Public Relations Department

Structure

Organizational structures vary and largely depend upon how and why the department was first established. While some organizations have a standalone public relations department with its own senior executive, public relations is often a subgroup of marketing, sales, human resources, or a related department.

Most public relations counselors agree that ideally the public relations department director should either report directly to the CEO or have a close working relationship with that person. They believe the public relations staff should have a voice in shaping the company's mission and strategic planning, and serve as a counselor to senior management.

Public relations is the most common name and is used by about 30 percent of departments. Others include Corporate Communications, Public Affairs, and Community Relations. The U.S. government, which employs thousands of public relations people, tends instead to use titles such as public affairs or communications, because of a law prohibiting the hiring of “public relations” people.

Public relations might need to compete with different departments, such as advertising, for a share of the budget. However, a study of America's most respected companies found that the more a public relations function is designed, practiced, and evaluated against the organization's strategic business goals, the greater its support from top management for budget size and the greater its perceived contribution to the organization's success.

Addressing Publics

The public relations staff can demonstrate its value to senior management by participating in the organization's decision-making process and measuring [Page 688]its impact on its publics, rather than focusing too narrowly on tactics and communication output. The ability to anticipate and consider the perspectives of different publics is another way the public relations department brings value to the organization.

Examples of publics—also called stakeholders—can include employees, board of directors, shareholders, local residents, suppliers, government officials and regulators, financial analysts, customers/consumers, donors, volunteers, students, faculty, media, and others. The public relations department should conduct research among these publics to measure attitudes about the company and its programs and policies, and recommend to executives how best to address the needs of these varying publics. The ability of the department to establish long-term relationships with them is another measure of public relations' value to the organization.

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