October 2020
Hear me out, even if you don’t run a public relations agency, I firmly believe every employee on your staff needs to be an extension of your PR team.
If you hold a title that includes ‘Public Relations’, likely your goal (according to the Public Relations Society of America’s official definition of the role) is to “build mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” This means you work daily to further your company to have positive communication with those impacted by or involved with your organization. Yes, if you officially are within the PR department, you are laser focused on that united objective. But, I’m here to tell you that it takes the entire organization understanding the goal, working towards it and most importantly wanting to better the company to be successful.
So, digging further, why do you need a staff of PR professionals if you aren’t in the business of public relations? Because at the end of the day, every employee represents your company. One rogue tweet, a couple bad Glassdoor posts, or a single employee telling their group of friends how horrible your company is will snowball and end up being bad for business! Bad news spreads faster than good news. A terrible culture gets around and attracts lower-level talent. It all adds up to creating a company that isn’t running at its best. Especially in today’s economic climate, you can’t rely on anything but top-tier talent and focus.
Now, how do we do this? It starts by marrying leadership with knowledgable and dedicated ‘PR’ leads. Have you seen the meme below?
It takes more than a pizza party to create a team of dedicated employees. It also takes more than breakfast tacos to turn a company around.
To prevent and solve these crises, you need a strong public relations leader. Additionally, you need a top-down mentality of harnessing employee input, an ego-less management team, fostering healthy excitement for company success and removing negative influences (just one can turn a happy employee into a disengaged one). Keep a pulse on your team and really understand what makes them want to get up and dedicate their day to your business.
As a PR practitioners, at Branded we know the importance of both internal and external public relations and making sure the entire company is engaged. Success starts from within and will make your company stand out! Learn more by getting in touch with us!