DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION STUDIES INFS 325 PUBLIC RELATIONS

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION STUDIES INFS 325 -PUBLIC RELATIONS LECTURER- DR. MUSAH ADAMS

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS • Employee relations is concerned with how public relations practitioners in profit making and non-profit making organizations help promote effective communication among employees and between line employees and top management.

IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEES RELATIONS • Practitioners of employees relations can strive to establish organizational communication policy which must help employees understand, contribute to and identify with organizational objectives and problems • They can help in designing and implementing organisational change programme • They can provide expertise as employee communicators.

CHALLENGES IN EMPLOYEE RELATIONS • The move toward globalization. • The wave of downsizing and layoffs has taken its toll on employee loyalty. • Lack of Training. • Motivating employees to give superior service. • Employees want a sense of fulfilment from their jobs.

DEALING WITH EMPLOYEE PUBLIC ØThe employee public is made up of numerous subgroups. In the library/archives for instance, there are librarians/archivists, assistant librarians/archivists, library/archives assistants, administrative staff, and so on. ØAny organisation which is really concerned about communicating effectively with its employees especially in the face of challenges noted in the previous section should reinforce these five specific

• Honest feedback • Recognition • A voice • Encouragement

ØSix criteria distinguish communication effort at the work place. According to Milton Moskowitz, these are: • Willingness to express dissent • Visibility and proximity of upper management • Priority of internal to external communication • Attention to clarity • Friendly tone

EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIES • Communications must be strategic • Communications must be open • Communications must be consistent

EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONS TACTICS • Employee communications is vital to the success of any organization. One important step in the communication process is determining which vehicles(media) you will use to reach your target audiences. • A variety of techniques can be adopted to reach employees. But before any communications program can be implemented, communicators must have a good sense of staff attitudes. This can be done through

EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONS TACTICS CONT’D • Internal communications audit : audits help determine staff attitudes about their jobs, the organization and its mission coupled with an analysis of existing communications techniques. It starts with personal, in-depth interviews with both top management and communicators

VEHICLES THAT CAN BE USED TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY WITH EMPLOYEES INCLUDE • Online communications • The internet/intranets • Print publications • Desktop publishing • Employee annual reports • Bulletin boards

VEHICLES CONT’D • Suggestion Box/Town Hall Meetings • Internal Video • Face-to-Face Supervisory Communications • Dealing with the Grapevine

EMPLOYEE AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS • Community relations refers to the various methods organizations use to establish and maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with the communities in which they operate. • The underlying principle of community relations is that when an organization accepts it’s civic responsibility and takes an active interest in the well-being of its community, then it gains a number of long-term benefits in terms of community

WHY COMMUNITY RELATIONS? ØBusiness organizations give attention to their community relations for good reasons. • An organisation does not live in a vacuum • Community relations build public image and employee morale and foster a sense of teamwork that is essential in long-term success.

WHY COMMUNITY RELATIONS? CONT’D • Organizations are recognized as good community citizens when they support programs that improve the quality of life in their community. • Good community relations programs offer a wide variety of benefit. For instance, that give employees a reason to be proud of the organization which increases loyalty and may help to reduce labour and production costs

WHY COMMUNITY RELATIONS CONT’D • An organization might generate new business through the contacts and leads it generates in its community relations activities. • Good community relations can also be beneficial in times of crisis, such as a fire or a flood disaster, by rallying the community around the affected business.

TYPES OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS ACTIVITIES • Listening to community wants and needs • Community relations should involve more than just annual contribution • Allaying the community’s fears about the organization

TYPES OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS ACTIVITIES CONT’D • Protecting the community’s health and safety • Encouraging and managing employee volunteerism • Implementing fair recruitment and employment practices • Maintaining profitable but ethical operating practices

END OF LECTURE