IS INTERNAL RELATIONS SIGNIFICANT TO PUBLIC RELATIONS ?

Every organization is susceptible to going through crisis and often times during such a phase, everyone thinks Public Relations people have to control the situation to uphold the organization’s integrity. We think of external stakeholder communications, press conferences, media monitoring etc. but ponder on this, do most people ever consider thorough communication within the organization?

Many are times when a conclusion will be made that the staff briefing and emails sent to employees on the intranet email listing is enough. The important idea that employees are the main internal stakeholders doing the daily manual work, which raises the organization to success, seems to elude the Communications Departments. Exhaustive communication and updates should be done at all times to ensure that the staff is at par (in terms of crisis main details) with the rest of the other stakeholders.

This is because employees are ambassadors of the organization everywhere they go. They represent the organization regardless of their office rank, if they are known to be a part of an organization; they are among the first people to be interviewed by random individuals of the public. If such happens and the employee is not well equipped with accurate information, then there is a cause for concern. This is because employee communications about the organization to outsiders can significantly affect the organization’s reputation and effectiveness hence precise information has to be communicated to the staff to arm them with the shield of truth for the benefit of the organization.

However, not all information has to be disclosed to employees as some may act as internal activists during crisis. This can only create untimely issues for the organization. Therefore, concise and precise briefings have to be conducted to keep the staff updated. This will make them feel like a part of the organization, that they have been thought off and are being considered as victims as well. The employees will return the ethical gesture by being true to their organization, if not, their conscience will convict them.

Finally, leadership-employee relations will be strengthened. When employees trust their leadership, there is an aura of tranquility during trying times of crisis. Work becomes almost as normal knowing that the leaders are steering the organization in the right direction. Good internal communications does play an important role in crisis management within the ambassadors of the organization, who have the ability to uphold the organization’s reputation and improve effectiveness amidst catastrophic situations. Consequently, internal communications is undeniably significant to public relations because if it is not fully monitored, the work that Public Relations people do during crisis will not bear fruit if employees decide to represent the organization in a destructive manner.