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Public relations: Building bridges and navigating polarisation
World Public Relations Day is celebrated annually on July 16. It is a global event that draws the attention of global citizens to the practice of PR, its feats, problems and prospects. The activities of the day also push for improved application and acceptance of PR by organisations and individuals. Public relations is a strategic communication function which permeates every aspect of an organisation’s activities. All kinds of organisations need PR, whether they like it or not. As long as they have stakeholders and have to relate to them, they must apply public relations. They, however, may employ PR effectively or less effectively. Looking around, one can clearly see those organisations that employ PR effectively and those that poorly use PR. The theme of this year’s celebration, “Building Bridges and Navigating Polarisation”, emphasises the need to close ranks and work together.
The leadership of the higher education sector must fully understand that, just like the other sectors of the economy, they also need the strategic touch of the PR profession. Their territory, the campus, is like a city, and they must employ all relevant PR strategies to build and sustain a conducive and reputable city for their large number of different stakeholders.
Public relations has to do with the intentional and planned communication strategy to build and maintain a two-way cordial relationship between an organisation and its stakeholders. I have also defined PR in one of my books thus: “Public relations is the strategic activities and continuous communication process designed for mutually beneficial relationship between an organisation and its stakeholders.” From the definition, it is clear that the organisation or the institution must be intentional about meeting the needs of its stakeholders. The institution must deliver quality service, and this performance must be effectively communicated continuously. This means PR is about good performance and adequate publicity.
Unfortunately, many organisations want the publicity, the good name and the favourable reputation without commitment to quality service. PR won’t work in such an environment. In fact, if effectively used, PR will rather expose the inefficiency of a poorly managed organisation.
Well-planned PR programmes in higher institutions must consider and work on issues such as student enrolment, student registration process, orientation of new students, hostel management, lecture halls, bus service, health care service, sporting activities, examinations, staff student relationship, advancement service, alumni matters, immediate community of the institution, relationship with relevant governmental organisations, fund raising, etc. All of these have PR implications, and they must be addressed accordingly. While the members of staff who manage these services are not PR practitioners, their actions and attitude have an unquantifiable effect on the reputation of the institution. That is why PR must assist those service points with strategic communication. It is easier to build bridges and address polarisation when the needs of the stakeholders are addressed and met.
From the foregoing, it won’t be difficult to convince anyone that PR is not just about media relations, branding and beautiful structures, though all of these are also crucial in reputation management. PR is the totality of corporate operations and the strategic communication that backs up the operations. The belief that PR is just about publicity is the beginning of a corporate reputation disaster. Until PR is intentionally structured and begins to affect whatever affects the corporate reputation, the PR function won’t achieve much. PR must be woven around all units, sections and departments for it to have a salutary effect on them. But if an academic department like public administration or law faculty is just on its own, doing its own things and managing its own affairs without the input of the PR function, then your institution is far from the light and global best practices.
There are many issues working against the reputation of higher institutions in Nigeria, especially in many government-owned schools and some private institutions as well.
The first issue is the appointment of unqualified persons as PR practitioners. An unqualified PR person is a liability to the reputation of the institution. He can’t build bridges or navigate polarisation. He or she is not equipped to do so. PR is about strategic communication and relationship management. We must stop putting the round peg in the square hole.
We also have the issue of negative structure, where the head of PR does not report directly to the chief executive. This is a very wrong structural arrangement, and PR will not thrive properly and also deliver its best given this situation. With the Federal Government’s caderisation of PR, which means formal recognition and establishment of public relations as a distinct and professionalised cadre within the federal civil service, PR roles are now designated as a standalone career path. It is expected that state tertiary institutions and private institutions will also embrace the new policy to be on the side of the law.
Many PR practitioners are not exposed to adequate training. But we operate in a very dynamic workspace, which requires continuous upskilling. We have to deal with globalisation, citizen journalism, the 24-hour news cycle, artificial intelligence, stiff competition, government regulations, the challenges of working with generation Z (digital natives), etc. Without a well-thought-out and continuous training on new trends and best practices in our sector, the PR function will suffer a huge loss, and the institution’s reputation will be at its lowest ebb.
It is also crucial to note that some institutions only use PR for media relations or publicity purposes, while others call in PR just to manage crises. The issue of facilities to execute the PR assignments must also be addressed if employers want the best from their PR professionals.
The ideal PR department should be headed by a professionally qualified and well-experienced PR professional who is supported by equally qualified executives. To ensure qualified persons are employed, the institutions concerned may reach out to the NIPR. The vacancy advertisement must also state that membership of NIPR is a major requirement for the position and not an added advantage. The NIPR is empowered by the law of the land to ensure that only members of the institute are employed as PR practitioners. This means the unqualified person and his employers can be prosecuted.
Some of the responsibilities of a PR professional in any higher institution will include speaking, writing, editing, managing publications, advertisement production and placement in the appropriate media, media relations (mass media and new media). managing the chief executive’s reputation, event management (matriculation, convocation, inaugural lectures, conferences, etc.), courtesy visits, branding (logo, corporate colours, etc.), print production, protocol and guest management, photography, opinion survey and research, crisis management, community relations and corporate social responsibility, funding raising, stakeholder management, etc.
Given the peculiar nature of tertiary institutions and their stakeholders, PR specialists working with institutions must pay special attention to the following:
Managing and communicating with young adults (the Gen Z/digital natives). You must also educate the lecturers and the administrative staff members on how to relate to them to save your institution from avoidable challenges.
PR professionals must continuously improve their knowledge of social media, as the majority of their stakeholders are users of the new media.
Attention must also be paid to likely areas of crisis, and a crisis plan should be developed. Some of the likely areas may include student riots, industrial unrest, sexual harassment, service failure, examination malpractices, fake news on social media, etc.
Managing students’ issues about bullying, sexual harassment, loss of examination scripts, loss of result, power supply and other services.
Feedback management is a key pillar of PR practice, but it is one challenge that the stakeholders are used to because many institutions don’t manage feedback. A good number of institutions don’t respond to the questions of their students. It is the job of PR to ensure our stakeholders get feedback.
Increasing student enrolment in monotechnics and private schools is a challenge, and if care is not taken, some PR professionals in these schools will lose their jobs. There is a need for this group of practitioners to dig deep and find strategies to increase enrolment. Outstanding service delivery, extra mile service, sales promotion techniques, alumni follow-up, strategic communication, etc., will go a long way to change the situation.
Government relations is also crucial because the government is so powerful and it can strangle your institution, so you must relate well with the government and its agencies, such as NUC, NBTE, NCCE, NYSC, JAMB, scholarship boards, education ministries, etc. Poor communication and relationships with these organisations will negatively affect the students and even the staff members.
In conclusion, PR is not just about communication. The effective PR programme will naturally start with research, so we can determine where the gap is and begin to construct the bridge. Polarisation is usually a result of one-sided communication, poor feedback management, communication without service delivery, etc. I must emphasise that the appointment of unqualified PR practitioners by some institutions must be addressed immediately, as any school doing so is courting problems and it is not helping itself.
Happy World Public Relations Day.
Dr Oyeneye is the chairman of the Conference of PR Professionals in Tertiary Institutions of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and the chief executive of the Advanced Management Academy, Abuja
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