Reputation. Yes, it is important. Is it the most important factor for an organization? Some say no, some say yes. In my point of view, i think the reputation of a company should be put as priority and that it should be one that factors that should be the central focus of public relations.
In the book, reputation is defined by the Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary as, "what is generally said about a person's or a thing's character...state of being well reported of, credit, distinction, respectability, good report". The British Chartered Institute of Public Relations describes public relations as "the discipline which looks after reputation".
The correlation between the organization reputation and PR is strong because PR practitioners must be skilled and experienced in such a way to keep a company's reputation good. Companies need to play close attention to how they are portrayed and seen by stakeholders and the public. Positive relationship with stakeholders will benefit the company in many ways. It can lead to improved financial performance and a very good reputation.
As i mentioned, public relations primary focus should be the reputation of the organization; however, this does not mean that they are in charge of creating a good reputation. Reputation of an organization is in the hands of the employees as well. Public relations practitioner's job is to help CEO or other head figures of the organization to communicate effectively by coaching them or articulating key messages. Therefore, they need to be clearly and precisely informed about stakeholders. Corporate PR also play other key roles such as being a facilitator and adviser. They must make sure that stakeholders needs are understood and met. They must encourage consistency in delivering promises and coach employees at all levels to communicate effectively with stakeholders. Further more, they are the ones who frame and articulate messages for others to deliver.
For instance, a famous airline had one of its plane engine failing leading to a plane crush that lead to several deaths and injuries. Now, the corporate PR will have to devise a dialogue for the company head figure, with the media. These PR people will have to be truly experienced and skilled in planning a gesture that will not taint the company's reputation even further. Even more importantly, their job is to try and save the company reputation from the disaster that has taken place.
I would definitely agree that reputation is of utmost importance when running an organisation.Without a good reputation,any organisation will not be able to succeed long in the market.
ReplyDeleteThe way your target market or audience perceives your organization matters to a large extent.
ReplyDeleteIt shows the amount of reliability your publics believes they can place in you. I agree with you on the part that they have to coach employees at all levels to communication effectively.
Using your example, if the famous airline did not coach their employees to tell them what to say. Imagine what they would tell the media if they were approached.
The plane had a malfunction?