PR needs a seat at the leadership table

While PR and corporate communications have often been relatively neglected functions within most corporates, one is increasingly seeing many corporates where PR is getting its due recognition and a seat at the leadership table. Let me illustrate, in no particular order of priority, some of the reasons why it is not only useful and efficient for organisations to include PR at the leadership table, but, in fact, becoming essential.

Let me start with the pervasive culture of 'breaking news'. News travels instantly now; we all know the famous case of the raid on Osama bin Laden first being reported on Twitter. Our stakeholders are looking for immediate reactions, and informed and transparent communication can help the business's cause - for which, it helps to have your spokesperson or chief communicator at the leadership table, so that he or she can express the organisation's point of view quickly and effectively. The reliability of the business's reaction or message is enhanced when media and other stakeholders know that PR truly speaks for the organisation, and is not just there to try and put a spin on issues.

Just to illustrate this point, I can think of several occasions when various functional heads in some of our businesses would root for strong reactions to policy changes or actions of the Government, and it would require the PR professional to underline the fact that in a majority of cases, there is no purchase in attacking the Government. Indeed, very often during crises, it is the PR professional who will ensure that matters do not become worse for a business.

We live in the world of the networked organisation, where no single person or leader has all the answers, so a critical skill in the organisation is to bring together the key players, achieve consensus on actions going forward or on managing a crisis, and then communicate this to the stakeholders - and this is exactly what PR does.

This is also the reason quite often you see consummate PR professionals becoming the 'face' of their organisation - their personality speaks for the kind of organisation they represent. I would argue that some of the most iconic CEOs have been their own PR managers in a manner of speaking - among contemporary CEOs, think of Richard Branson or Tony Fernandes.

The 3 Cs for successful CEOs - communicate, communicate, communicate - mean that the best communicators in a business have the ability to aspire to be CEOs. Finally, while I strongly believe PR needs a seat at the leadership table, let me also stress that PR managers need to understand that they must become trusted advisors - which means they need to earn trust and give honest and candid feedback to others at the leadership table.

(Fom my address at the launch of the India chapter of Asia-Pacific Association of Communications Directors on 17th March 2015).

The author is Mukund Rajan, brand custodian and member, group executive council, Tata Sons. Reprinted with permission. Link: https://www.linkedin .com/pulse/why-pr-needs-seat-leadership-table-mukund-rajan?trk=prof-post