The relationship and mutual understanding between an organisation and its community can never be taken for granted as it bears the potential for that institution to either fold or grow.
Most organisations have over the years employed stop-gap measures to maintain and manage their relationships with their key stakeholders regardless of whether possible links or lack of alignment to organisational strategy exists.
The role and value of PR has been grossly under-rated and this has been attributed to the slowdown in the economy in Zimbabwe which has necessitated rationalisation in all facets of the business — an argument which remains subjective.
Yet by token of certain functions in the organisation, the role of PR in building the long-term success for corporates is quite apparent.
But what is Public Relations? Edward Louis Bernays, who is considered the founding father of modern public relations along with Ivy Lee, in the early 1900s, define “public relations as a management function which tabulates public attitudes, defines the policies, procedures and interests of an organisation … followed by executing a programme of action to earn public understanding and acceptance”.
The Institute of Public Relations (IPR) regards the practice as the planned and sustained effort to maintain goodwill and advent mutual understanding between an organisation and its array of stakeholders.
This explains why the metropolitan world or developed world values the public relations practice which has grown to be used not only in corporate circles but also in individual capacities.
Most celebrities have found public relations practice to be the panacea to their image, reputation and character invention.
The public relations practice thus makes life easy for organisations by instituting an information bureau of the organisation through researching on information that develops and grows an entity.
Public relations practice is also the heartbeat of an organisation’s relationship management as it enhances, harnesses and enriches a relationship culture in the industry.
For instance, the behaviour and reputation of organisations is nurtured by the practice. For example, Nokia’s friendliness in use entail the relationship culture of the company, and the automobile difficulties of Peugeot in Africa create a certain reputation and image within the mind of the public and stakeholders.
Because of its delicacy in approach when harnessing mutual relations between organisations and their stakeholders, public relations limits organisational crises in their multitudes that entities face as well as plays a key mediation role.
The power to build or destroy that is vested in the media is no secret, therefore it is in this frame that the PR practice becomes strategic within the industry.
It is in this vein that even with the mushrooming media technology via the social media, public relations becomes very crucial and strategic in managing the industry in that state of information fragility necessitated by the increase in media technology.
PR role is to ensure self-regulation for organisations in a manner that propagates social license to trade.
In other words, staying in harmony with the community or government is one key aspect that guarantees an organisation’s existence into the long term as there is both legal and social compliance.
For that to happen, entities need the richness of public relations in creating liaison with the community and government or vital authorities.
The practice even leads in lobbying work for organisation to ensure that it operates in a serene state of affairs as it goes about its operations.
Managing organisational financial relations have become very strategic for any industry, from small-scale industry players to major players.
Of late, unstable organisational financial relations have cast a bleak future for the industry. Some mergers, restructuring, investment or liquidation have cast the future of the industry into oblivion especially with the dynamic economic and industrial revolutions that take place every day.
In such cases, the public relations function has become strategic in ensuring that organisational image, reputation and actions are not soiled in any way especially when such financial milestones or difficulties become a reality check for entities for their stakeholders through the media and other platforms.
This holds relevant for nations like ours where Foreign Direct Investment is topical whenever economic turnaround measures are discussed.
Public relations therefore creates organisational corporate identity, image and reputation for the long term.
The practice has also ensured that employees own that identity and identify with the organisation in everything because they have information and relationships that make them a family.
Organisations, regardless of size or sector, are encouraged purposefully to invest in PR practice to build critical foundations for the long lasting commercial relationships they so desire to see their organisations drift into the future.
This article has been prepared by the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Relations. For feedback and comments email zipr@mweb.co.zw.