PR pros: 4 steps to building relationships with HR (and others)

Alliances with other departments prove beneficial, and they’re easier than you might think

It’s an axiom that the human resources and public relations teams often don’t get along, though as with the IT crew, we should be fast friends and excellent partners.

Let’s face it, it can’t be easy to be a HR pro these days.

“HR jobs are often the last to go in a recession. Layoffs, wage freezes, benefits cuts, discrimination lawsuits, new government regulations and other recession-fueled workplace developments all generate additional HR work…” (Workforce Management, May 2010, p. 16).

All that extra work, especially the human factors, brings a boatload of stress.

We PR folks haven’t had it easy the last couple of years, either, as our staffs and budgets got squeezed. Long hours, multiple shifting priorities—even more reason to partner up, even as compadres in misery.

Whether in good times or bad, HR or IT, what do we do to foster professional relationships? Follow these four steps: