|
 The federal government places considerable importance on building relationships and engaging with citizens. Ministers are held accountable for constructive dialogue with Canadians, civil society, and stakeholders, including business, organized labour, the broader public sector, and the not-for-profit and charitable sectors.
For public sector organizations, community groups can be referred to as external stakeholders. Community relations are particularly important for government institutions that have a significant regional presence.
Unless your community relations’ objective is to remain unknown, which I do not recommend, the first order of business should be to raise and control your own community profile. This is important for two reasons:
- If you do not control your own reputation, you are leaving it up to someone else to do that for you or let people in the community do that for themselves. In both cases you run the risk of someone misinterpreting your organization, or worse still, painting a negative picture of your organization. This will just make it more difficult for you to achieve your community relations’ objectives in the future.
- Increasing the community’s awareness of your organization helps you address point number one, but also raises your profile in the community so that when you have something to say, people will listen.
Ideally, community relations should be ongoing. The longer the process lasts, the greater the opportunity to form a constructive relationship with your community and the more your ongoing efforts will be successful.
|
