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The Importance of Two-Way Communication in Public Relations

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The Importance of Two-Way Communication in Public Relations Running head: THE IMPORTANCE OF TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION IN PUBLIC RELATIONS The Importance of Two-Way Communication in Public Relations Abigail Yaney Southern Methodist University THE IMPORTANCE OF TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Purpose of the Paper The purpose of this paper is to research the importance and evolution of primarily internal communications and how increasing internal communications can be beneficial in balancing the needs of everyone connected to the corporation. This in turn will lead to more effective, ethical and respected methods of communication. External communications is defined as the passing of information from inside of an organization to external audiences. Internal relations is an area of public relations focused on employees often being overlooked as a “public” and focusing on improving internal communications. Stakeholders are the publics of an organization that are defined by social, economic, political and/or cultural ties to an organization. Some examples of stakeholders include employees, partners, customers, investors, competitors and activists. Shareholders are defined as someone who holds a financial interest in an organization through owning part of the organization. Their interest is more financially driven. Shareholders are always stakeholders but not every stakeholder is a shareholder. As communication and public relations practices have evolved throughout the years there has been a growing need for the balance between external and internal communications within corporations. Public relations practices used to be primarily one way communication with the corporation pushing out a message to the public. The average citizen was not a part of the conversation like they are today. They were merely a receiver of the message and not a sender. There was less of an emphasis on the importance of internal communications. It is critical for a company to balance the needs of its shareholders and stakeholders. There is a desire for open communication both internally and externally of a corporation. THE IMPORTANCE OF TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Historical Figure Profile Arthur W. Page had a major contribution to the field of public relations. Referred to as “The Father of Corporate Public Relations” he is best known for his work at AT&T and the evolution of corporate public relations. He is credited for his seven principles on corporate public relations that are used in corporate practices today. The Page Principles are seven guidelines for good practices in public relations (Page, n.d.). His first principle is “tell the truth” and this principle is the foundation for ethics in public relations practice. You must let the public know what is happening and provide an accurate picture to them in order to maintain a good relationship. His third principle is about the importance of listening to stakeholders. This principle is important for keeping the lines of communication open between stakeholders and the company. Internal communication is critical for the growth and success of a corporation. Page emphasises the importance of listening effectively and engaging through an inclusive dialogue. Another principle include managing for the days ahead to create goodwill and eliminate future difficulties and issues if possible. It is about being prepared and letting your employees know that you are prepared. His fifth principle is “conduct public relations as if the whole enterprise depends on it” where the impact of the stakeholders should be considered before any decisions can be made. It is important to factor in all background, beliefs and positions of stakeholders before making a decision that will impact them. Finally, his principle “realize an enterprise's true character is expressed by its people” is based on people that have been involved with the enterprise at some point and each of those people hold unique values and opinions and these should all be valued and respected. THE IMPORTANCE OF TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Review of the Literature Public relations practices began with the press agentry/ publicity model of public relations. This model’s purpose was based on propaganda, persuasion and manipulation. The success of this model was judged by a change in audience behavior. In this model, the truth is not essential and it is primarily done through one-way communication. This is in direct contrast with Arthur W. Page’s first principle: tell the truth (Page n.d.). From this original model, the practice of public relations has evolved to the public information model, the two-way asymmetrical model, and finally the two-way symmetrical model. The two-way symmetrical model is the goal of long term communication practices. It is based on negotiation and conflict resolution with a goal of mutual understanding. The success of this model is judged by the level of understanding reached by an organization and its publics. Two-way balanced communication is necessary for the success of this model. As public relations practices have evolved, so have the values held in each generation. Gen Z adults consider the three most important values to be honesty, reliability and commitment (The Morning Consult, n.d.). In order for an organization to survive in this new climate they must have the ability to increase communication to the level desired by each new generation. This extends to both internal and external communications. There are current issues and concerns with internal communication. In a study conducted by the Plank Center for Leadership and the North American Communication Monitor (NACM) reports that only 69.2% of respondents said that their organization practices two-way communication (Meng, Reber, Berger, Gower & Zerfass, 2019). This report also listed building ​ ​ and maintaining trust as the most strategic issue for public relations and communication THE IMPORTANCE OF TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION IN PUBLIC RELATIONS management (Meng et al., 2019). Currently employees feel as if their organization does not practice open lines of communication. This can cause long term issues for an organization. Through increasing a two-way flow of communication, there will be an increased level of trust. The more stakeholders feel as though they are a part of the conversation the more trust they will have in an organization. This issue with communication is also stated as an issue within corporate public relations. Practitioners feel as if they are not equipped to navigate internal communication and relationships (Cardwell, Williams & Pyle, 2017). They acknowledge that external relations are a large part of the corporate public relations function but that internal relations are also important (Cardwell et al., 2017). They may acknowledge that internal relations are important but necessary steps to increase internal relations are not being implemented. This dialogue needs to be opened in order for stakeholders to feel as if their views are valued within an organization. Other issues with communication can stem from the hierarchical system within an organization. An in depth analysis of CEO’s and their role in communication found that “the extent that CEOs engage with investors in a way that fails to genuinely acknowledge investors’ legitimate concerns, these executives risk compromising their relationships with investors as key stakeholders” (Chandler, 2014). If the hierarchical system of management fails to recognize stakeholder’s concerns it will jeopardize the relationships it has built. Within a hierarchical system is also critical to recognize that “senior employees are not always the most suitable to act as change agents” (Ioannidis, Varsakelis, & Antoniou, 2019). This hierarchy can be harmful to an organization if they do not communicate within all levels of an organization. Those with seniority may not recognize the needs and desires of those around them This leads to a divide THE IMPORTANCE OF TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION IN PUBLIC RELATIONS within an organization between those who feel as if their voices are being heard and those who do not. Increasing communication and dialogue will help to decrease some of the communication issues within corporations. Dialogue is critical to the success of an organization. The process of dialogue “contributes to narrowing the gap between stakeholder perceptions of the company and the company's real activity. An account of why operations are carried out in a certain way may help remove distrust of the company, and to encourage a closer relationship between the company and its publics” (Gutiérrez-García, Recalde, & Piñera-Camacho (2015). Open dialogue is necessary for the stakeholders to understand why decisions are being made and how this will directly impact them. If a stakeholder is not being given truthful information they will have distrust towards their organization. Open dialogue and increased communication is the next steps for companies. More companies are “realizing employees aren’t just another stakeholder as their degree of ​ engagement is tied to key business outcomes such as profitability and customer satisfaction” (Gallup, 2013). The future success of companies is tied to realizing the importance of internal communication. Some companies are recognizing this tie and are changing the way they focus on employee communication. This shift is seen through the “rise of internal social media channels...which are used for building intranets or as collaboration tools. Some of the features of these platforms include the ability for employees to like
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