The cover story of last month’s PRSA Strategist was about a large American car manufacturer that reorganized its Communications department to report to Human Resources when it previously reported to the CEO.
However, best practices show that high performance companies have their senior communicator report to the top office.
With the American presidential election moving into the home stretch, the Canadian federal race just beginning and Vancouver’s local contest picking up, I thought it would be appropriate to mention that in political campaigns—some of the most watched in the world—communicators regularly, if not always, take a position at the boss’s right hand.
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Adam Denison
/ September 8, 2008Good connection with communicators being at the right hand of the boss. This company having PR reporting to HR is a bit of a slap in the face to our industry. The HR boss quoted throughout the article really had a defensive tone, and it seemed to me that she felt she was well qualified to work with PR. It always irks me a bit when people assume PR is a natural skill, and you don’t need any formal training to be able to practice it. It should be interesting to see how this company’s PR staff works over the next few years.
Raul
/ September 8, 2008I agree, a great communicator SHOULD be at the right hand side of the top politicians, but often they don’t! I have to say, though, that at least in Mexico, the spokesperson is ALWAYS at the right hand side (e.g. reporting to) the President.
Agreed also with Adam, it’s irksome that people think that PR is a natural skill. Requires formal training!