DATO' MOHD HAMDAN ADNAN, APR, FIPR
PRESIDENT OF IPRM

Governments and Business organizations are discovering the need to understand each other are becoming more indispensible than ever.  This is to enable and sustain their nations and business interest in a rapidly globalising and ever more challenging world.

Nations and organisations ignoring or disregarding the need to pay close attention to and learn from each other will eventually find themselves in dire straits. In the more advance nations it is too obvious that their governments are very much involved in advancing the business interests of their countries globally.  To catch up or worse not to be marginalised, developing countries must take more or even extreme measures to sustain and advance the economic and business interests of their people nationally and globally.

Today, Governments – at all levels, through all branches and in all countries – impacts the bottom line of every industry. This impact underscores the need to educate officials, decision makers and opinion leaders in an honest, comprehensive and timely manner in order to shape beneficial public policy.

A nation or an organization’s reputation, profitability, and even their continued existence are very much depended on their citizens or publics support.  This support does not come naturally.  It comes from an effective, interactive, ethical and sustained communications of good policies and services or products. 

In today’s world having a good reputation or image is essential to gain support for a country or an organisation.  Usually, the task of enhancing reputation and sustaining it is approached through an effective public relations practice. Public relations are generally defined as a set of management, supervisory, and technical functions that foster an organization's ability to strategically listen to, appreciate, and respond to those persons whose mutually beneficial relationships with the organization are necessary if it is to achieve its missions and values." (Robert L. Heath, Encyclopaedia of Public Relations).

Thus, essentially today, public relations it is a management function that focuses on two-way communication and fostering of mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its publics.  There are those that have propose that public relations is also about relationship management.  For sure, to be a very successful public relations practitioner we have to be excellent in human relationship.

Role of Public Relations Specialists

In today’s increasingly compartmentalised society, public relations specialists—also referred to as communications specialists and media specialists, among other titles—serve as bridges and advocates for nations, businesses, non-profit associations, universities, hospitals, and other organizations with their publics, internal or external.

The primary task of public relations professionals is to build and maintain positive relationships with all their clients or employers publics.   Leaders in all fields must recognize the importance of good public relations to sustain and enhance the success of their nations and organizations. 

With the world becoming increasingly globalised and specialised leaders whether they like it or not must increasingly rely on public relations specialists for advice on knowing their public better and formulating communication strategies to have definite advantages over their competitors.

Public relations specialists handle organizational functions such as media, community, consumer, industry, and governmental relations; political campaigns; interest-group representation; conflict mediation; and employee and investor relations. They do more than “tell the organization’s story.” They must understand the attitudes and concerns of community, consumer, employee, and public interest groups and establish and maintain cooperative relationships with them and with representatives from print and broadcast journalism.

Public relations specialists draft press releases and contact people in the media who might print or broadcast their material. Many radio or television special reports, newspaper stories, and magazine articles start at the desks of public relations specialists. Sometimes the subject is an organization and its policies toward its employees or its role in the community. Often the subject is a public issue, such as health, energy, or the environment, and what an organization does to advance that issue.

            Public relations specialists also arrange and conduct programs to keep up contact between organization representatives and the public. For example, they set up speaking engagements and often prepare speeches for company officials.       

            These specialists represent employers at community projects; make film, slide, or other visual presentations at meetings and school assemblies; and plan conventions. In addition, they are responsible for preparing annual reports and writing proposals for various projects.

            A public relations specialist will monitor all issues pertaining to the client or employer.  By doing this effectively, emergency or crisis situation is averted. They will be rarely ambush by unwanted policies or untoward incidents.   As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure.  It is also much safer and cheaper. 

By being an effective researcher and monitor, the public relations specialist can act proactively rather than reactively which can be costly and occasionally damage done is irreparable.  He or she can ensure a mole hill does not become a mountain.

A public relations specialist must prepare a crisis management kit that prepare for such eventualities.  However, not all emergency or crisis can be anticipated.  Nevertheless, one should prepare as much as possible for any form of crisis.  At the very least everyone involved should exactly know what action to take.  Also, that its management is well coordinated and media relations at its best.   By being well prepared a public relations specialist can minimise damage and may even make his or her nation come out of it smelling better than a rose.

            It is proven many times that an experience and highly skilful public relations specialist can reverse an adverse situation to be beneficial or productive.  For example, Malaysians benefitted from the United States Soya Bean Growers attack on their palm oil products alleging it as injurious to health.  The Malaysian government neutralise this by hiring an experience public relations agency to counter the attack while doing more research on palm oil usages to improve its quality and other utility.   If the safety of palm oil products had not been attack it will be hard to imagine today that palm oil is now intensively being used as cooking oil plus for vitamin E and many more including biodiesel.

            It can be safely concluded that a well-executed public relations campaign can serve many functions: it can educate the public, establish a country or an organization as a leader, mend a country or a company's tarnished image or even help a nation or a business through a crisis. Every type of country or a company and organization—from the smallest nonprofits to the largest multi-million-dollar corporation—benefits from solid public support and a good reputation through an effective and ethically sustained public relations campaign.

Today, a number of specialties exist within the public relations profession.  It includes:

1.     government public relations

2.     government relations

3.    community relations

4.    media relations

5.     digital media relations

6.     product placement

7.     product launches

8.     broadcast public relations

9.     reputation management

10.  issue management

11.  investor relations

12.  labour relations/employee relations

13.  grassroots PR (sometimes referred to as "astroturf PR")

14.  crisis management

As society becomes more specialised and compartmentalised, the number of specialisation in public relations will increase.   Each nation or organisation will have to decide which area of specialisation will serve it best.  It can be just one or even ten areas of specialisations being required to best serve the particular nation or corporation reputation.

Government Public Relations

            In government, public relations specialists—who may be called press secretaries, information officers, public affairs specialists, or communication specialists—keep the public informed about the activities of agencies and officials. For example, public affairs specialists in government information agencies keep the public informed on policies and issues relating to their area of responsibilities. Press secretaries will keep their ministers constituents aware of the representatives’ accomplishments.  This is usually done through effective media relations. 

On the other hand, the information officers will conduct numerous interpersonal or fact to face communications with the people or targeted groups.

            Another primary objective of government public relations is to ensure that good governance is practiced.  No amount of money or effort can enhance the image of government that does practice good governance.  For it to be effective it must be done with the participation of the people.

Eliciting people’s participation is the most challenging task in a democratic government.   Public Relations is an essential part of management and this is as true in Public Relations of Central as well as State Governments as in industry.  Public Relations in Government Departments has two main tasks - to give regular information on policy, plans and achievements of the Departments and to inform and educate the public on legislation, regulations and all matters that affect the daily life of citizens.

Some roles of government public relations in a democratic nation could be:

1.     Informing citizens of government policies and gaining their acceptance and support.

2.     Getting the approval and support for new laws and initiatives.

3.     Keeping citizens informed about issues, problems and actions at all levels of government so that they understand and support the handling of it.

4.     Stimulating citizens’ interest and enhance their understanding of government and its agencies, processes, and programmes.

5.     Facilitating voter’s decision making by providing factual, adequate and updated information.

6.     Enabling citizens to use government services fully by providing continuous, timely, and current information.

7.     Improving the effectiveness of government agencies operations through appropriate public relations techniques.

8.     Advising government leaders and administrators on how best to communicate a decision or programme to the target or general publics.

9.     Providing feedback to government leaders and administrators so that policies, laws, programmes or projects can be modified, amended, continued or halted to meet public interest and demand.

10.  Formulating communication strategies for the government as well as implementing and evaluating them.  This includes media and employee relations.

11.  Monitoring and analysing public opinion as to how it relates to national and public interest and advising government decision makers accordingly.

12.  Neutralising issues, crisis or any conflicts challenging the government provided it is of national and public interest.

Generally, the main role of government public relations is to enhance an interactive, ethical and sustainable communication to win the understanding and support of the publics or their targeted groups.   They must gauge public opinion, analyse and determine its impact on the government and advising them accordingly so as enjoy the people continuous support.

Government public relations practitioners jointly serve two masters – their employers and the people.  They must provide the “rakyat” with complete, candid, continuous reporting of government information and accessible channels for citizens’ input.  In today’s world, to also promote the E-Government so as to enable citizens to communicate with the government more effectively as well as providing easy facilities for them to pay their dues like taxes or quit rent or to know the services being offered.

Government are expected to provide high quality services that citizens appreciate or value;  advocate increasing managerial autonomy, particularly by reducing central agency controls;  demand, measure and reward both organisational and individual performance;  recognise the importance of providing human and technological resources that managers require to meet their performance targets;  and is receptive to competition and remains open-minded about which public responsibilities should be performed by civil servants as opposed to the private sector. 

It is clear that government public relations practitioners must be very skilful in developing and sustaining good relationship between all their publics or stakeholders.  They must be able to identify their task within the parameters of a dynamic society and a rapidly globalising world.  This expectation is further propelled by the ever increasing communicative community that is affected by fast advancing and spreading information technologies.  Also, they must be able to focus themselves to key relationships, systems of decision-making and accountability.  Further, they must play the crucial role of encouraging stakeholders’ participation and simultaneously sustaining mutually beneficial and productive relationships with them all.

Government Relations

For economic prosperity of a nation and the well-being of the people, it is imperative that government public relations practitioners are able to facilitate the business and the non-profit sectors relationships with the appropriate agencies. 

           Business communities, foundations, and philanthropic and quasi-public organisations generally have a common problem dealing with bureaucracies.   They are perceived as non-responsive, indifferent, incompetent, apathetic, arrogant, etc.  It is in the best interest of the government public relations practitioners to dispel these negative image or bad reputation of government agencies.  All efforts should be made to ensure that these agencies provide the best service possible in the interest of the nation and the people and more so the government.  This is especially so for government practicing democracy.

Government relations specialists are primarily concerned with weighing impact of impending legislation on the company, industry group, or client organisation.  Some of their objectives include:

1.     Improving communications or relationships with appropriate government officials and agencies.

2.     Monitoring legislators and regulatory agencies in areas affecting clients operations.

3.     Encouraging constituents participation at all levels of government.

4.     Influencing laws affecting the economy of the constituent’s area, as well as its operations.

5.     Advancing awareness and understanding among lawmakers of the activities and operations of clients organisations.

To achieve these objectives, government relations professionals must know their way around the capital cities. 

           Thus, the role of government relations specialists is to position their employers or clients before relevant governments in such a way as to promote its missions or objectives.

Government relations essentially work to:

Government relations perform several functions that include:

The three core hallmarks of government relations practice are offered, namely, substantive depth, strong relationships, and an integrated approach. 

Substantive Depth.   That is, approaching legislative advocacy like a trial:  By immersing in the minutiae of the matter at hand, preparing the case, and then arguing that case in the relevant halls, offices or committee rooms.  Incorporated is a broad understanding of the substantive technical issues pertaining to the clients’ interests with an intimate insight into complex legislative and regulatory processes.  This approach provides a strong and effective representative of clients’ interests before all levels of government. 

Strong Relationships.  Over many years of participation in the political process, the government relations practitioners have developed deep relationships with individuals at all levels of the legislative and executive branches of the federal government.  Client relationships over the long term  better understand of clients’ business goals.  Clients benefit when they are positioned to foresee potential legislative threats and take advantage of potential legislative opportunities ahead of the crowd. 

Integrated Approach.  It includes in its partnership widely recognized leaders in many legal fields.  They are dedicated to taking an integrated approach to government relations work.  Government relations professionals spearhead their clients’ strategic planning, legislative, and communications efforts, working to develop an integrated record that supports their goals.  Clients are council on the full spectrum of legal and public policy matters, from strategic campaigns (including public relations), to regulatory efforts, overall legislative affairs management, and advising on specific initiatives.  The clients are provided with the depth and breadth required to manage and solve their challenges within their markets and industry.

            Part of government relations could be to serve a lobbying function.  Professionals with extensive networking in the government tend to indulge in lobbying and with their influence generally benefited their clients.

 Although lobbyists, at times are labelled as influence peddlers, such epithet is generally unfair.     Today’s lobbyists are more likely to be well informed in his or her field, providing legislators or government officials with relevant facts.

The specific activities performed by lobbyists vary with the nation involved or the nature of the industry or group they represented. 

            It is essential that the government relations professionals and lobbyists have a strict commitment to ethics in government and to playing by the book.   Otherwise, it credibility can be quickly questioned.  Losing credibility means losing it effectiveness and losing business.

Synergising

            The relationship between government and business has been described in many ways.  Depending on the observer’s perspective, the pairs are partners, adversaries, or strange bedfellows.  Their relationship is far more complex.  It is not likely to lessen; maybe it will become more complex.  The need for them to have good relationship is undeniable and becoming increasingly essential.

            For the best economic and public interest of a nation is that an ethical relationship can be worked out between government public relations professionals and government relations practitioners.  After all, both sides are practicing public relations specialists.  They should be able to understand each other better and be able to help the people to get the best service from the government.

            There should be an effective networking between them.  It could be done through their national professional bodies, in Malaysia like the Institute Public Relations Malaysia or IPRM.

            Both these different specialists in public relations should be attending life-long education pertaining to their profession up grading.  This is very essential in a world that is fast globalising and technologically advancing.