Managers: Are You PR-Fit?

Can you honestly say that your business, non-profit or association’s key outside audiences behave in ways that help lead to your success on-the-job?

Or, have you pretty much ignored reality that target audience behaviors can help or hinder you in achieving your department, division or subsidiary’s operating objectives?

Truth is, your unit’s public relations effort can never be truly fit until primary focus of PR people assigned to you is shifted from tactical concerns to a more comprehensive public relations action blueprint like this: people act on their own perception of facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving- to-desired-action very people whose behaviors affect organization most, public relations mission is accomplished.

What such a foundation gives you is ability to help persuade those important external stakeholders to your way of thinking. Which can cause them to take actions that lead to your success as a manager.

Any idea how to make that happen?

First, tell your public relations team that you’re serious about nailing down what those outside audiences with behaviors that affect your unit most, really think about your organization. After you list external stakeholders, prioritize them so we’re certain we’re working on one of your key target audiences.

Next, you and your PR team must interact with members of that audience by asking a number of questions aimed at finding out how you’re perceived. Look for inaccurate beliefs, troublesome misconceptions, potentially dangerous rumors, and any other negativities that might translate into target audience behaviors that could hurt you.

The Best PR Has to Offer Managers

How cool is this? You’re a business, non-profit or association manager. You decide to get serious about your public relations and shift spotlight away from communications tactics. You implement an action blueprint that (1), helps you persuade your key external stakeholders to your way of thinking. And then (2), helps move them to take actions that lead to your success as a department, division or subsidiary manager.

It comes into sharper focus when that public relations blueprint helps deliver target audience behaviors like new waves of prospects buzzing around, more qualified calls about strategic alliances, a jump up in repeat purchases, a boost in number of engineering consultants specifying your products or services, and even increased membership applications and contributions.

What is that blueprint, anyway? Try this: People act on their own perception of facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action very people whose behaviors affect organization most, public relations mission is accomplished.

As I’ve said many times in past about that fundamental premise of public relations, it shines PR spotlight directly on those outside groups of people with a large say about how successful a manager is going to be – namely, it targets his or her most important external audiences.

But you need PR folks assigned to your unit to buy into program and shift their priorities from communications tactics to a workable, comprehensive plan like this one designed to deliver those key, outside audience behaviors.

Behaviors, by way, that obviously help or hinder a manager in achieving his or her operating objectives.

The real work for you as department, division or subsidiary manager starts by listing all your key external audiences in priority order so that you initially focus your resources on that number one audience.