What do you perceive the ethics and PR landscape in South Africa to be?

“We face neither East nor West: we face forward,” ~ Kwame Nkrumah (the first President of Ghana).

The African Public Relations Association (APRA) and The Public Relations Communications Association (PRCA) are calling on all Public Relations (PR) and communication professionals to share their opinions on the ethics and PR landscape in South Africa.

For the third consecutive year, APRA and PRCA will be delving into the intricacies of the PR and communications landscape across the African continent. Once again, this study will be managed by Reputation Matters who will oversee the data collection and analysis of this industry research. 

The study will explore an array of pivotal subjects, encompassing business ethics, perceptions of PR, integration of artificial intelligence (AI), the paradigm of remote working, and the challenges poised to shape the industry's trajectory in the future. 

The Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA) is in full support of the research and is urging everyone within the PR profession to share their insights into the ethics and PR landscape of our country. 

Secretary-General of APRA, Henry Rugamba, shares, “This is an African wide research study, giving all African countries the opportunity to participate. It will serve as a bridge for mutual learning among African nations, offering more opportunities for cross-border collaboration and, practical insights for PR practitioners. I highly recommend all PR and communication professionals dedicating some time to participate in the survey to provide feedback on ethics and PR in your own country.” 

PRCA International Director Melissa Cannon MPRCA adds, “We are excited to collaborate with APRA once again in conducting this vital research for the African PR industry. Communications professionals have a unique opportunity to lead organisations in a dynamic era of innovation and growth across Africa. Yet, what potential obstacles stand in the way of PR becoming the predominant voice in every sector of business? Where does the industry excel, and what prospects lie ahead? This research is our chance to gain profound insights into the industry's trajectory. I urge practitioners across the continent to make their voices heard as we pave the way for the future of African PR in 2024”.

The feedback will help the industry to understand the different perceptions between the different African countries, and how we can learn from each other.

“We are incredibly excited to be a part of the research again this year. There has been such a major shift in the way that businesses communicate with the rise of AI technologies like ChatGTP. However last year’s research results indicated that people still highly value personal relationships. The insight suggested that as a relationship building avenue, PR was not going anywhere,” shares Regine le Roux, managing director at Reputation Matters. “It will be interesting to see how this holds true for 2024 and what the major PR trends are on the continent.”

The survey only takes a few minutes to complete, and all responses will remain anonymous. Questions are available in both English and French. To start the survey, follow this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EthicsandPRinAfrica2024 

The research results will be presented at the APRA conference in Côte d’Ivoire taking place from 13 to 17 May 2024.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact Reputation Matters: research@reputationmatters.co.za www.reputationmatters.co.za 

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Media contact:

Regine le Roux

regine@reputationmatters.co.za

#BizTrends2024: Your reputation matters: Building relationships through communication

 

[via Bizcommunity.com]

It’s that time of year again to look back and reflect on the year that was, to help us look forward and build successful businesses in 2024. The crux of building a successful reputation and business, ultimately lies in your communication skills with all your stakeholders.

Previously, and specifically the past three years, the key trend that we picked up across all our research studies, which included reputation quantification, brand identity-, customer satisfaction-, as well as employee engagement, was the definitive need to focus on internal relationship building and employee wellbeing through internal dialogue. This is something which is still an important component of reputation management and should continue to be a priority.

What has started to raise its head from our 2023 research studies, is that external stakeholders are starting to feel a disconnect with organisations. The main cause? Poor and ineffective communication.

Communication is therefore crucial to building successful internal and external relationships in 2024.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it is necessarily a lack of communication, but rather a lack of effective communication skills. Here are four tips to guide your communication in 2024 to build closer relationships with your stakeholders:

#1 Audience matters

More communication doesn’t automatically equate to a close relationship. There is a disconnect between the amount of communication being developed and the bonds being forged.

Step one in building successful businesses in 2024 is to understand your stakeholders before you can start communicating with them. Not enough time is being spent on understanding and unpacking the needs of audiences. Or even, who those audiences are. Your audience matters, understanding their needs is key to building strong relationships through communication. When last did you conduct an in-depth stakeholder mapping session with your clients to really understand their needs?

Do you know exactly who they are? If you had to share a crisis communique with your stakeholders right this second, how much fumbling around for the right database lists and latest versions would there be before the message is shared? Who would you phone, who would receive a WhatsApp and who would receive an email? The communication team would at minimum have a comprehensive media list, but are the lists for all your other stakeholders as easily accessible and up to date?

#2 Communication matters

What is quite interesting is that the reputation studies we conducted right after the pandemic in 2020 delivered the highest reputation scores to date. Not only were the overall reputation scores high, but the corporate dialogue component of a reputation (internal and external communication) had scored considerably higher than previous years, and has subsequently dwindled as people returned back to working in an office environment. The reason for this is that due to most people working from home, companies had to be very specific about their messaging and who to engage with. It seems that companies are reverting to generalised communication in the hope that a ‘spray and pray’ approach will be the magic wand to get their messages out there and foster a closer relationship with their stakeholders at the same time.

#3 Relationship matters

Authentic relationship building in an ever-growing artificial world will become even more crucial to your reputation. People want to do business with people, and nothing breaks trust or ruins a reputation as quickly as being unauthentic.

With the greater focus on and use of artificial intelligence (AI), refining your message is definitely much easier these days, but, you still need to understand your audience and plug in the right instructions and context to get a customised approach to engage with your stakeholders. AI certainly will continue to save a lot of time but it should be viewed as a facilitation tool, rather than a replacement for personalised messages. Nothing can replace human interaction and to build relationships that matter, you must connect with your stakeholders in a personalised, authentic manner.

#4 Insight matters

Talking about AI, we are fully aware that there are numerous tools and programmes out there that allows companies to conduct their own research, however, investing in expert advice is a necessity in building relationships in 2024. Research might look easy, but it is not that simple. We are definitely seeing an increase in the value of research, and anticipate even more companies wanting to be able to quantify their value; be it reputations, brand identity, employee engagement or customer satisfaction.

However, if you want to conduct your own research, there are great research support tools out there that will help you to conduct your own research, just keep these three key things in mind:

• Research is more than just asking questions; you need to ask the right questions. Shorter questionnaires are definitely the way to go, that’s why it is even more important to ask the right questions, to gain the most valuable feedback from respondents in a short period of time.

• Research isn’t just about pie charts and data analysis; insights are important to add value to your investment and the time your respondents are investing in providing you with their feedback.

• Research shouldn’t just be a once off exercise; conducting research on an annual basis is key to continuous growth and improvement. Use the results to make the recommended changes; measure your success and identify areas for improvement. It’s a great way to measure year on year performance and a powerful tool to present your success in percentages around the boardroom table.

May 2024 be a year filled with strong relationships to take your business to the next level! For more insights on the future and trends of reputation management, please make contact:

www.reputationmattters.coza research@reputationmatters.co.za

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