Main functions of the PR department. Internal PR from HR Internal and external PR in well-known companies

The purpose of PR is to organize two-way communication, in the process of which common ideas or common interests are determined and mutual understanding is found, which is based on truth, knowledge and full awareness. The size of such interaction, aimed at developing stable public relations, can be very different, it depends on both the size and the nature of the parties.

PR specialists use modern methods of communication and persuasion to establish contacts and find mutual understanding. Understanding is facilitated by reputation, existing experience and cultural factors!. Do not forget that important components of a large number of PR programs to gain a reliable reputation are to create an atmosphere of trust and implement a unified strategy.

For effective PR activities, it is extremely important to identify key audiences, as well as target ones, which, in turn, are divided into internal and external. When working with external and internal audiences, specific communications (internal and external) and certain tools for influencing a certain type of audience can be used.

When preparing PR campaigns, an important stage will be a complete study of the audience (target groups). Moreover, it is extremely important to determine who belongs to the external target audience and who to the internal one.

The internal target audience includes all employees of the organization, as well as retirees and relatives of company employees, i.e. that part of society that is directly related to the organization and will be the bearer of the corporate image.

The external target audience refers to that part of society to which the organization’s activities extend.

Once target audiences have been identified, the expectations that are necessary to perform actions when working with these target audiences should be identified.

When working with target audiences, PR specialists strive to solve a number of problems, such as:

studying the expectations of target audiences;
informing target audiences;
establishing and maintaining contacts;
conflict prevention;
formation of a strategy for activities in the domestic and foreign markets.

Specialized events are developed for external target audiences, which include press releases, press conferences, press events, press tours, press lunches, briefings, conferences, customer surveys, direct mailings, etc.

Specialized events are also held for the internal target audience: competition for the best specialist, corporate events, demonstration of achievements of the internal target audience. Internal corporate events contribute to the formation of a positive corporate image.

Internal PR tools

To implement internal PR tasks, public relations specialists have a number of tools at their disposal. These tools can be divided into informational, analytical, communication, and organizational.

Information tools are means of one-way communication. They are intended to inform company employees about current events as part of public relations. The main information tools of internal PR include:

Internal publications

One of the most popular technologies is an internal corporate publication, newspaper or magazine. In such publications you can report on the company’s achievements, all kinds of innovations and projects, and from time to time cover the everyday life of a particular department. Stories about heroes of the month and “leaders of production” can be useful. A number of companies in corporate publications cover not only topics related to business, but also touch upon issues of hobbies, family, and recreation for their employees, which has a positive effect. In-house publications should not be sloganeering or abstruse. Their language must be accessible and not preachy.

The volume, variety, frequency and circulation of the media are determined by the size and needs of the audience, as well as the technical capabilities of the company. For example, in a large industrial enterprise (more than 1000 employees), it becomes advisable to create an internal radio station, and in an office with no more than 100 people, a weekly newsletter or monthly magazine is sufficient.

Corporate website

A corporate website, which is a quick and interactive means of communication and information transfer, can be actively used to conduct a dialogue with employees in a free mode. And here the main task is to make the site actually working, and not just nominally existing. The materials posted on it must be attractive and relevant.

Notice boards

A bulletin board is an open source of information that encourages discussion and, therefore, facilitates communication between people in a team. Even if you have an electronic bulletin board, it is advisable to leave the traditional board and place it in an area with the highest traffic flow.

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame. This old tradition should not be considered a relic of the past. A company that is proud of its employees deserves to have employees proud of it. And for many, especially not young teams, honor boards remained very strong motivators.

Analytical tools internal public relations are a means of one-way (reverse) communication designed to study the opinions, sentiments and responses of enterprise employees (mailboxes, surveys, focus groups, personnel monitoring). The main internal corporate PR tools of this type are:

"Hotline"

A “hotline” for personnel is created by the “Employee relations” sector of the corporate public relations department in order to timely identify and resolve problems or issues that arise within the business structure team. The line can operate through the telephone network, through an internal corporate electronic network (Intranet) or an external electronic mail network (Extranet).

This form of internal corporate communication is most effective in large teams, where it is difficult to keep track of changing public opinion, especially if the company has an extensive branch network in different regions or even continents. It is often called a “safety valve” that helps to establish intra-company constructive dialogue and exchange of opinions and avoid crisis situations in personnel matters through constant feedback.

Suggestion boxes

The suggestion box is one of the most common ways of communicating between employees and management. But they become ineffective if suggestions coming from employees do not find a response. This often happens due to the fact that there are quite a lot of messages and it is not possible to respond to everything. Sometimes the management of an enterprise is formal about the very idea of boxes and does not bother to answer. For these methods to be effective, group (team) proposals should be initiated, which greatly simplifies the response procedure. It is also important not to turn general meetings into a farce: the dialogue between opponents should not develop into a monologue of one person. Employees should not be forced to attend such meetings and sit through them. Notes submitted to the podium cannot be censored.

As well as monitoring the responses and reviews of the enterprise’s employees to information previously distributed among them and a comprehensive analysis of the results of surveys conducted among the enterprise’s employees, the results of questionnaires, etc.

Communication tools internal public relations have the main advantage - direct contact, personal communication between employees and management. These include:

Meetings, conferences, meetings between management and employees

An equally important element of internal communications is meetings between management and employees. This is very useful, especially when the manager is a charismatic person, a leader. Such meetings can create strong motivation, they are needed in order to clarify the course that the company has chosen and talk about its plans. During such meetings, it is necessary to emphasize the breakthroughs made by the company's management.

Awards

It is equally effective to maintain traditions, such as, for example, the annual selection and rewarding of the best employees. If people see that management notices and rewards good performance and loyalty to the company, they will be more willing to comply with management's demands. For such events to be as effective as possible, one of the top managers must be present. An award accepted from a senior executive has great value - thus, management will be able to emphasize that they value the work of employees and their achievements do not go unnoticed.

Corporate Code

The life of each organization is subject to certain rules, which can be reflected in the corporate code. The Corporate Code is a document that describes the rules for conducting business and relationships in an organization. Each corporate code is unique - it sets values and patterns of behavior that all employees of the organization, including management, must follow. The Code also contains basic prohibitions, indications of unacceptable patterns of behavior, administrative measures, etc. The Code can include everything that is relevant for the company: principles for the distribution of tasks and responsibilities, procedures for resolving disputes, etc.

The Corporate Code is intended to set values and patterns of behavior that all employees of the organization, including management, must follow.

Traditions, rituals, symbols

The means of internal PR are also traditions, rituals, symbols - in a word, everything that relates to the mythology of the Company. All carriers of symbols - logos, signs, corporate colors, brand book, uniform, anthem - are elements of the company’s self-identification, which play an important role in the formation of internal corporate culture. And her main task is to unite and motivate the team. Corporate symbols must be consistent in style. You can use company symbols in two ways: on the one hand, diaries, pens, mouse pads with the company logo will be needed as advertising products, and on the other hand, in the office at the workplace they will be a sign of a person’s affiliation with this organization.

Organizational tools Internal PR is represented by a set of special events held for enterprise employees with the direct participation of management. Among these events we note:

Corporate events

Corporate PR events represent a large block of various promotions and internal corporate events, aimed primarily at an internal audience: employees, members of their families, former employees of the company. Often, related target groups are also involved in corporate events, on which successful business activities, comfortable market conditions and the financial well-being of the company largely depend: shareholders, investors, suppliers, distributors, authorized dealers, representatives of industry associations and associations. These promotions are an important part of the overall corporate policy of a business structure, so their regularity must be carefully observed.

In some cases, they are carried out independently by the public relations department and the human resources department. For example, at McDonald's, a whole team consisting of the HR department, the production department and the PR service is involved in organizing holidays. At the end of each year, at a special “brainstorming”, they jointly develop a plan for original events.

In other cases, when the holiday is massive or large-scale, requiring the coordinated work of many services, the services of an external agency or specialized company are used.

The main goals of corporate events in the field of public relations:

Creating the spirit of a single and cohesive team of professionals, united by a corporate idea or philosophy;

Strengthening the workforce, searching and identifying talented employees;

Preventing personnel leakage and neutralizing conflict situations in the team;

Implementation of the “safety valve” function - during informal communication, emerging problems or crises are identified;

Developing a sense of corporate pride in the company among employees;

Further development of corporate culture;

Increasing the qualitative and quantitative performance indicators of personnel through the creation and use of additional (non-material) opportunities to motivate employees.

The company's birthday is one of the most popular PR events among personnel of commercial structures. Its formal purpose is to solemnly celebrate the anniversary of the creation of the company, and the informal purpose is to give the company's employees at all levels the opportunity to get to know each other better and communicate with each other in an informal setting, which is extremely difficult to achieve in a strictly regulated work rhythm.

Informal communication between company employees in an environment free from the business rhythm promotes communication among employees at different levels of the career ladder, helps managers and employees of corporate PR departments get to know the staff better, their problems, interests and wishes for creating a more favorable working climate at the company.

Sports competitions in which colleagues participate are a good way to unite the team. Organizing cross-country events, ski trips, football games or bowling and billiards competitions have a positive effect on the emotional background in the company. Defeats and victories, successes and failures are strong emotions that give impetus and make the company more than just a place to work.

Celebrations of anniversaries, anniversaries and milestones are traditionally dual in nature, since they are often organized for two different target audiences. Internal corporate celebrations are often closed and held mainly for staff and the closest friends of the company. Journalists, representatives of local government agencies, local business elite, public opinion leaders, and experts are invited to festive events for external audiences, since they are often used to create additional information (in this case they can be classified as special PR events) and receive additional opportunities to “positively highlight” the company’s activities and achievements in the market.

Creation of information occasions

Another way of PR is Event management. You can create events and organize informational occasions. For example, a number of companies organize corporate parties dedicated to holidays or important events within the company. The main thing is not to turn the ceremony into a routine corporate party with a hackneyed script.

Training and adaptation activities

In addition to various corporate events, internal PR communication tools include: corporate training, adaptation training, professional competitions.

Trainings in interpersonal communication, working in groups, working in conditions of company restructuring, etc. will help maintain a favorable climate in the team in a difficult situation. Trainings are best carried out with the assistance of an external specialist. HR specialists should organize and conduct trainings, and the working group should determine their feasibility and role in the overall internal PR strategy. Training activities involve conducting seminars and trainings for the adaptation of new employees, employees who have moved to a new position, as well as for improving the qualifications and professional growth of staff. A lot in his future work depends on what the first impressions of a new employee are. Therefore, it is necessary to use the first days of his activity in the company in order to form a positive image of the company. It is important that the new employee sees that his adaptation to the company is not a spontaneous process, where he himself has to master all the rules of the game, but a controlled and guided process. It is necessary to tell the new employee in a timely manner what concerns his future work - from general information about the company and department to, for example, when he can go on vacation. It would be good if the so-called Welcome Training was prepared, a kind of educational program on the main activities of the company. Thanks to this training, every new employee from the first day of work will be able to introduce the entire work process, the functions of each department and their role in the organization.

Some organizations have a mandatory tour of the company, and at the end of it, they are presented with a T-shirt or baseball cap with the company logo. In others, they show a special film about the company - a representative film about the history, clients and victories of the company.

The development of an adaptation program for new employees may include a simple interview, a seminar, tours of the office and production, and a film about the company. Many companies have a special document “Guide for Newbies” containing the formulated company rules. The main thing is that all these elements really exist, and the style of adaptation will largely depend on the corporate culture. It is advisable that upon the arrival of a new employee, he is immediately familiarized with the corporate rules and his capabilities in this company. Ultimately, the goal of any adaptation program, no matter what form it takes, is to help newcomers get comfortable and accept the rules of the game in the company.

Another important advantage of adaptation schemes is the mentoring system included in them. It not only helps new employees adapt quickly and easily, but also allows their experienced colleagues to gain leadership experience, which is a motivating factor for them.

But the most important advantage that makes a strong impression on managers is that this system speeds up the process of introducing new employees into the company and increases the efficiency of their work in the shortest possible time. From training tasks, which are traditionally the lot of newcomers during the probationary period, they quickly move on to solving real problems facing the company. Thus, as a result of a well-developed adaptation program, the company receives professionally accomplished, motivated employees who can significantly increase the efficiency of the entire organization.

For newcomers who have work experience in other organizations, one-day trainings are provided, in which maximum emphasis is placed on familiarizing themselves with the basics of corporate culture, mission and strategy of the company. Much attention is paid to the employee evaluation system, which largely reflects and determines the corporate culture.

So that the employee knows what his professional prospects are in the company, you can draw up his individual development plan and set certain tasks for him. To do this, it is important to determine the range of knowledge, skills and abilities that the employee must master, as well as the activities that will contribute to this. It is obvious that the more transparent and understandable development opportunities are for employees, the more actively they will improve their skills.

All these measures can significantly reduce the costs associated with the entry of a new employee into a position and lay the foundation for loyalty to the employer.

For any organization operating in modern conditions, it is necessary to create a system of intra-company communications between company employees, since these interactions form its organizational culture. And if such a mechanism of internal communication is established, then sympathy arises between the participants in communications, the psychological climate is harmonized, the level of mutual assistance and mutual assistance in work increases, responsibility increases, and the level and severity of conflicts decreases. Such results can be achieved only with the proper use and combination of internal PR tools.

Internal PR is a targeted or spontaneous, explicit or hidden information impact on employees of an enterprise, with the goal of:

create a given image of the company (company substructures, large-scale projects) in the eyes of staff;
achieve subsequent transmission of the formed image by staff to the external environment;
establish corporate standards of behavior and adjust employee actions in the desired direction.

Such activities in various companies can be carried out by dedicated functional units (PR service or personnel service, and sometimes even security service), or be distributed among managers at various levels. One way or another, any managers spontaneously or consciously take actions for internal PR. The result of such efforts is a special corporate culture that develops uniquely in each organization.

Organizational culture is an intangible asset that forms, among other things, the value of an organization. At the same time, as in the case of other intangible assets, the effectiveness of such systems cannot be assessed on their own, without checking the adequacy of information impacts to the strategic goals of the organization. In other words, any, even carefully planned, information impact can be useless or even harmful if it works against a given strategy.

When is it necessary to create an internal PR system?

There is a proverb: “The stone that the builders looked upon became the cornerstone.” Information influences on employees are carried out in all organizations. There are, however, two classes of situations when internal information influences begin to play a primary role and can become a support or hindrance to significant management efforts:

The merger of companies into large holding-type structures, especially mergers and acquisitions of companies for which territorial remoteness or the original characteristics of the businesses lead to heterogeneous or contradictory subcultures, the enterprises begin to work “at odds” and the organization does not have sufficient integrity.
Implementation of fundamental organizational changes: transformation of the company (change of business type); marketing expansion or, on the contrary, “compression”; changes in the management system, large-scale restructuring (including possible reductions and abolitions of positions), etc.

Building an internal PR system:

As the internal PR system ages, it is necessary to:

Determine organizational structures that will implement internal PR activities. Traditionally, in large and medium-sized organizations, this activity is “divided” between PR services or personnel services (sometimes having special divisions, for example, a department for managing corporate culture). In small organizations there may not be a dedicated unit and internal PR activities are assigned to line managers, one way or another distributed along the management vertical.
Reconstruct the target features of corporate culture, analyze to what extent existing information influences work in resonance or in opposition to the strategic goals of management, and develop the content of PR influences.
Debug internal PR processes and develop PR activities to provide information impact. For each organization, several basic PR processes are identified that are compatible with its characteristics (regulating the systematic delivery of information to employees and the transmission of the target corporate culture to them), and regular or one-time PR campaigns and events are planned.
Train employees of specialized services and line managers in new PR technologies. The content of such training usually depends on the subject of PR influences. If internal PR activities are carried out by a PR service, then the strong point is usually well-established communication channels, and the weak point is an understanding of the specifics of corporate culture, problems of commitment and loyalty. In the case of personnel services, the opposite picture is observed. For line managers participating in internal PR campaigns, the problems of loyalty and commitment (the content of PR messages) are usually spontaneously understandable and clear, but the problems of communicative competence and the inability to organize effective influence on employees in the presence of resistance “from below” come to the fore.
Implement planned PR activities, evaluate their effectiveness, and debug the PR system. The system is built with the potential for self-development. Often it is not enough to carry out one-time PR campaigns; it is necessary to ensure the ongoing implementation of internal PR functions. However, the first targeted PR campaigns can be accompanied by consultants, because they allow you to introduce new PR technologies and train internal line managers and specialists.

Methods and techniques of work:

To solve the problems of forming “control centers” a wide class of diagnostic and influencing methods is used:

Methods of "direct" (immediate) formation corporate cults: intra-company information exchange (newsletter, electronic or printed corporate publications, intranet portals, knowledge management, corporate holidays and rituals; corporate codes of conduct, etc.
Indirect methods formation of a corporate culture, implemented within personnel processes and events: in-house training aimed at cohesion and team-building trainings), internal PR within the framework of certification interviews, etc.
Intergroup interaction methods are based on technologies for conducting business and organizational-activity games and technologies for conducting internal conferences; Delphi group methods; presentation techniques, public speaking techniques and involve the implementation of the principles of organizing space during public events (meetings, plenary sessions).
Multimedia programs, corporate video. Influencing the situation in the organization through corporate stories and narrative videos, in the filming and development of concepts of which active groups are involved. Employee participation in production can range from very low to very involved, depending on the goals of the information company. The company communicates goals to employees and accompanies changes, and also becomes the basis for the formation of corporate history, symbolization and consolidation as such of corporate heroes and persons significant to the company.

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Features of external and internal PR

External PR is about creating an attractive image of the company and improving relations with the public.

It is aimed at working with the external environment of the enterprise, namely with the target audience (most often clients).

External PR includes the following activities:

Work with the media (creating a media database, writing press materials, distributing and posting them, preparing and holding press events, interviews, etc.)
Business communications (drawing up a calendar of important and significant events, participation in specialized exhibitions, forums, etc.)
Internet communications (development and implementation of company promotion programs on the Internet)
Repositioning and rebranding (changing the company name, its range of goods and services, brands, creating a new company concept, developing a presentation in accordance with consumer expectations and requests).

Definition 3

Internal, or intra-corporate PR is the creation of trusting and favorable relations between the management of an enterprise and employees. In internal PR, corporate culture is of great importance.

The main components of internal corporate PR:

the effectiveness of the system of interaction between departments and employees in the company (exchange of necessary information at all levels of the enterprise structure, creation of working groups for projects, involvement of employees in the decision-making process);
motivation of activity (employees must be focused on achieving the company’s goals;
employees are the company's main intangible asset.