SEMARANG, PRINDONESIA.CO - According to Anton Rizki, Managing Director and President of Kiroyan Partners, stakeholder can be interpreted as the first person to receive an impact on the policies set by the company.

It is important to note that if public relations (PR) maps the stakeholders too broadly, then everyone can be a stakeholder. On the other hand, if it’s too narrow, it can result in stakeholders who have sustainable survival. This fact came up at the PR INDONESIA Jamboree (JAMPIRO) #4 in Semarang on Thursday (8/11/2018).

In order to avoid missteps in making decisions, PR needs to make stakeholder mapping. This step is also important to simplify and facilitate the task of PR when developing communication strategy. Therefore, Anton gave three important notes that should become PR consideration when conducting the stakeholder mapping.

The first is the power or ability of the stakeholders to influence the company. The second is urgency, it means how big the impact is because of the company policy. The last is legitimacy, it is related to how far the stakeholders want to accept and recognize the company policy. “The main stakeholders are those who have the three things that are mentioned at once,” said Anton.

By understanding the three points, the work of PR in mapping stakeholders who are relevant and have a big influence on the company is getting easier. Another important thing is to understand the issues that are considered important to them. The aim is to avoid making decisions that are not based on strategic considerations.

Bias

PR is vulnerable to bias when mapping the stakeholders. Anton divided the bias phenomenon into four types. The first is elite bias, it usually occurs when a public relations practitioner determines the stakeholder status based on the strategic position someone carries. “Assuming an elite group has represented all its members, even though it’s not necessarily true,” he said.

The second is power bias. This condition occurs when someone in the group has been posted as someone who has a very strong power. Even though there are also marginal people who have stronger power and more worthy of being a stakeholder, it’s just that he/she doesn’t have the access to talk and express themselves.

The third is interest bias. It occurs when there is someone who becomes the center of attention of the entire organization, it has the potential to cause bias in the process of stakeholder mapping. “We must be able to get out of the bias of the people we face,” he said. The fourth is purpose bias which can make PR tends to give more attention to those who have a big contribution to the company.

“We have to continuously practice so that we don’t get caught up in bias,” said Anton. ali