As the weeks
progressed I was still carrying out my regular duties but I was more hands-on
in terms of being more involved in the events taking place in and outside
Ministry of Health. A company called MobiDigTV had a proposal for the Ministry
and I was asked to set a date and book a venue for their presentation. I was
also asked to be present at the presentation and ask any relevant questions and
take down notes. Aside form that, I attended Community Service Day as well as
an event at Gaborone Sun where the Midwifery Council had a slide-show
presentation.
During these
weeks I continually wondered where the PR department was and why I was always
at the call centre with two other PRO's who had no offices of their own. I
later came to realize that Ministry of Health has no specific PR department,
but instead they have a department called Corporate Services which has its own
objectives, but yet is more or less seen as the PR department because the Call
Centre is underneath the department.
However, the difference between PR and customer care is that,
with customer service you are representing the organization to every customer
you assist whereas PR is the management of a organization’s entire image. Having
said that, I will also say that good customer service is like gold for your
company. Although they serve different functions, PR and customer care are
closely intertwined. Howeverr, an organization like Ministry of Health needs to have a PR department that has its own mission and vision statements. Because without one, there exists no clear policies to guide the practitioners on their work in the ministry.
4 comments:
hi.i believe a productive office, is one you just described, in the sense that happy staff members happy customers or people being serviced.
thus i assume you have made lots of contacts during your internship so that when you get back to the field you can get in touch with yours colleagues and mentors for your own benefit.
hello
At times, organizations do not have a specific PR office or division, but the tasks are being taken of by the Corporate Communications divisions. therefore, the organization does not lack on attaining its PR responsibilities.
Count it as a blessing that you were placed there, hope you took that as a chance to share your ideas and bring positive
change to the organization's daily practice.
Hi Shirley and Faith!
I agree completely with what you have said. At first I was largely confused and expected to find a separate PR department, but nonetheless the organization (MoH) did have PRO's who carried out their duties and responsibilities, but at times these duties became blurry and they were Call Centre Representatives, PRO's and Event Managers all at the same time. At times even they complained about what their job description is.
I was happy to work at the organization and I learnt a lot, but i felt other ares needed improvement.
I am working in a small not-for-profit organisation that provides marketing AND public relations for the Subiaco CBD. This is a small organisation that consists of 2 employees and a Board of Directors. There is no "PR" department as such, and where as I note that they are responsible for Marketing and PR, the employees only promote themselves as marketers.
In achieving the organisational goals they do undertake PR work, however they just do not separate it from the marketing. I have found this a little contradictive at times as we are often taught in class that PR is an important role that should be considered by CEOs in top management, strategic decision making.
I feel that this issue of not noticing the distinctive parameters of marketing and PR is something we will all be facing in the professional world.
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