette smoking is linked to asthma in children who livearound second-hand smoke. Instead of writing a story that gives only the statistics -e.g. how many new cases of childhood asthma are reported - one might present themedia with the idea (or picture) of an adult trying to hand a baby a lit cigarette toillustrate the dangers of secondhand smoke.

Public opinions on technology issues are also greatly influenced by strong symbolsand labels that capture a widely held, and supposedly correct, attitude. Newssources often use positive images and labels to highlight viewpoints they supportand negative images and labels to derogate view points they oppose.


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At the center of any public debate or media outreach is a mass of information,statistics, and / or numbers. Making that information easy to understand entailsmaking the content real and vivid. Media advocates often use "creative

epidemiology" to make scientific, technological or academic information moreunderstandable for the media and general public.

Three types of creative epidemiology:

1. LocalizationLocalization is presenting overwhelming statistics and numbers in such a way thatthe media and public in a particular community can easily relate to them.

Localization illustrates a story's numbers in terms of how many people in a certainneighborhood or community are affected by a problem; it makes statistics humanand local.

2. RelativityRelativity compares the effects of one problem with those of another, usually moredramatic, problem.

3. Public policy effectsPublic policy effects illustrate the potential effects of public policies in debate.

Whatever technique is used, the goal is to make statistics and numbers moreunderstandable and meaningful so the audience comprehends the message andsupports the initiatives.

Regardless of the technology or the issue, success in working with the media ismost likely to occur when it is a strategically planned effort. It's the game plan for developing the influence and public awareness that will help achieve theorganization's strategic goals, and furthering its technology.


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Documents

Role of PR Manager