I believe the key point from this weeks readings were the importance of internal and community relations in public relations practice and how both these relationships have the power to make or break an organization.
The readings made me think more about PR in practice as it suggested the values that need to be embraced my organizations are truth, honesty and communication and internal and community relations should be the priority or any organization. In reality I believe for many organizations this does not occur, many organization purely concerned with economic profit rather than adopting a triple bottom line.The Insider Info reading gave me an insight into the daily roles and activities of a public relations practitioner. It opened my eyes to the diversity of roles public relations can offer. The reading was effective as it gave interviews and experiences of people actually in the industry.
Employees and their ability to multi skill means they are a very valuable asset of a company so maintaining morale and good will among staff is an investment for an organization as it helps increase job satisfaction and productivity. On the other hand it should be noted if employees are not kept happy the power and negative affect they can have on an organization is enormous. For example the readings mention the negative effect of rumours on staff morale. Therefore employers must keep staff in the loop and informed through communication tools such as newsletters, intranet, notice boards and memos.
Maintaining goodwill among the community must also be an objective of the organization. I believe the key area through which organizations should do this is ethical practices. As public relations professionals we should consider the impact of the organizations practices on the community, always keeping the triple bottom line in mind. That is economic, social and environmental impacts of the organization. The reading suggests personalizing the corporate image also helps to maintain good community relations as does utilizing tools such as negotiation. This can be done through the multi gains approach which uses the values of respect, humility, trust and commitment to reach an agreement.
Readings:
Insider Info chapter (pp 37-93) in Public Relations by James, M. (2006). Sydney: CareerFaqs
Chapter 11 pages 287-297 of Public relations: theory and practice / edited by Jane Johnston and Clara Zawawi. Crows Nest, N.S.W. Allen & Unwin, 2004. 2nd ed
NOTE: for this weeks critque i commented on Nicole Marriplis 's blog
2 comments:
I think what you have mentioned in your blog is really interesting. You covered the issues talked about in the readings really well. Like you, I found the variety of jobs listed in the CareerFAQ's textbook really interesting. It shows that PR is not just one simple practice. It´s far away from outlook I had of PR. I was unaware of the opportunities this degree can provide a student with.
I liked your description of the readings for this week. I contend that more and more organisations are adopting CSR principles, sure they have an undermining responsibility to create profits for their shareholders, but it is shareholders who are demanding transparency in reporting and business strategy.
I agree the multi-skilling in an organisation is critical today and your points made me think about what I can offer an organisation.
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