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by Chandrakanthi Dharmadasa

What is the scope of Public Relations? Are the PR practitioners able to perform all the activities that come within the scope of PR? What are the skills that a PR professional should possess? These are pertinent questions to ask before we examine the role of PR as it is practised in Sri Lanka.

In most modern organisations PR as an activity is faced with a dilemma. At one extreme are the organisations, whether they are for profit, not for profit or charitable-without a proper understanding of the wide scope of PR, the activities that could be performed within the realm. The other extreme is not having PR professionals who are adequately skilled in various activities that should be performed within the realm of PR.

In between are many organisations with different stages of understanding of PR, which utilise different degrees of PR practice available/required by them. Different countries, different organisations define the scope of PR in different ways, either because they expect a limited number of activities through PR or because they are not really aware of the wide scope of this important subject. It is correct that the particular nature of the activities of an organisation requires emphasis on particular aspects of PR. How often have we seen advertisements asking for a person with a flair for PR? It is on rare occasions that we see an advertisement spelling out the various PR activities and asking for those skilled in them.

It is the Republic of Ghana which has taken the progressive step of introducing legislation which bar non professionals from practising. This brings PR practice to the level of other professions like medical or legal. Although PR has its origins in the West, the countries in the East are placing increased emphasis on professional PR practice.

PR is a flourishing business in the UK with over one billion pounds turnover per annum. Only one third of the organisations in the UK have their own PR Departments. The title PRO has gone out of fashion. In a recent survey by the IPR, UK, among over 6,000 practitioners only about one percent (01.02%) carry the title PRO and 01.08 per cent have the title PR somewhere in their title. There may be confusion in the title, communication specialist, as the IT specialists are also known as communication specialists.

A promotional tool

In Marketing, Public Relations is among the other promotional tools. The main task of Public Relations as a particular discipline is looking after the reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support through influencing opinion and behaviour. The final objective may or may not be to sell for profit. Reputation is defined by the IPR in London as the "result of what you say and do, and what others say about you".

This necessarily means a planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between the organisation and its publics. PR thus becomes a part of the corporate strategy and not just a campaign or a promotion. The organisation will have to define clearly the target groups, and then focus on them for the purpose of influencing opinion and behaviour. It is important to note that building the image of an organization is a corporate effort and to this end the activities of the PR department is carried out along with the other sections of an organization. It becomes the duty of the PR department to plan the strategy and budget in collaboration with other activities. The professional task of implementation is the major responsibility and the specialized work of the PR department.

PR in most organisations becomes a non cost-effective budgetary allocation getting little in return. The PR department often becomes the scapegoat. Unfortunately most organisations fail because they do not realize the importance of identifying clear core competencies, in terms of the needs of target groups. There may be several core competencies, but important ones to build on are those offering value to the intended focus group. The reputation building strategy of the PR department will have to be based on this. Identification of core competencies often falls on another department or on the top management with the PR department having very little opportunity for any sizable inputs.

Main reason for the failure is trying to build reputations on claims of superiority without identifying core competencies offering value to the intended publics. There will also be a social responsibility by the society, by the customers and in terms of giving effect to the national policy. This is most important in state organisations. An organization will need not only to claim superiority but also to be seen, to be doing what is expected of them by the target publics and doing it better than their competitors. Another mistake by most organizations or individuals wanting to build a good reputation is trying to do the same things which brought success in the past. Development of communication, the globalisation process and the changing environment brings into focus a constant change of demands and needs which may make the things that brought success to the company in the past redundant. There is also the fact of very low comprehension of the measurement tools to evaluate how the PR department has fared.

Continuous research

This leads us to one of the most important responsibilities of the PR department. To build on the strength, the PR department will have to carry out continuous research along with the top managers and the sectional managers to identify core competencies that will offer value to its customer's changing needs. The PR department being aware of the pulse of the people can advice the management regarding the matching of core competencies with the expectations of the target groups. They will also be able to make them aware of the redundancy of certain projects which will no longer bring success to the company. Whether the PR practitioners are capable of doing this and even if they are capable whether the management is prepared to listen are two other issues.

A research paper titled "Why do many otherwise smart CEO's mismanage the reputation asset of their Company" in the 'Journal of Communication Management' by Elliot S Schreiber, a specialist in corporate strategy, positioning and reputation management, Industry Professor of Mc Master University, forwards some interesting aspects of this argument. The IPR UK has set out a set of activities, as a base for measuring and evaluating continuous professional development - CPD - scheme, which is designed for practitioners to assist developing excellence. The activities listed by the Public Relations Association in America and many other Associations the world over are somewhat similar.

Media Relations no doubt is the main activity and the most easily and undisputedly understood activity in the PR realm. Among the many other functions are programme planning, production of material, advertisements, event management, promotion of goodwill through monitoring attitudes both internal and external, working as trouble shooter against adverse publicity, counselling the management to adopt positive programmes and eliminate questionable practices to prevent negative publicity.

The list goes further with product publicity, analysing, problems and applications, defending goals, research and evaluation, planning and measuring results liaising with the management and clients throughout. The PR department also carries the responsibility of lobbing and advising the management on public issues.

The importance of media relations in Public Relations is understood by the fact that most journalists are becoming good PR practitioners. PR however is much more than media relations. PR practitioners are often relegated to the role of press officers, as this is the most understood and expected activity. But a professional PR practitioner will need to develop further skills than just sending press releases. Media work of the PR department involves trying to reach a larger number of people as a part of a planned programme to reach the desired objectives. The practitioner has the responsibility of designing all media relations keeping this objective in mind. A balance has to be kept among the different media used, according to the target audience. New communication methods such as the T.V. or Internet may be fast and popular but the results of utilization of such media will depend upon the percentage usage of the target group. The Internet may be the new methods of business but is that an option available to all your customers?

A number of activities, inclusive of planning, research, targeting, focusing, timing, selection, spread and noise, are some considerations for a PR practitioner handling media relations, not just sending press releases. Some other activities such as publications, advertisements, event planning are not difficult to understand. All these activities have to be carried out not merely to disseminate information or as a ritual but keeping in mind the main objective of enhancing the corporate image by providing a value proposition to the target groups.

One important but neglected area is 1 promotion and monitoring of attitudes, both internal and external. In their rush to claim a superior position most organizations neglect internal customers, a valuable component in corporate image. The external image of an organization is influenced by the internal communication.

Internal image is influenced by the organizational culture and formal policies. Internal customers of an organization over the years build up certain perceptions of values and they tend to look at each event, each step taken by the superiors unconsciously judging according to this value system. Formal policies are the other aspect that influence the internal customers and it is important that policies are transparent and giving equal opportunities.

An organization wishing to build up a favourable image should try to keep the employees happy. Marketing theory too has accepted the importance of employees by coining the term E and C, meaning employees and customers. Happy and contended customers are the best vehicles of promotion and the emphasis is placed on being a caring organisation. This is not only about the personal welfare of the employees. The work process, the production process and the entire value chain should run smoothly where the employees can be happy and proud about the organization. The PR department therefore has the responsibility of counselling the management to adopt positive programmes to eliminate questionable practices to prevent negative publicity.

In the area of product/service publicity, the product/service managers along with the Research and Development department will have the responsibility of identification and development of a product or service, adaptation to suit a target market segment and taking it to the market. But it is the PR department, which builds a bridge between the product and the customer through the adoption of proper communication methods. The PR department will have the expertise and the responsibility to assist in the launch of new products, repositioning, building interest in a product category, influencing specific target groups and defending products, which face problems.

In the area of lobbying, PR can be used as a vehicle to promote or defeat legislation through influencing government officials or legislators. It is important that an organisation work with other stakeholder, for example with chambers or other departments affected by the legislation. The methodology of doing this is best designed by the PR department. For example, a letter written in perfect grammar by a top executive to an official whom they plan to influence may not bring the desired results. The particular art of writing or speaking with the party the company intends to influence, is best done by a professional PR practitioner. The PR department may use several other methods for this purpose such as seminars or meetings.

Another important responsibility of the PR practitioner is advising the management. This was mentioned earlier in brief. The very nature of the day-to-day activities of the PR department includes continuous research. They need to keep an eye on the environment. They should be aware of the public issues, which directly or indirectly influence the organisation, the position of the organisation among competitors and its image. It is said that the PR practitioner is the only person who can look at the position of an organisation dispassionately. In general the PR department should be in a constant state of awareness. Not only giving publicity but also being aware is part of their responsibilities. This gives the ability to perform their task of advising and counselling the management.

(The writer was the second Sri Lankan to be admitted as a member of the Institute of Public Relations in London and holds a special degree in Economics from the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya.)

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