Internal & External Communications
|
The Public Information Officer should increase the public and employee understanding of the City of Lakeland’s function, its challenges and its achievements by building and maintaining good two-way relationships.
|
|
The following list identifies target publics as well as suggested prioritization of those groups for the communication plan.
1. Residents – The City of Lakeland has roughly 84,000 citizens that reside within the city limits. This group holds the highest priority as a target public. The make up of this group varies depending on issues. Overall the goal is to reach all residents with positive information about the City. However, in isolated cases the target public will be more narrowly defined, based on specific issues that affect segments of the city.
2. Employees – The City of Lakeland has over 2,000 full-time employees that are managed by 14 department heads. Every employee is an ambassador for the City. This group is a very important “public” of the City. Effective communication with this group is as important as communication with area residents. Not only should this group be extremely well informed about the City but this public also contributes to the “identity” and “image” of the City held by other publics.
3. News Media – The news media are the third target public because the coverage they provide may significantly impact the image of the City as perceived by residents, employees and additional target publics.
|
|
