Understanding the Duties of a Communications Manager
Understanding the duties of that specific role is the foundation for attracting viable employees. Human resource professionals can choose new employees based on their qualifications and experience through recruitment (Pei, Paul & Cary, 2016). Companies should execute a strategic strategy on how to conduct the hiring process and assess their reasons for expansion before hiring; this will make it easier to develop duties and comprehend how this position will generate income. Communication and public relations are essential components of any modern firm. Therefore, this paper will discuss the recruitment needs of a communications manager.
Main Tasks of a Communications Manager
The primary task of mid-level management position is to oversee all communications programs with an aim to promote an organization’s products (Boswell, Zimmerman & Swider, 2012). Internally, these managers ensure that employees and stakeholders are updated of company progress; they also create policies to increase staff awareness and enhance productivity. Externally, they liaise with the media to raise awareness in case their new developments on their products or services; also, they negotiate with potential investors persuading them to contribute to their business for expansion services. Also, they maintain a positive image in public especially the consumers to avoid business loss and repair that image if their company faces a crisis.
The Importance of the Internet for Communication Managers
The main tool required for communication managers is the internet. It facilitates communication among employees through emails and press releases for the external public; technology further helps in print designs and online adverts that inform customers of new products and services. Moreover, the internet allows one to convey information using other online platforms like websites where one can develop content continually either weekly or monthly (Boswell, et.al, 2012). The knowledge needed for this role is marketing, public relations, print communication and social media. Print generates materials used for advertising while marketing helps one to publicize and sell products advertised using these avenues. Public relations assists in building strong public relationships and social media facilitates virtual communication and transactions online.
Skills Required for Communication Managers
Communication manager's skills set include confident communicator to present verbal information efficiently, writing for content development, proofreading, publishing and design skills to convey concepts both verbally and in non-verbally. Other abilities are planning and organizational skills, creativity, and latitude, an understanding of recent trends in social and digital media. Above all these skills, self-motivation with a professional approach to management is essential to execute communication tasks (Boswell, et.al, 2012). The candidate should have a master’s degree in communications with specific course work in mass, written, interpersonal and oral communication. Moreover, managerial experience in research, leadership and media studies helps a lot in performance and productivity.
Methods to Advertise for the Communication Manager Position
Ways to advertise for the job is dependent on the selection process criteria. Once the human resource identifies a gap and defines the position needed, they can choose internal hiring where existing staff members are given an opportunity to apply for the job, particularly the position, is linked to career growth or succession planning (Pei, et.al, 2016). If recruiters prefer this option, they must exercise fairness and consistency to avoid confusions among colleagues and affect their performance. The next way is employee referrals; workers are encouraged to recommend prospective candidate within their professional network. Fortunately, the benefit of this approach is that companies get an assurance the recommendations people will possibly blend in faster because they are aware of what to expect, unlike new candidates. The third option is print and internet advertisements. It is the most common; generally, ads appear in local and national bulletins, magazines and professional journals for all qualified professionals to apply (Gully, et.al, 2013). The advantage of this method is that an employer can reach a broad range of audience in a large area hence can choose the best. The last option is recruitment agencies. They are experts in identifying skills and talent at a fee and save corporations the hustle of hiring; besides, this option is appropriate if the employer wants to remain anonymous or does not have a stable human resource department.
Assessment Methodologies for Recruitment
Assessment methodologies to recruit shortlisted applicants are interviews and skill demonstrations. For interviews, an employer can opt for physical or virtual; however, the physical one is more efficient because the interviewing panel gets to interact without interruptions and validate information offered through confirming their references (Gully, et.al, 2013). The advantage of conducting interviews is for the employer comprehends applicants' behavior and personality thus able to analyze if they best fit the position and adapt to their business nature. Skill demonstration reveals individuals’ competency. Candidates are given tasks to complete and prove their capabilities; furthermore hiring teams can use course work material to check if their specialization matches the job description.
Conclusion
Conclusively, the basis for hiring qualified workers is to understand their value of their responsibilities in the workplace. For organizations to have employees who deliver results in their work, they need experienced human resource practitioners who understand their function and accountability to guarantee that every staff member is qualified, comfortable and dedicated to their jobs. Either employer chooses to recruit internally or externally; they should research on the best ways to advertise, selection method, and remain just in the whole procedure to attract their intended candidate.
References
Boswell, W. R., Zimmerman, R. D., & Swider, B. W. (2012). Employee job search: Toward an understanding of search context and search objectives. Journal of Management, 38(1), 129-163.
Gully, S. M., Phillips, J. M., Castellano, W. G., Han, K., & Kim, A. (2013). A mediated moderation model of recruiting socially and environmentally responsible job applicants. Personnel Psychology, 66(4), 935-973.
Pei, C., Paul, S., & Cary, C. (2016). The relationship between person-organization fit and job satisfaction. Journal Of Managerial Psychology, (5), 946. doi:10.1108/JMP-08-2014-0236
