Staff
weekly meetings may sound boring to some but this is where I have learnt some
of the most valuable things about PR practice while interning at the PMH
Foundation. Monday morning meetings have given me a broader perspective and
greater insight into the organisation’s ethos, team dynamics and values. They
have also brought to the surface many issues, ideas and concerns that play a
part in bringing the team closer together and more in tune with each other and
the vision and mission of the organisation. I have had time to think over a lot
of different things that have come up in the meetings and in broad terms (so
some information remains confidential) I wanted to outline some of the PR
theory I have seen being used in practice.
Communication and Conflict Resolution - Employee
Relations
At a staff
meeting one person raised the concern that something had caused a shift in the
team dynamic. Instead of feeling a sense of teamwork this particular thing had
caused a sense of competition to overwhelm the way people went about their
work. I thought this was an interesting point raised and as a team they felt
they had to step back and assess whether this concern was affecting the
organisation as a whole. The matter was fixed fairly easily because the meeting
allowed people to voice their opinions and find a solution that suited everyone
and bring things back to the values of the organisation. I think this was an
example of good employee relations at the PMH Foundation and showed good
communication within and across its teams of people. Staff are able to inform
each other of important announcements and keep them updated with new developments
during weekly meetings and through an email system. Informal things like ANZAC
cookie competitions, nachos and pizza days are also lovely lunchtime ideas that
build community and a sense of goodwill among co-workers. According to PR
theory we have learned, service and quality are built through loyal and
motivated employees. I think the relationships and communication developed in a
mix of formal and informal ways are a key part to achieving this (I found this
online tutorial had some pretty interesting things to say on this and many
other aspects of PR if you are interested http://www.edvencomm.net/pr.pdf ).
Public Awareness - Marketing
in PR
In
my last staff meeting we discussed one of the main issues the Foundation is
facing, which I outlined in my first blog post. Basically, there is continual
confusion and lack of public awareness of the separate identity of the hospital
and the Foundation. In addressing this concern, the marketing and communications
team came up with a variety of new strategies to raise public awareness, manage
the organisation’s image and provide more ways for target publics to be
involved with the Foundation. I learnt a lot just by listening to the input
from different team members about this particular issue. Ideas, which will be
implemented to address different target publics, included giving out PMH Foundation bravery awards and Stitches stickers to kids in hospital,
sponsored tea breaks for staff courtesy of the Foundation and a TV commercial
to position the Foundation as the key fundraising body of the hospital (look
out for it on TV soon!!). Social networking sites like Facebook will also be
key to establishing a separate (and more personal) identity for the Foundation. I will be interested to see how all of these tactics help to build awareness and a strong identity for the Foundation in the future.
These are only a couple of aspects of PR that I have gained valuable insight into at staff meetings. I sometimes have to smile to myself when I think of how much of what is discussed relates directly to the things I have learnt about strategic PR in all of my units! Always good to see how theory is applied in the real world of PR in practical ways.
