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| Investors are important stakeholders that not only need information from investor relations, but public relations as well. (photo via https://www.aegps.com/uploads/tx_templavoila/IR_1.jpg) |
Public relations workers have one of the most difficult jobs in regards to decision making. Ethical issues are constantly looming, and the company must maintain a positive image with the public.
Similar to public relations employees, those who work in investor relations are challenged with their decision making every day. The demanding job of balancing finance, marketing and communication is a strenuous task.
Due to how much pressure is on these workers, it is important that public relations teams can work in coordination with investor relations teams. While their jobs are certainly different, they overlap in ways that makes communication between the two integral to success.
Role of Investor Relations
The role of investor relations runs through the CFO of the company. Everything the investor relations team does is reported to the CFO, who then passes on that information to shareholders, investors and financial analysts. Although everything is reported to the CFO, that does not necessarily mean the public relations team is involved in any way.
Role of Public Relations
Public relations workers generally report most of their work to a chief marketing officer. Their reports and information is related to product promotion. After working with the chief marketing officer, that information is given to the media, customers, partners, or other large stakeholders.
Why the Blend is Needed
When working in these two sectors of the business, the communication between the two is important for not only the company, but everyone who has a stake in the company as well. If communication is systematically in place between the public and investor relations teams, it will be much easier to keep an issue from spiraling out of control.
By having this blend in place, questions of importance from investors and shareholders can be answered much faster and more confidently. Having reliable, honest conversations with the investor will build confidence and trust, making for a sturdy relationship between the investor and the company. Before investor and public relations ever blended together, investors were not told about public relations problems until they heard them on the news. Now they are getting answers.
Paula Phelan, CEO and founder of Nadel Phelan Inc., believes the bond between public and investor relations makes for a clearer message from the company. By having this clarified, sales can increase and partnerships will grow stronger.
Having more accountable, transparent discussions throughout the company creates less opportunities for chaos during a time of crisis.
In September of 2017, Insys Therapeutics hired Joe McGrath as their Senior Director of Corporate Communications. Prior to being hired, McGrath was a public relations and corporate communications employee for Medtronic. His new job will have him working with media relations, reputation management, and he will support investor relations with the chief financial officer. Along with hiring McGrath, Insys also retained Alpha IR Group as the investor relations agency. McGrath's background of public relations, paired with the knowledge from Alpha IR, will help create the optimal blend.
Having a balance between public relations and investor relations is integral in the business world today. Without being able to have both functioning in unison, it will be difficult for the company to have trustworthy relationships with their investors and stakeholders.
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