The IABC Handbook of Organizational Communication: A Guide to Internal Communication, Public Relations, Marketing, and Leadership

Where Does Communications Reside on the Organizational Chart?

Communications professionals can fill many different roles in organizations, and those jobs can reside in a variety of departments. Under the umbrella of business communicators, we find meeting planners, speechwriters, financial communicators, Web and graphic designers, social media strategists, advertising and PR managers, and communication analysts. There is no one best way to construct the reporting structures, but the strategic decisions about how to design jobs and where to place them certainly do affect the daily work life of the communicators in these positions. Typically, roles directed toward employee communication are placed within human resources (HR), while external communication ...