If any organization – large, small, public, private, for-profit, non-profit – wants to communicate well, that priority must receive consistent attention from and access to the top layer of the organization. That’s what we tell our Tanner Friedman clients every day.
In a powerful Sunday column, Detroit Free Press auto writer Mark Phelan echoes that sentiment and scolds Chrysler on its recent decision to remove its Corporate Communications department from the company’s top ranks, relegating it to a branch of the HR Department.
We couldn’t agree more with that column. Anyone who removes a PR seat from the Boardroom doesn’t understand the value of communications. That is a decision that comes back to haunt organizations with regularity. One thing is assured here – the same executives who want PR reporting to HR will be the same ones complaining about its communications and media coverage in the coming months.
Someday, a new management team will come in and put PR back at “the table.” In the meantime, professional lives and corporate reputations will be damaged along the way, just to satisfy the whim of one executive group.
For small business owners and corporate CEOs alike, remember this – history proves that you can’t accomplish your business objectives without communicating well. Make your communications team a part of your top leadership.