Position yourselves as counselors, BEEC boss tells PR professionals
Public Relations professionals have been urged to position themselves as counselors to top management of organizations in order to give guidance on issues that could help such organizations avoid crisis.
President of Business Education Examination Council (BEEC), a consulting group, Mr. Mike Okereke, said that by positioning themselves as counselors, PR practitioners would be able to practice preventive public relations to advise organizations on the right decisions to take.
Okereke said that preventive PR is better than creative PR which borders on crisis management when damage had been done already, stressing that PR has the capability to forecast and prevent crisis through wise counsel.
He said: “In every sector, PR practice is key. You neglect it, you neglect it at your peril. PR practitioners should position themselves where they are more seen as counselors and advisers to top management”.
“The media aspect should be given less importance. Anybody can write a press release. What is important is the top management function of doing what is called preventive public relations and not creative public relations. In creative PR, damage has been done already and you then fight to correct it, which is crisis management. I prefer proactive public relations”, Okereke stressed.
Commenting on the practice of public relations in Nigeria, the BEEC’s boss stated that PR profession is growing strongly, adding that the federal government should repose confident in the profession and support it to grow more.
“We are making waves, it is important for government to have confidence in the profession and engage practitioners in government’s PR projects. Also, in-house public relations outfits of firms and government’s organisations should see agencies as partners and not competitors. PR is growing and we are hopeful of taking it to greater height”, he added.
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
Comment
No comments found.