Public Relations Competencies
Strategic Public Relations Planning
Competency
Behavioural description
Data collection
Gather information to enable plan formulation through
research and/or interviewing
Understand the client’s or organisation’s needs to the extent
that realistic strategic objectives can be established
Identify and assess the interests and influence of
stakeholders. Identify and rank issues in terms of volatility
and urgency, and develop tactical or strategic responses to
them. Present this data in an appropriately structured plan
Using the platform provided by the foregoing analysis, think
analytically and strategically to develop a broad strategic
approach to fulfil the plan objectives
Identify and articulate specific action programs to
operationalise the strategy
Develop appropriate messages that need to be
communicated to stakeholders through the implementation
of the strategic plan
Develop mechanisms to monitor, measure and evaluate the
strategic plan as it is rolled out
Objective setting
Skills in strategic
analysis and
mapping
Strategy
development
Action planning
Message
development
Monitoring and
measurement
Image and Reputation Management
Competency
Behavioural description
Monitoring
Monitor and track what is being said about the organisation,
product, personality, etc. (There may be monitoring services
available or you can do it yourself.) Once a monitoring
system is in place, track other information such as competing
brands and organisations, industry trends and general
industry news. Monitoring gives you an immediate alert if
adverse information is appearing
Look at the information you have monitored and assess it in
terms of whether it is positive, negative or neutral for your
organisation or client. List the media, people or websites who
are positive and negative. Assign a value to their influence
and impact on reputation
[see strategic public relations planning]
Influence the results by taking action. Enjoin public debate;
engage in online conversations. Participation will give you
the opportunity to improve perceptions. A key principle of
reputation management is that if you attempt to hide the
truth your deceit will come back to haunt you. Therefore, be
honest in everything you say
Analysis
Strategic planning
Influencing
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Writing
Competency
Behavioural description
Mechanics of
writing
Understand aspects of writing through which content is
effectively expressed: spelling, grammar, syntax,
vocabulary, etc
Place related ideas in a meaningful sequence to clarify their
logical relationships to one another
In response to a stimulus, express thoughts and feelings
related to the stimulus. Interpret personal experiences,
opinions and values in words
Understand through directed attention. Take notes about the
observation. Draw conclusions through interpretation of what
has been observed
Break a whole into its constituent parts so relationships
between parts and the whole are understandable and
consequences are clarified
Provide a concrete example of an abstract concept to clarify
or explain it, typically, using an example from every day life
Find answers or information using a systematic method of
inquiry
Support a thesis by presenting a sequence of logically related
ideas backed up by relevant and reliable evidence
Compare a specific case to an abstract set of principles or
standards in order to determine the quality of the case
Combine two or more subordinate ideas in a more general
idea that unifies them
Organisation
Reaction
Observation
Analysis
Application
Research
Argument
Criticism
Synthesis
Public Relations Measurement and Evaluation
Competency
Behavioural description
Planning for
research
Ensure that specific measurable communications objectives
have been set so there is something to measure. Be guided
by the basic communications research mantra: who says
what, to whom, how and with what effect. Who refers to the
sources or disseminators of information; what to the
messages being disseminated; to whom to the target
audiences; how to the channels of communications; with
what effect to the outputs and outcomes of the
communications effort
Establish research objectives. Identify the group or sample to
be researched. Decide content of research. Determine
research methodology [see below]. Structure research
instrument (questionnaire) and prepare clear and
unambiguous questions
Somewhat subjective but in-depth studies that use a
probing, open-end format. Main forms: focus groups (group
under guidance of trained moderator discusses specific
topics), depth interviewing (probing, open-ended, structured
interviews where respondents talk freely and in detail),
convenience poll (unscientific non-probability study
sometimes referred to as informal or quick-and-dirty)
Research design
Understanding
qualitative data
collection
methodologies
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Understanding
quantitative data
collection
methodologies
Measuring
communications
outputs
Measuring
institutional
outcomes
To obtain highly objective insight, use closed-end, forcedchoice questionnaires. These studies tend to rely heavily on
statistics and numerical measures. Collect data by email,
websites, mail, face-to-face interviews or panels
Know how to measure outputs which are the results of a
communications program. They measure how well an
organisation presents itself or the amount of exposure it
receives. Outputs also might be an assessment of a specific
event, a direct mail campaign, the number of people who
participated in an activity, how an organisation’s executives
are perceived or the appearance and contents of a brochure
Relate communications outputs to institutional goals such as
increasing market penetration, improving market share,
meeting recruitment expectations, etc
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