Tuesday 24 November 2015

Why PR People should be part of Management


In addition to the many reasons that show why PR people should be part of Management, I have this one:

When he comes up with something intended for external publics, for example, a media statement, a simple statement, a PR person who is not part of Management needs approval from some top guy before publication. Now, top Managers have their own work to attend to. Their priority, therefore, is their core work. Attending to a PR person’s statement just appears to be ‘extra work’ for the top guy. The statement therefore cannot be their priority.

What happens? The PR person’s work suffers as the review of the statement is left ‘waiting’ for decades. Meanwhile, the PR person cannot proceed but wait until the much sought-after approval is granted.

This wouldn’t be the case if the PR person had a greater amount of authority within the organisation. If he were a Manager he would simply proceed to get the statement published and explain the same later to his fellow Managers. The practitioner's autonomy would help. Some statements are just so straightforward that they do not require a CEO’s approval. But that is only when the PR person is part of Management, not when he/she is out.

What’s the point, therefore? Keeping a PR person outside of Management is one sure way of robbing an organisation of some efficiency. As simple as that.

Of course, as alluded to in the opening, there are a myriad reasons for PR people to be part of Management. What has just been discussed here is just one of the numerous.