Understanding Role of a PR MANAGER in an Organization

Understanding Role of a PR MANAGER in an Organization

PR or Public Relations , as the name suggests, is all about managing an organization's reputation with the public in general and clients in particular.

At the helm of managing a organization's public image, is the PR Manager, who oversees the efforts of his team in maintaining a favorable image of the company in the world of business. With her/his expertise, a PR Manager, can create a strong image of the organization which would get other organizations interested in entering into business relationship with it.

Role of a PR Manager

PR Manager plays an important role in communicating the organization's policy. In this effort she / he may use all forms of media and communications. She / He researches, pitches stories   to the media, writes press releases and makes sure that they reach the target audience. She / He is actively involved in preparing publicity brochures, handouts, promotional videos and multimedia programs that serve to reach the company's policies to the public.

PR Manager forms an important bridge between the company, the media and other organizations. She / He answers all questions related to the organization's strategies. Besides managing the organization's publicity strategies, a PR Manager also evaluates the advertising and promotional programs and ensures that it is compatible with the target audience. Not only does she / he supervise the efforts of her / his own team in maintaining the organization’s corporate image and identity, a PR Manager may also require drafting speeches of the organization's top executives for public meetings.

Besides acting as a mode of communication with the organization and the public in general, PR Manager also plays an important role of improving the relation between the management and the employees.

PR Manager may work in close coordination with the HR Manager of the organization to prepare in-house newsletter and or house magazine that would carry important announcements by the management and develop instructional or motivational videos for the workers. She / He is responsible for arranging interviews too.

The PR Manager supervises the PR activities of the organization and also evaluate whether the activities are useful in maintaining working relationships with both stakeholders and clients. Many times, she / he has to deal with both government officials and media representatives. She / He has to manage communications budget as well.

PR Manager arranges launch parties and press conferences to introduce new products. She / He is responsible for all arrangements at special events like sponsorship, entertainment shows, sports tournaments, etc. Thus, the PR Manager is responsible for the direct and indirect advertising that helps the organization to gain public attention.

Since the duties of a PR Manager is of great responsibility, an individual has to show a good understanding of the organization’s objectives and pro-activeness in generating new ideas, for effective communication of those objectives. She / He should show strong leadership qualities and the ability to successfully complete PR related projects.

It is important for a PR Manager to have good managerial and communications skills also. She / He should be a good listener and a good observer. She / He is supposed to know, observe, study and report on social, economic and political trends that might promote or boost or affect the progress of the organization.  PR Manager should also understand how the media works. She / He should maintain cordial relations with the journalists.

Maintaining a positive image of an organization can be tricky, at times. In order to be able to bail one's organization out of a situation of crisis, the PR manager should be able to think out of the box and react quickly. As we adapt to an age in which both, internal and external public have unprecedented access to communication which wield new influence and power, I strongly feel it’s worth re-inventing the role of PR Manager in this age of dialogue, as under;

a. Defining Organizational Character:

If reputation is an absolute measure of how others judge an organization, an authentic and aspirational effort to define its ‘DNA’ or core character and ways of doing things might be the organization’s way of influencing the factors that build that reputation. PR Managers can play a critical role in defining, maintaining, assessing and sustaining an organization’s DNA or core character.

b. Creating a Culture of Listening and Engagement:

The widespread use of digital networks makes communication a richer and yet riskier process than ever before. But today’s tools are only a means to an end: that of embedding a culture of listening and engagement not just in the communications department, but across the organization. PR Managers must therefore develop and deploy this culture for the benefit of both the organization and its stakeholders.

c. Understanding Personal, Organizational and Professional

Responsibility:

Individuals, organizations and professions bear responsibilities to society – bringing ethical and sustainability considerations into the decisions and actions we undertake every day. Understanding responsibility is the first step to gaining credibility. As PR Managers, they must consider the nature of a communicator’s responsibility today.

These redefined roles are critical to the elevation of organizational

communication from the popular perception that it’s about ‘spin’ and ‘feel-good’ benefits rather than a discipline that prizes transparency, authenticity and measurable contributions of value to organizations and to society.

Communicating ethically and responsibly, understanding and engaging stakeholders, defining an organization’s character and building a listening culture are the greatest contributions communicators can make to modern organizations, according to a survey by the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management.

Survey identifies five major roles for communicators;

1. Applying ethics and responsibility to communication decisions;

 2.Researching organization’s reputation and stakeholder environment;

3. Engaging stakeholders to define the organization’s character or

DNA;

4. Developing a listening culture within the organization;

5. Integrating mainstream and social media communication.

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