March 21, 2016

The complementary roles of Public Relations and Stakeholder Engagement: True care for stakeholders

Posted By: Fiona

Both Public Relations and Stakeholder Engagement play roles in truly caring for your stakeholders

The good and bad wolves of Public Relations and Stakeholder Engagement

Last week I, with others, was the lucky recipient of thoughts-in-progress by Jamie Robertson, a smart, skilled and socially-conscious specialist in Stakeholder Engagement. This discussion got me pondering, with this blog as a result.

As with humans, businesses and society as a whole, Public Relations and Stakeholder Engagement have good and bad wolves inside them. When you feed the good wolves, what does it look like and how do PR and Stakeholder Engagement then complement one another?

The two wolves of Public Relations

PR often gets a bad rap, and sometimes deservedly so. It can be used to manipulate, to try to convince people your decision is in their best interest regardless of its expected effects. This is the “bad” wolf of PR, the wolf driven by greed, arrogance, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.

However PR can also play a mutually beneficial role. It can be used to help your stakeholders understand the issues at hand so they’re better equipped to contribute to the decision-making process. This is the “good” wolf of PR, the wolf driven by love, hope, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.

The two wolves of Stakeholder Engagement

Like Public Relations, Stakeholder Engagement can be used for either selfish or loving means.

Done selfishly, Stakeholder Engagement is a nothing more than a pretence, a “tick the box” exercise. A decision has already been made, stakeholders are invited to express their views, yet nothing of significance is changed as a result. This is worse than not consulting the stakeholders at all as it wastes everyone’s time and leaves stakeholders more frustrated than ever.

Done lovingly, Stakeholder Engagement helps decision-makers make better choices, enriched by the diverse views of those who affected by or affecting the decisions. This can be a messy process and it takes courage as you’re stepping into the unknown. You never know what you might discover…and that’s the whole point. What you discover has a higher probability of long-term success than anything you could have developed alone.

In a conscious business the choice is clear. If you want to make decisions that benefit all your stakeholders, one of the pillars of a Conscious Business, then you need to have the courage to listen carefully and strive to incorporate your stakeholders’ needs and ideas.

Wise decisions

Once you’ve clearly communicated with your stakeholders and carefully listened to their feedback it’s vital to make wise decisions based on the outcome. A wise decision is one fulfilling the shared vision AND benefiting the widest possible range of stakeholders, including your organisation.

Wise decisions are made from a calm and present mental space, promoting a wide perspective, creativity and empathy. Various methods can be used to promote this, including guided reflection.

Public Relations can then help your stakeholders to understand your decisions, including how their needs and ideas have been taken into consideration.

Diagram cycling between PR, Stakeholder Engagement and Wise Decisions