Communication Management in the Institutions of Public Order and Safety from the Perspective of Using the Concept of Emotional Intelligence

Angela-Mihaela Ene¹

Abstract:The process of public communication at institutional level is undergoing a permanent transformation and, implicitly, an adaptation to the needs of the communicating institution, but especially to the need for information requested by external receivers, receivers representing the final destination of this process. The prospect of good institutional communication is quantified by measuring the external mass perception of the message generating institution. Our approach aims at revealing the concept of emotional intelligence in public communication in terms of the transmitted message importance, related to the content of the group or macro mentality. From this perspective, the importance of using a public communication tool adapted to the new social security challenges represents the essential institutional structural element in determining the strategic and communication maturity that a public institution of public order and security can constitute and implement. This approach shows, in applied terms, the identification and implementation of public communication strategies whose main purpose is groups’ and macrogroups’ maintaining and actively participating in achieving the general perception of public safety and community security.

Keywords: public safety; community security; emotional intelligence; public institution41-

Introduction

In Romania, we constantly talk about public communication in the field of security, but rarely do those who use this phrase have an integrative perspective and refer to the whole spectrum of activities aimed at changing the perceptions, attitudes and behavior of a predefined public. In general, public communication in the field of security is assimilated to public information, known as public relations or public affairs, but at present it also includes public diplomacy, psychological operations, military information operations, social-media misinformation and even strategic communication.

The public institutions, especially those of public order and security, since the 1990s, have undergone a radical transformation in terms of functioning, development and assuming the social-administrative role in relation to society. The public communication of these institutions has undergone a metamorphosis process which, most of the times, has occurred with the change of the institutional leadership represented by the senior management of the respective public institutions. To a large extent, this shift of institutions towards the concept of public service has been fueled, in terms of public communication, from the experience of Western democratic states. If initially, the relationship between the beneficiaries, represented by the mass of the population and the providers, constituted by the public institutions as a state authority, was a clearly unbalanced one, at this moment we are witnessing a permanent balance in terms of mutual understanding and development of perceptions of social report that ultimately determines good governance and social coexistence. Starting from the premise of the balance between the state and the population, in matters of rights and obligations, we must understand that the two entities can constitute a director of social development only through cooperation and intercomplexity. In order to reach such a factual state and especially of a regulated social contract, it is imperative that public institutions understand their primary role in relation to the social partner, namely, the community as a whole.

The institutions of public order and security operate within the Ministry of Internal Affairs and each of them have roles clearly defined by the legal norms of regulation. Besides, recently, in the field of public communication, a norm of internal regulation has been established, at the level of Order of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Order of the Minister of Internal Affairs no 201/2016, which establishes communication rules in this matter. The fact that this internal norm establishes a unitary approach in the field of public communication, the strategies of each institution, at the implementation level, relate to the ability of each to use techniques that are as efficient and more connected to the realities and needs of the community.

The use of applied techniques of public communication in the system of public order and security, thus surpassing the rigid institutional language, only strengthens the authority of the government for social, economic and administrative security. I proposed the perspective of using the concept of emotional intelligence in public communication by these institutions since, at this moment of maturity and social dynamics, we consider it more than useful.

Emotional intelligence is represented by the ability of the group or macrogroup to assimilate and understand, beyond the processed information, what the institution can provide in the long term as a security deliverable. Thus, from a perspective of a healthy organizational culture, instead of information manipulation, information persuasiveness is used.

Content

The field of public order and safety is a fundamental element in the functional construction of a society, this being a mechanism in permanent change, with an increased capacity for resilience and, last but not least, an area that expresses the degree of evolution and civilization of the societyin which they operate. The institutions that make up this field, obviously, are structured and operate on the basis of much stricter, much stiffer rules than the other state administration institutions. Being in the spectrum of executive power, public order and security formations are frontally exposed to the flow of social dynamics, major events produced by natural or anthropic causes. As it is in the interface position between the central administrator and the managed community, the institutions of public order and security require a great organizational capacity for resilience to these forms of interaction, resilience that is built and strengthened both externally, but especially in the internal plan.

The management of the extra and intra-institutional communication has at hand many levers that have or can have the role of regulating, solving, forecasting and prioritizing the problems that are in the exclusive management of these entities, but, against the background of the vertical decision-making type, these levers are wronglyused or better said, incorrectly. We make this statement precisely from the perspective of the regulatory norm, transposed by the Order of the Minister of Internal Affairs number 201/2016, which states that in article 1: “The present order regulates the activity of public information and public relations carried out within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, hereinafter referred to as MIA²“. The concrete fact that emerges from the normative text refers to the phrase public relations, a phrase understood and transposed in practice through the same content fulfilled by the function of public information. Under these conditions, the substance of public communication loses any capacity for action on the receiver, thus creating a vacuum where the natural interaction between the communicator and the receiver does not produce the expected effect, but, on the contrary, generates the feeling of social insecurity.

The use of the concept of emotional intelligence in the strategies of public communication, by the institutions mentioned above, represents a turning point in the public management by the fact that, at this moment, the degree of social maturity corresponds to the degree of institutional maturity and thus, the level of social recoil in crisis situations can cause major damage of credibility and public image. In general, public security and national security institutions are specialized formations, with a low level of knowledge of the current activity by the civilian population, which determines a certain level of understanding and reaction on the part of the community when these institutions are confronted or solves the security threats. The community, the society perceives and relates to the result and the time allotted by the institution to obtain the result, for the same reason, not infrequently, leading to an increase in social pressure on the institution or even to a dramatic decrease in credibility. The institutional policy of managerial organization on the three levels, lower, middle and upper level, must be carried out taking into account the ability of the management entity in leadership.

Beyond the classical conceptual process of communication, modern approaches take into account the way emotions affect the results we obtain, in the workplace and in life. In order to succeed in what we want to undertake, a logical and objective approach to phenomena and a lot of work are not enough, but also taking into account the more subtle things of the relationship between people in the communication process, namely, the emotions that are transmitted and created between them in relation to the organization or subject discussed during the communication process.

The myth that feelings and emotions do not find their place in business, in organizations, in professional relations it is considered outdated by the modern manager. Emotions influence the communication process, its efficiency and the attitude of employees or citizens, whether we want to isolate it or not. Accepting that emotions are an element of the communication process, along with words and gestures, we can take a step forward in controlling one's reactions and eliminating the negative feelings of the interlocutors towards the organization or the necessary activities. In order to achieve this, the manager or civil servant must learn how to beneficially work with emotions, integrating them into his working tools. Lately, this tendency has developed a lot in the specialized literature within the study of emotional intelligence, a capacity neglected at the disadvantage of the intelligencecoefficient, but which is proving more and more powerful in the inter-human relations at work, and, in fact, everywhere in life. The modern opinion regarding the communication process is vitalized by introducing the use of emotional intelligence as a basic element in the success of effectively transmitting a message within the organization and between the organization and citizens or clients.³

The management of the communication of public order and safety institutions from the perspective of using the concept of emotional intelligence, against the background of the analysis and adaptation of the content transmitted to the receiving mass, represents an efficient mechanism for modifying and consolidating the perception of public security, but also a mechanism that protects the institution from the repercussions of unforeseencrises.From the scientifically documented range, regarding the strategic planning models, we consider that the Reaserch Adaptation Implementation Strategies Evaluation model could be used, obtaining a high efficiency in reaching the general objective, namely the increased perception of security. This model, in our opinion, meets the necessary technical characteristics, but also the possibility to permanentlyrespond the rapid changes of situation that occur in the community that the institution serves.

The Reaserch Adaptation Implementation Strategies Evaluation model involves the following steps:

Research - represents the analysis of the situations faced by the institution, taking into consideration the discovery of the facts that confirm or modify the situation, the use of a valid methodology to present indisputable results, the proper interpretation of the data, the identification and verbalization of the problem in the form of statements;

Adaptation - refers to the way in which the resources of the institution are calibrated to the analyzed situation and includes transposing the problem into measurable objectives, segmenting the target groups according to priorities, making a list of possible solutions to the identified problems, listing the resources and budget related elements, time, people, development of a system of connection between management and the person in charge of implementation;

Implementation - involves selecting a strategy from the list drawn up in the previous stage, which will address the target groups and reflect the proposed objectives, the development of a communication plan, the establishment of a timetable for carrying out the strategy and plan, the strategy testing;

Evaluation- involves performing an evaluation in a circular and dynamic format on the relationbetween research-adaptation-implementation-evaluation-research-adaptation-implementation-evaluation.

Regarding this model, which aims at managing a public relations campaign, Robert Kendall emphasizes the dynamic and circular nature of this approach.

The necessity of adapting the formations of public order and safety to the new social challenges and the use of scientifically documented means in communication management is the proof of an integrated and responsible approach in public management. By constructing a solid organizational culture, the form of public representation of the service provided by these institutions can be a decisive factor in terms of the level of public communication. In an institution faced with a rapid succession of situations and events with major impact for the community, the use of the best communication techniques is absolutely necessary. The managers of these institutions, irrespective of the hierarchical level they are in, must develop the skills of perception and introspection of the groups or macrogroups in order to maintain an increased level of counteracting the risks that the institution or the company may face at any time.

Conclusions

The use in the management of institutions of public order and national security of the concept of emotional intelligence, that is the changes in the perception of communities or of creating positive attitudes from society, is defined as a new and absolutely necessary factor in achieving the institutional objectives, but also macro-social ones. The concept described above must be the subject of a continuous and integrated process of public management in the force institutions and the integration of measures of response to the social realities must be approached in a form that has scientifically proven its efficiency. The method proposed in our description represents an easy-to-use and scientificturning point focused on the social dynamics faced by specialized force formations.

Public management, but especially public communication management, is a process in permanent adaptation and transformation, a process that the force institutions must proactively and constructively relateto. Communities are compact social bodies, which emotionally respond to major events in the environment and this aspect must be understood in the opposite direction by force institutions, namely that they can act from the perspective of the emotional side to produce institutional consolidation and general security.

Bibliography

Cristina, Coman (2006) Relaţiile publice. Principii şi Strategii/ Public Relations. Priciples and Strategies, Iași, Polirom Publishing-house.

Ion, Drăgan (1996) Paradigme ale comunicării de masă/ Paradigms of Mass Communication, Bucharest, “Șansa” S.R.LPress and Publishing House.

Bogdan, Ficeac. (1996). Tehnici de manipulare/ Manipulation Techniques, Bucharest, Nemira Publishing-house.

https://lege5.ro/.

http://www.ramp.ase.ro/.