In order to remain relevant, Public Relations Managers or Information Officers, as it were, must be adaptive to constant knowledge about their environment and the rapidly changing dynamics of their practice.
This is because, the tools of yesteryears can no longer address challenges of the present time.
The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Council of Registered Insurance Brokers and a one time Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Ogun State Chapter, Mr. Tope Adaramola stated this during a paper presentation at the Public Affairs Continuing Professional Development Series of the Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, held recently.
Delivering the paper on the topic" Information Managers in government: Advancing Corporate Reputation through Personal Value", Mr. Adaramola also said PR Managers can not afford to be rigid,but be malleable in their trade to be successful, adding that in the fast-paced world, PR practitioners can ill afford to be stagnant in their response to issues.
He opined that " He who is stagnant in a moving world is not only regressing, but stands the risk of being swept away by the blitz of time ".
He said the greatest challenge that PR has ever faced is the denigration of what role it should play in an organisation or its perception by management, noting that PR Managers should stand to be counted by positioning themselves as top management.
Adaramola said " In blending PR goals with organisational goals, PR or Information Managers must be part and parcel of organisation's decision making process and must be sufficiently gifted in all the quotient including, social,emotional intelligence and spiritual and be proactive and reactive to issues management".
According to him, PR role in management must be recognised, because PR can discover a problem when it is manageable and as such avoid unnecessary crisis.
He identified challenges faced by perception managers to include problems of political actors, inconsistency in govermemt policies , red-tappism and venality.
Speaking further, he said unfortunately many times PR or Information Officers are often perceived and treated as" mere messagers" , or the fall guys, when the organisation is the butt of an image crisis that could have been avoided if PR had been given its pride of place in the critical decision making process.
He concluded by saying that the Management role of Public Relations must be fully recognised for organisations to gain maximally from the profession, warning PR Managers themselves to be above board through the development of personal values
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