INTRODUCTION:-

Today we live in the age of Interdependence as we are

reliant upon one another for the satisfaction of our social,
economic, political & religious need. We do not come across
individuals, groups, corporations, governments and nations who
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 is employer-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 ignored for the success of any business. Human relationship
and its interrelationship in contemporary life is natural as well as
essential.

The order of present century and the forthcoming century exits

in total interdependence or reliance on each other. This has
created the need for a new discipline and philosophy as a function
of management which is termed as Public Relations.

Public relation as a concept was critical evolved in business and

industry and it subsequently spread to other areas of human
activity. This profession is immensely applicable in government
and public institutions like Corporations, Municipalities,
Universities, Hospitals, Professionals and social service
organizations. Public relations was in practice in people’s daily life
even before the emergence of industry, business and
government. Public relations is the result of the action inherent in
an individual, an institution or an organization.
 HISTORY OF PR

The history of public relations is mostly confined to the early

half of the twentieth century; however there is evidence of the
practices scattered through history. One notable practitioner was
Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire whose efforts on
behalf of Charles James Fox in the 18th century included press
relations, lobbying and, with her friends, celebrity campaigning [1].

A number of American precursors to public relations are found in

the form of publicists who specialized in promoting circuses,
theatrical performances, and other public spectacles. In the
United States, where a public relations has its origins, many early
public relations practices were developed in support of railroads.
In fact, many scholars believe that the first appearance of the
term "public relations" appeared in the 1897 Year Book of Railway
Literature [2].

Later, practitioners were — and are still often — recruited from

the ranks of journalism. Some reporters concerned with ethics
criticize former colleagues for using their inside understanding of
news media to help clients receive favorable media coverage.

The First World War helped stimulate the development of public

relations as a profession. Many of the first PR professionals,
including Ivy Lee, Edward Bernays, John W. Hill, and Carl Byoir,
got their start with the Committee on Public Information (also
known as the Creel Committee), which organized publicity on
behalf of U.S. objectives during World War I.

In describing the origin of the term Public Relations, Bernays

commented, "When I came back to the United States [from the
war], I decided that if you could use propaganda for war, you
could certainly use it for peace. And propaganda got to be a bad
word because of the Germans ... using it. So what I did was to try
to find some other words, so we found the words Counsel on
Public Relations".
 MEANING OF PUBLIC RELATIONS:-
Public:

Public is group of similar individuals, an assortment of person

having similar interest, problems, goals and circumstances. It
generally from such sources that OPINIONS emerge. Public comes
in many forms and sizes. They have a multitude 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 groups tries to
attract a distinct audience with its varied tools and techniques.

Relations:

Relations are the outcome of mutual understanding which is

derived from the process of sharing of the common interest. The
need of establish relation with one another is created because of
human wants. The respective wants of two individuals will affect
their relationship. To understand any relationship, one must
understand wants of those involved.

Public Relations:

By the integration of the above two human element viz. public

and relations we get public relations. It is a profession that is a
part and parcel of management function.

INTERNAL PUBLIC AND EXTERNAL PUBLIC

Public for public relations can be classified into categories:

(A) Internal Public.

(B) External Public.

 Internal public :

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

The employees expect higher pay, company’s stability &

opportunity for advancement.

The employers expect increase production & employees’ loyalty.

As far as internal relations are concerned the PR officer tries to

establish good relations with the employees 7 the management.
Within the organization the executives constitute a special public
category who are also under obligation to share some common
interest with the other executives.

There are certain requirements for effective internal public

relations:

1) Good internal relations must be recognized as it is a basic

requirement to build a team and to achieve the corporate
objectives.
2) Internal public must be well informed of the board objectives
and policies of the top management and also about their mutual
interest in the organization.

3) Free flow of upward and downward communication should be

emphasized. The department of public relations is responsible to
create a climate conductive towards the free flow approach to
communicate freely.

4) The top management must establish a good internal climate of

understanding and relations.

5) Professional talent must be developed and Training

Programmers must be strategically chalked out to the benefit of
the organization.

6) 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, debenture holders,
subsidiary companies etc. Every organization is linked with their
external parties. Under all the circumstance a smooth two-way
communication channel external to the organization must be
maintained for running the business effectively.

An external relation is considered as life-blood of modern

business and hence the management should be aware of the
importance of external communication and the use of feedback.

The public relations department should adopt a multi-dimensional

approach in order to establish relations with the external public of
vary groups. It is very important to boil positive attitude, develop
good rapport, create confidence, and win goodwill and mutual
understanding with the external public by keeping them well
informed.

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 .the organization 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
worse without conditions.
(14) Undertake a public relations education programme..
(15) Promote goodwill.
(16) Correct misconceptions and clarify on criticism of its
policies and practices.
(17) Establish relations with federal and state legislators,
agencies.
(18) Undertake a campaign of public education about
an industry

FUNCTIONS OF PUBLICS RELATION DEPARTMENTS:

The functions of a public relation department differ from

organization to organization depending upon their nature and
activities. However, there certain standard functions which are
common to most of the organization. They are as follows:

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 and recommended corporate public relation policies
and has contribute the public relation viewpoint which helps in
the formulation of decision. Its function is not only to provide
policy to the top management but also to the other section and
divisions.

Publicity: in ordered to interact with the public it is necessary to

have corporate activities to the external communication media. It
also has to handle inquiries from the press. It is one of the
important functions of department to develop and place
promotional publicity about the organization as a whole or any of
its units.

Relation with government: it is necessary to maintain liaison

with appropriate government infrastructures regulates controls
and supervises majority of 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:

Help in preparing and directing corporate appearances before

investing
bodies of legislative hearings.

Direct programmes design to promote the companies point of

view in legislative or regulatory matters.

Report trends in government affecting the company.

Community Relations: community contacts should be well-

planned and co-ordinate. Activity such as environmental
protection standards, equal employment opportunity and co-
operating in urban improvement progrmmes should be
undertaking.

Shareholder Relations: in order to attract public money it is

necessary and important to maintain good relation with corporate
shareholders. This can be done in 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 me investment community.

These includes preparation of annual reports, etc. it has also to

plan and stage the annual meetings of the shareholders.
Product publicity: the public relation department has to develop
and excute the 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.

Employees Publicity: the public relation department has to

publish newspapers, bulletins and employees magazines. In order
to communicate the various goals, achievements, performance
and future planes of the company.

Donations: the public relation departments has to prepare a

corporate donations policy for company contributions various
aspects involved in this function includes processing request for
donation, administrating companies foundation etc.

Promotion Programs: PR promotion programme’s broadly

covers institutions promotional programs design to build
corporate acceptance of key policies, special events, public
relation, literature and institutional advertising other functions
include:

(a) Public relation education programme’s

(b) Advisory functions.

(c) Co-coordinating activities.

Conveying and interpretations

Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing the

communication between an organization and its publics.[1] Public
relations gains an organization or individual exposure to their
audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do
not require direct payment.[2] Because public relations places
exposure in credible third-party outlets, it offers a third-party
legitimacy that advertising does not have.[2] Common activities
include speaking at conferences, working with the press, and
employee communication.

PR can be used to build rapport with employees, customers,

investors, voters, or the general public.[2] Almost any organization
that has a stake in how it is portrayed in the public arena employs
some level of public relations. There are number of related sister
disciplines all falling under the banner of Corporate
Communications, such as Analyst relations, Media Relations,
Investor Relations, Internal Communications or Labor
Relations.The business world of today is extremely competitive.
Companies need to have an edge that makes them stand out
from the crowd, something that makes them more appealing and
interesting to both the public and the media. The public are the
buyers of the product and the media are responsible for selling it.

“PUBLIC RELATION is the deliberate, planned and sustained

effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between
an organization and its publics”

Important terms in the definition of public relation

DELIBERATE---because public relations practitioners try to make

it clear that the success of their job depends on the promise that
nothing should happen by accident.

Starting with a set of carefully created objectives they must

ensure that whatever they do afterwords will take them
accurately and inevitably towards those objectives.

PLANNED---because a public relations practitioner is always in

control of what is being done, nothing is left to chance; so he
must work to a plan and on a planned basis.
Sustained---because a public relations practitioner is always
trying to implement a thought or an idea that will remains with
the person at whom it has been aimed. The pressure must be
maintained. Human memories are short. There are many things
for people

Understanding---this is necessary because of the difficulty in

bridging the awful gap in the communication process b/w what
the ‘sender’ means and what the ‘receiver’ thinks.

Organization---because no man can work in a vacuane.

Everybody works for somebody. A public relations practitioner
works for an organization, a govt., business, charity or any other.
To put it at its most simple, it is his job to see that the
organization is understood and appreciated.

Public---because the organization for which the public relations

practitioner works wants to be understood and appreciated by the
people around it, who affect what is does or are affected by what
it does.

We often get asked what makes a successful public relations

program?
What does it cost? Does my organization really need it? How long
do I
need to do it? Can’t I do it myself? Why do my competitors always
get
in the papers? Why does the media get my story wrong?
To answer some of these questions we have put this question on
how to develop public relations plan.
Unless you are a celebrity good public relations just doesn’t
happen on
its own. It takes a lot of skill, and consistent hard work, over a
period of
time. It’s part art, part science and when practiced correctly the
results
can be very rewarding.

Good public relations is key to the success of any business. A

company must strive to make itself stand out in its particular
field. The media can be a very effective public relations tool if it is
used right.

A twenty first century company is not only going to need the

ability to please their customers, but to delight them. In order to
accomplish this goal, employees need to understand who the
company is, and what it stands for. Not only do they need to
understand these values, but an employee needs to be
committed to upholding them on an everyday basis. Every
employee represents their company individually, and the
impression that they give the customer is the perception that the
customer will have of the company. This is something that many
employees don’t think about, or don’t care about. Many fast food
restaurants are good examples of this. These companies are
operated in such a manner that their employees don’t have any
pride, or satisfaction in what they are doing. If you have been to a
fast food restaurant lately, you can see how that reflects in the
service that you get.

Another method is to create a distinguished history for a

company. This would include how the company was started.

One of the fastest ways to get the message to the public and
media is by staging an event. This could be anything from a press
conference, to a grand opening celebration. The job of the P.R.
firm would be to create the event and handle all of the details.
This would include everything from arranging for a location,
sending out invitations and arranging the agenda, to taking care
of the refreshments and food. Setting up representatives for radio
shows, television and newspaper interviews, are just a few of the
other ways a P.R. firm can help to promote a company.

Maintaining good media relations is crucial in the management of

an emergency. This basically signifies giving reporters accurate,
timely information and allowing them access to emergency zones,
within reasonable limits. While reporters can be adversarial, they
are much less likely to be so if they are given accurate
information, and if they can see you are making an honest effort
to deal with the emergency.
There are many aspects to effective public relations. Employees
must always use good P.R. when they deal with customers, or
business associates. It also helps to have an appealing history
behind your company. The media is probably one of the most
powerful P.R. tools available, but in order to effectively use them,
you must be prepared for what they can throw at you. When all of
these elements are combined, the chances for your company’s
success will greatly increase.

Public opinion

Public-is a group of people with similar interest who have a

common opinion on a controversial subject.

Opinion-is a view, judgment or appraisal formed in the mind

about a particular matter.

Public opinion-is a judgment, view, appraised held in common

by members of a group or public on any matter of general
importance.

* The basic objective of public relation is to measure, analyse, and

influence public opinion, which develops from the attitudes of
individuals comprising the public.

* It is important to understood the meaning of attitudes…

Attitudes- are the feeling or moods of a person for or against

some person, organization, issue or object. Attitude is a way of
looking at situation. An expressed attitude is an opinion.

* Changes in attitude are accomplished by communications to

create new belief or by appearing to the emotions to arouse
favourable or unfavourable attitude.

Changes in attitude are also brought about by problems,

frustration, or dissatisfaction of an individual. For example, “a
worker satisfied with his wages and working conditions may
change his attitude toward his employer after listening to a labour
leader describe the need for used wages and better working
conditions.

Appeals to the physical, social, and economic needs of people are

most effective in changing their attitude.

* Public opinion is a composite opinion resulting from the

interaction of the individual opinion of members of a group.

* the opinion of people in a group are influenced by what they

hear from opinion leaders, other members of the group, what
they read in newspapers, magazines, and books , what they see
in life about them or on TV.

Apart from group pressures, individuals opinions are influenced by

their needs, emotions, experience, heredity, culture, economic
status.

Public opinion emerges out of the interaction of individual

attitudes, opinions, and the opinion of group.

PROCESS OF PUBLIC OPINION

1. Interactions with other members and individuals, opinion will

be forward.

2. Transformation of individual opinion into group opinion will

depend on the influence that group members will have on that
individual.

3. Group opinion will take the form of public opinion when the
group attitude changes the public attitude or judgment at large.

Public opinion is an expressed attitude at individual level and at

the group level.

PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC OPINION

1. Identification/social philosophy
principle

People will ignore an idea, an opinion, a point of view unless they

see clearly that it affect their personal fears or desires, hopes or
aspirations.

2. Action principle

People do not buy ideas separated from action either action taken
or about to be taken can be conveniently take to prove the merit
of the idea.

Unless a means of action is provided, people tend to shrug off

appeals to do things.

3. Principle of familiarity and trust

The people buy ideas only from those we trust. We are influenced
only by those in whome we have confidence.

Unless the listener has confidence in the speaker, he is not likely

to listen or to believe.

4. Clarity principle

The situation must be clear to us, not confusing.

The things we observe, read, see or hear, the thing which

produces our impressions, must be clear not subject to several
interpretations.

ELEMENTS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Public relations provide a service for the company by helping to

give the public and the media a better understanding of how the
company works. Within a company, public relations can also come
under the title of public information or customer relations. These
departments assist customers if they have any problems with the
company. They are usually the most helpful departments, as they
exist to show the company at their best.
PR also helps the company to achieve its full potential. They
provide feedback to the company from the public. This usually
takes the form of research regarding what areas the public is
most happy and unhappy with.

People often have the perception of public relations as a group of

people who spin everything. Spin can mean to turn around a bad
situation to the company’s advantage. It is true that part of the
purpose of public relations is to show the company in a positive
light no matter what. There are certain PR experts that a
company can turn to for this particular skill.

The public often think of PR as a glamorous job. Public relations

people seem to have been tarred with the image of constant
partying and networking to find new contacts. The reality is
usually long hours and hard work for anyone involved in public
relations.

There are certain skills necessary to work in the world of PR.

These include a very high level of communication skills, written
and verbal. The PR person must also be very adept at
multitasking and time management. He or she may also have
some form of media background or training in order to
understand how the media and advertising work. Organizational
and planning skills are also important in public relations.

The PR worker must also be able to cope very well under

pressure. He or she must have the ability to cope with a barrage
of questions from the media and the public. If a company comes
under critical attack, it is the PR department who must take
control of the situation. They must effectively answer the criticism
and turn it around in order to protect the company’s reputation.

Essential Qualities of A Good Public Relation Manager:

 1) Mental ability, foreside, orderliness of mind and judgment,
willingness to thing 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 person’s point of view and to be as

critical of oneself of other.

5) A balance temperature particularly the absence of emotional

instability and forcefulness and self centered outlook.

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.

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 timely interaction.

6) To prepare different literature matter for different media.

7) To convey and interpret to the management different

information on public attitudes and views about the
company or industry it serves.

8) To instruct the company’s financial advertising agents an all

matters relating to 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
and administrative skills.

Setting Objectives:

Knowing how to set goals and objectives in the planning of your

communication activities makes you much more effective.
 Setting communication goals and objectives creates several
benefits. It lets people know what is expected of them, it lets
others know what is planned, it helps to quantify the resources
that are needed and when, it helps to improve communication
between the participants, and it creates measurable results.

A widely held myth for many years was that public relations
performance could not really be measured and therefore couldn’t
be expected to undergo the performance and budget scrutiny
that other areas of the organization were obliged to accept. These
days you can prove the value of your PR work by setting and
achieving 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 to increase our share of the
marketplace for [our product].”)

Objectives are subsets of goals and should be expressed in

concrete, measurable terms. (“Our objective is to increase our
share of the market in the largest city in this State for [our
product] by 15% by the end of the next financial year.”) An
objective is something that can be documented; it’s factual and
observable.

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 objective is 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

perception of 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

organization connects with its stakeholders. Example: “We aim to
improve communication 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 hall’ meetings.”

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 the lily’ and take the credit for
the results. However, in tough times, they can’t 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 are able to prove your worth. Setting measurable
objectives helps the planning of future campaigns and offers you
the political benefit of enabling you to justify more 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 unless the individual elements or components of the
program are clearly defined and measured, e.g. publicity
activities, a particular community relations program, a special
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 as marketing (advertising, point-of-
purchase promotional activities, give-away activities, 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 underlying assumptions.

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 the extent of accomplishment
along a continuum of performance. An ‘all or nothing’ approach to
objectives will subvert the value of the process because people
will always go for ‘low hurdles’ to maximize the chances of
attaining them. If someone achieves 95% of an objective, how can
they be considered a failure? To treat anything less than 100% as
a failure…will surely lead to game playing, ‘low-balling’ and the
massage and manipulation of data. To use objectives…in such a
simplistic way invites reactions inconsistent with execution
success. ”

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 verb’s action
• the magnitude of the action expressed in quantifiable terms
• a target date or timeframe for achieving the outcome.

EMPLOYEE RELATION:
A vital role for communicators is to tell all stakeholders, especially
staff, about the decisions and the planned outcomes from the
strategic planning process. Key messages need to be passed on
consistently and effectively throughout the organisation 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 can see how their individual efforts can make a
difference to the end result. Research shows that organisations
are more effective when their employees know the direction in
which the organisation is heading and their own personal role in
helping 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-term issues. The focus of the managers is on their
daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly needs as they deal with
employees, customers and other stakeholders. Short-term
thinking 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-term measurable objectives is often
incomplete or faulty. Managers usually need assistance in
breaking down the key issues, elements and needs of the
business strategy into tactical, short-term operating objectives
and action plans. This translation process is an integral and vital
part of the execution of strategy.

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 fulfilled through
completion of daily tasks.

Making the connection between the daily workplace and

corporate strategy is easier said than done, but with a little
thought, the tasks of even a personal assistant, coordinator or
cost clerk can be linked to goals. By reviewing their job
description or getting them to list their activities, their manager
can link their tasks to 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 is succeeding 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 by other senior managers,
they take for granted that everyone else is familiar with their
terminology. This is seldom the case, especially with frontline
staff. Therefore it is important to define terms when using them in
communication or not use them at all. Even common terms like
‘mission’, ‘values’, ‘culture’ and ‘strategy’ are widely
misunderstood by lower-level employees.

In addition to verbal clarification, if there is widespread

misunderstanding about certain terms, the communication team
could explain them progressively in the corporate newsletter or
even in briefing material. This can be done quite subtly in
passing.
Operational managers should be responsible for communicating
with their own staff rather than PR practitioners trying to
communicate on their behalf. Why should PR staff do the
communicating when these line managers are responsible for all
other matters at the local level?

The idea is for PR staff to be catalysts or enablers – to equip local

managers and supervisors with the right tools to enable them to
communicate effectively with their own staff.

Managing the performance of PR staff

If you are a PR manager, how can you get better performance

from your staff? And if you are a PR officer, what should you
expect from your boss? If you know good techniques for
performance management, you can get better results.
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 to magnify 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 be more an ongoing
dialogue rather than merely a formal review. With such a
dialogue, it is likely that the problem will be addressed early
rather than being allowed to fester. All employees must be made
aware of the processes in place to address poor performance, not
just poor performers themselves. The more that employees
understand these processes, the more confidence they will have
in management to deal with any problems. 2

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 is valued. When employees and
their work are valued, their satisfaction and productivity rises,
and they are motivated to maintain or improve their good work.
What’s more, employee recognition is free or low cost!

Employee recognition is the timely, informal or formal

acknowledgement of a person’s or team’s behavior, effort or
business result that supports the organization’s goals and values,
and which has clearly been beyond normal expectations.
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 management
to use recognition as a performance enhancer in the workplace.

What’s the best way to recognize an employee for work well

done? The best formula for recognizing an individual for their
efforts is:

a) Thank the person by name.

b) Specifically state what was done that is being recognized.
Being specific is vital because it identifies and reinforces the
desired behavior.
c) Explain how the behavior made you feel (assuming you felt
some pride or respect for their accomplishment).
d) Point out the value added to your team or organization by the
behavior.
e) Wherever possible, also point out the way in which the
behavior supports an organisational goal or objective. This
shows a direct connection between their work and your
organizational goals and objectives - a strategic reinforcement.
f) Thank the person again by name for their contribution.

Encouraging the Employees:

Appreciation is a fundamental human need. Employees respond

to appreciation expressed through recognition of their good work
because it confirms their work is valued. When employees and
their work are valued, their satisfaction and productivity rises,
and they are motivated to maintain or improve their good work.
Employee recognition is the timely, informal or formal
acknowledgement of a person’s or team’s behavior, effort or
business result that supports the organization’s goals and values,
and which has clearly been beyond normal expectations.

Despite the unquestioned benefits arising from employee

recognition, one of the mysteries of the workplace is that
recognition invariably is done badly, if done at all. Few
organizations have well-established and accepted formal or
informal employee programs in place. Therefore, employee
recognition remains an undervalued management technique.

Communication is a vital part of recognition

Communication is important in the recognition of good

achievements in the workplace by peers, managers and
supervisors. As a public relations practitioner, you can encourage
the awarding of recognition for work well done throughout the
organization when you become aware of suitable situations. Such
opportunities tend to arise while gathering information for
employee publications and other typical communication tasks.

You can communicate about good achievements and their long-

term benefits:

a) Offer employee recognition ideas to help to drive formal and

informal programs of employee recognition.
b) Supply articles and photographs in employee publications,
including the intranet, and occasionally in external media about
high-achieving employees.
c) Arrange informal recognition functions, such as during the
morning coffee break, in which the supervisor or manager
thanks the person for their work.
d) Directly encourage managers and supervisors to spontaneously
recognize employees for their efforts (giving employees a ‘pat
on the back’).
e) Arrange photographs and certificates of the employees and
their awards or similar, in common areas.
f) Mention employee recognition activities in your workplace and
elsewhere at your regular team meetings.
g) Model the desired behavior by giving recognition to your staff
and also to your peers (especially if you aren’t a manager
yourself).

In addition, you can communicate about the long-term benefits

that come to high achievers in the workplace:

a) Conduct interviews with the staff who manage your

organization’s career advancement programs, with the aim of
publicizing the opportunities for advancement.
b) Include high-achieving employees in special features in print or
online publications that outline ways to get ahead. (You will
probably find government departments are reluctant to single
out individuals, but persist because this is an important issue.)
c) List employees who have been promoted, proving that career
advancement is possible from achieving good results in the
workplace.
d) Include a career management section on your organizational
intranet, which summarizes all information and resources about
career advancement.
e) Ensure that senior managers reinforce positive messages about
high achievers and career advancement opportunities when
they speak to employee groups.
You can play a valuable role by training or arranging training in
presentation skills to 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 good
communication skills are expected as a ‘given’ in a job, some are
reluctant to admit they 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, principles and procedures to help them
apply recognition effectively within their area of responsibility.

SPONSORSHIP:

Attract better sponsorship proposals

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 out to potential applicants what you are
looking for in their proposals. Your corporate website is the best
avenue to outline your sponsorship policy and guidelines. More
advice on this in a forthcoming e-book on giving corporate
sponsorship.

Social Responsibility:

Every PR manager working in a corporate entity has certain social

obligations towards it. It means it involves observing certain
norms of behavior which have social 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 the
values of the society.
Corporate public relation officers are also part of a society, so
their functioning is governed 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 obligation and hence directly responsible to the society.

Social Responsibility:

a. PR’s responsibilities towards shareholders:

Shareholders are the owners of the company but the

management of the company lies in the elected representatives
known as the Board of Directors. It is the responsibility of the PR
managers to maintain good relations with the shareholders.
Regular and accurate financial information about the company
should be given to them. By creating a better understanding
between the company and the shareholders, the PR managers
raise the goodwill and prestige of the organization.

b. PR’s responsibilities towards customers:

It is not possible for corporate form of business organization to

succeed, unless it creates a customer and maintains a good
relation with him. A business is considered 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 the ultimate
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. PR’s responsibilities towards the government:

The government has enacted a number of legislations which

govern the business. It is 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 provisions made in the
various legislations and the policy guidelines issued by the
government from time to time. The public relation manager has
to be well versed with the various legislations and acts governing
the business.

d. PR’s responsibilities towards the employees:

Employees are the internal public and they should be treated as

human beings and not as commodity and their co operation is
necessary in order to achieve the corporate objectives. It is the
responsibility of the PR manager to keep them satisfied and
content.
The progress of the business is mainly dependent upon the
positive attitude and cordial 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, adequate service benefits, job security opportunities
for career development and so on. In addition to this every
employee spends a major part of his time, in the organization.
Hence, the PR should endeavor to build good employer- employee
relations, high morale and above all generate mutual
understanding at all levels.

d. PR’s responsibilities towards community:

 A community is a group of people living in a compact
environment share the same government resources, manpower
and have a common culture and heritage. People of the
community supply human resources, capital and social support. It
is for this reason that PR department must accept its
responsibility towards community in it operates.
They have to take an active part in the community life social and
cultural activities, encourage education promote health and
provide facilities for recreation and entertainment.
In order to get the support of the community and secure their
acceptance there is a need for a community relation programme
policy.

e. PR’s 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 public relation manager. The manager
has to formulate a sound supplier policy and practices for good
public relations.
Fair and impartial considerations and proper settlements are the
important areas of the PR.

f. PR’s 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 responsibility of PR department to promote understanding, co-
operation and harmonious relationship among the dealers and
distributors and dealers. It has to prepare dealer-distributors
relation policies and revise them from time to time in order to
strengthen their relations.
Social Responsibility in India:
1. Recognition of social responsibility: Today a number of
leading companies in India have been showing recognition of the
concept of social responsibility. 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 enable technologists, scientists and other experts to
distinctly articulate their vision can not only help them become
industry leaders and advance their technologies, but provides
organizations with a voice in the marketplace of ideas, facts, and
viewpoints to aid informed public debate.

Public relations - it is the art and science of building relationships

between an organization and its key publics. Its practices have
the ability to take technology from obscurity to prominence -
creating important visibility and generating deal flow.
 Types of Public Relations
Activities
Public Affairs &
Issues Management

Managing
a PR
Crisis Program Image & Reputation
Management Begins Management
With a
Plan

Relationship
Management