adminOn April 11, 2016 President Robert Mugabe issued a statement clarifying the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Policy. The statement put to rest conflicting positions and confusion among various publics and stakeholders over the policy. It has been three years since the policy was introduced but it had to take the intervention of the President to bring clarity on the policy.The questions that quickly come to mind are:
Where were the communicators and PR practitioners manning such portfolios — both in the private and public sectors?
Where were Government communicators and PR practitioners in various ministries?
And where were communicators of associations and technical groups.
Public relations has a major role in national policy understanding and comprehension. While the media has covered up for most communicators and PR practitioners in the corporate world, it is high time the industry recognises the role of PR in bringing public understanding and comprehension to national policies.
PR has a strategic role in national policies because it outlines the vision, goals and objectives of such policies.
This strategic role is well-executed following massive research and landscaping on the policy and its targeted recipients.
This is where the strategic messaging component also comes in. For instance, since 2013 communicators and PR practitioners should have put in place a strategy on making the indigenisation policy effective and understandable.
Organisations responsible for PR training like the ZIPR and other professional groups like the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ) have a role to roll out strategies on such national policies working with the government and the corporate business world.
The public relations arm’s also critical because it utilises various communication tools. PR utilises integrated communication channels to create awareness and bring total understanding to national policies.
Integrated marketing communications such as promotion, advertising, direct marketing, exhibitions or fairs, branding and public platforms can be used to curve national policies’ importance to the nation.
However, this PR aspect was not utilised in the communication of the indigenisation policy as people became accustomed to the 51/49 percent aspect across the board which gave a wrong impression to current and potential investors.
Yet according to the President the 51 percent local ownership relates to the natural resources sector.
Creativity and imagination are hallmarks of campaigns that satisfy publics and the nation on issues of policy.
PR brings this creativity and imagination. This creativity comes with it invaluable appetite for campaigns.
Creativity makes the public buy into the campaigns that seek to provide understanding and comprehension in national policies.
The Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services ran a very successful campaign to whip up emotions during commemorations of national events and national heroes through the introduction of national music galas which have been held across the country.
The ministry was also creative in identifying the gala with the occasion for instance on the anniversary of the death national hero the late Vice President Dr Simon Vengesai Muzenda, the gala is titled the “Mzee bira” which creates awareness on important national days, personalities, icons and symbols.
Unfortunately not much PR and publicity has been done to promote or present the correct position concerning the indigenisation policy.
PR has a role to build understanding, goodwill and awareness of such national policies. PR is coloured with altruism, that is, trust and confidence; and the public can only have trust, confidence and loyalty after realising the commitment of the communicator or message sender. Without it, there is no loyalty towards such national policies.
Communicators and PR practitioners are supposed to create a favourable image and reputation of the indigenisation policy by unpacking the whole policy to the nation using the drip-effect or repetition tactic to ensure public understanding and loyalty.
We all remember that organisations in the country used to embrace these tactics where you did not need to go into Nyore Nyore Zimbabwe Furnitures to be aware of the shop but the continuous communication and marketing tactics of the shop in the media created awareness which brought public acceptance which ultimately brought public loyalty to the business.
The indigenisation policy needed such aggressive and precise campaigns to create a progressive debate on the policy and not conflicting positions. This is the aggressive approach needed on communicate national policies.
One other critical role that PR plays in creating understanding and acceptance of such national policies is that of creating value and ownership.
In an organisation, PR has qualities that harness value and ownership. Organisations form what they call corporate value and corporate ownership.
Every programme or project that the organisation focuses on is well-augmented and known to all its workers and its publics and stakeholders.
Therefore if PR practitioners are given the mantle and recognition to create campaigns on national policies, every detail of the company’s publics and stakeholders from employees, suppliers, customers, clients, consultants and to the generality of publics will be able to value and own such policies.
Communicators and PR practitioners, and other critical stakeholders were exposed when the President clarified the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Policy and at the same time instilled acceptance, value and ownership among everyone concerned.
The glaring critical role of PR in National policies and issues challenges the ZIPR and its members in various organisations, communicators, other PR practitioners and leading opinion leaders to stand up in creating awareness, understanding and ownership of national programmes. And this way the country will attain a high level of citizen responsibility.
This article has been inserted by the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Relations. For feedback, comments and inquiries on the work of ZIPR, please email [email protected]
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