WHOOP WHOOP!
CAUTION.
Reality check about PR beyond this point.
Proceed at own risk.
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Congratulations for stepping into the reality zone.
Let me begin.
So, there's this community for all public relations and communications professionals of the United States called PRSA- Public Relations Society of America. The PRSA is the world's largest leading organisation of pr professionals, and it provides professional development, sets standards of supremacy and upholds the fundamental ethics for its members. They act as advocates for the adoption of greater understanding of pubic relations services, and also represents as the voice for the public relations industry.
What is Public Relations?
In the year 2011/12, PRSA directed an international effort to revamp/refresh the definition of public relations. They launched a crowdsourcing campaign and public vote that came up with the following definition for the term 'public relations' :
"Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organisations and their publics."
Source: www.prsa.org
For this definition, we can see that the light is shining on the basic concepts of PR :
-strategic in nature and
-focusing on creating mutually beneficial relationships.
The word "process" here can be related to the "management function", which induces the interpretation of top-down (one-way) communications. As for the term "relationships", it relates to PR's role in being the 'glue' and bringing organisations or individuals together with their constituencies/stakeholders. In turn, their constituencies/stakeholders are regarded to as "publics", as they are the most important audience to an organisation.
According to the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (UK based professional body for PR practitioners), they too, had their own definition of PR. To them, PR is more about reputation. With good reputation, the organisation will survive longer and be more successful. Now, what do they mean by reputation? Reputation is the result of what you do, what you say, and what others say about you. PR is in charge of looking after, managing, and building reputation for it acts as a company's biggest asset. With PR aiming towards gaining understanding, influencing opinion and behavior, establishing goodwill and mutual understanding, they will be able to impact the publics' perception of an organisation in a positive light. This way, PR will be proven EFFECTIVE and more of the public will want to work with, shop with, and support these organisations. *thumbs up*
In both of these definitions, Public Relations displayed the management and leadership function by being responsible for maintaining reputation of an organisation and for building good relationships between the organisation and their publics.
How about the other functions of management and leadership?
Well, first off, there's the planning function. The planning function of management supervises and oversee all types of planning that will allow the organisation to run as smoothly as possible (Roberts, n.d.). Planning comprises of defining goals and determining the most effective and sufficient route/course to reach the goal. Normally, planning would need a lot of flexibility (and patience, man) as the planner must coordinate, cooperate, and sometimes compromise with all different levels of management & leadership in the organisation. Lastly, the planning function involves knowledge of a company's resources and future mission or objectives of the business.
As for the organising function of leadership, it controls the structure of the company thoroughly (Roberts, n.d.). Without the presence of the organisational structure, everyday operation of the business will be tough and unsuccessful. Organising involves designating tasks & responsibilities to the minions employees with the definite skill sets needed to carry out the tasks. It also comprises of the development of the organisational structure within the company.
Then, there's also the staffing function of management who controls all recruitment and personnel needs of the organisation (Roberts, n.d.). Main goal of staffing is to hire awesome people. By hiring the right people for the right jobs, of course, the company's objectives will be achieved with much more efficiency. Staffing also encompasses of :
-staff's training & development
-staff's promotions & transfers
-staff's performance assessment & evaluation
If there were no staffing function in the organisation, the business would start to crumble because a business is not able to operate properly without the appropriate staff to meet the company's goals.
Next, there is the coordinating function of leadership. This function controls all the organising, planning, and staffing activities of the company and makes sure that all these activities function together as a whole for the benefit of the organisation (Roberts, n.d.). Usually, coordinating will take place in meetings or planning sessions with the department heads to ensure that all different departments of the organisation are on the same page in terms of the company's objectives and goals. It involves communication, supervision, and proper direction by management.
The controlling function of management is favorable for ensuring ALL other functions of the organisations are in control and are operating successfully (Roberts, n.d.). The controlling function establishes performance standards and monitors the output of employees to make sure their performance meets those standards since, the employees' performances affects the excellency of the organisation.
Without proper management and leadership within an organisation, objectives and goals will not be met no matter how well-planned or how well-organized your objectives and resources are.
References:
Roberts, C. Five Functions of Management & Leading. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved 13 June 2015, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-functions-management-leading-56418.html
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