Be a Good Neighbor

Most organizations focus most of their public relations efforts on groups they consider to be their key publics. This could be their customers, financial analysts and even the media in some instances. Realizing that there are other key publics that you need permission and approval from is also very important. Many consumers, employees and other stakeholders simply expect any organization they do business with to have some sort of corporate social responsibility (CSR) or local community outreach program, however that is not the case in modern day society.

Maintaining an ongoing assessment of your relationships with your publics is key to a successful company. You should know where you stand and what works and what doesn’t work. Many organizations think that saying the right things and controlling their messages they can preserve their image as a good place to work or as a good neighbor. However, we all know it is isn’t that easy.

With good research, any organization can assess exactly where its relationships are weakest and then use two-way communications to improve them. Do you know of any companies or organizations that aren’t “good neighbors” and need to re-evaluate their current relationship with the community and their stakeholders? Feel free to share them below!