Public Relations as a Strategic Business Practice
(June 23, 2008) At a recent meeting of the Lancaster General Hospital board of trustees, Richard Wells of The Wellynn Group gave a presentation entitled "Public Relations as a Strategic Business Practice."
The worst thing an organization can do is to only think about public relations at the end of a decision-making process, Richard told the directors. In an era in which media is both immediate and infinite—in the form of 24/7 news channels and the Internet—organizations must incorporate strategic public relations at almost every stage of business planning and execution. Large institutions especially, such as health systems, also have many internal and external constituencies that both expect and demand to kept informed of the organization's activities.
Richard also discussed the importance of establishing credibility in an organization's communications program, and how that credibility depends upon honesty and transparency—even when the organization has bad news to deliver, or information that might reflect poorly on the institution. A strong public relations program is built upon creating strong relationships between the organization and its stakeholders or target audiences. Relationships have their ups and downs, but are based upon credibility and trust.
"You have to take a long view and understand that sometimes you will have a PR "win" and sometimes you won't," Richard told the board. Persistence and consistency are important: "If you aren't telling your story, someone else is telling it for you—and they are probably not telling it in a way that is in your organization's best interest."