Suryakant Mishra : Manager - communications, Birla Sun Life Insurance

Name: Suryakant Mishra

Designation: Manager - communications, Birla Sun Life Insurance

Sun Sign: Aries

Education

After completion of my Master's degree in Political Science, I pursued my M.Phil in the same subject from Delhi University. After completing my M.Phil, I was selected by the Indian Institute of Mass Communications (IIMC), New Delhi. I did my Mass Communications course from IIMC and specialised in Public Relations and Advertising.

Afterwards, I pursued my Ph.D (part time) along with my job and recently submitted my thesis to Utkal University.

Current Work and Responsibilities

I am currently working as a manager-communications at Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI). I look at all aspects of media relations which includes the organisation of press conferences, press interviews, media strategy amongst others. Besides, a major part of my job is internal communications which includes looking after the in-house magazines and journals. Since BSLI is opening branches all over the country, the current thrust of the PR is to develop rapport with the media at the regional and local level.

Entry into the world of PR (Public Relations)
I always wanted to something really challenging and PR provided the best opportunity to achieve my objective.

After the completion of the course, I started my PR career with Abacus, the PR division of Triton Communications, a leading advertising agency. I handled a number of reputed clients. It has been eight years since I started my PR career and it has been a great learning experience for me. The best part of the job is that you find a different scenario everyday. PR is very dynamic field and you need to be always on your toes.

What is right and wrong about the communication field

The best part of the job today is that there is a greater realisation of the need for PR amongst the corporate entities today. PR is no more a job confined itself to press relations alone. The definition of a PR job has considerably widened in the last couple of years. PR is a very specialised field today - corporate communications, media relations strategy, internal communications, media briefing workshops, counsel, training corporate spokespeople, crisis management - there are so many specialised functions.

Even people with professional qualifications in the field of medicine, engineering amongst others are entering the domain. PR as a profession has, definitely got a very bright future. Along with this, we also find the emergence of number of PR agencies which have added a new dimension to the field.

Major successes and failures

One of the major success is related to management of a crisis during my tenure at Abacus. Crisis Management occupies a very important place in the job of a PR person. It would be very difficult to narrate the entire event. All that I can say is that the company was in the midst of a major crisis. The situation provided me with an opportunity to handle the crisis - the key was balance the situation well and provide accurate information to the key media in order to avert a probable crisis situation. The best part of the job is that you learn from each one of your experiences.

Impressions of TV Channels

The very hectic nature of my job hardly provides me any time to watch TV. Usually, I watch TV during the weekends when I am with my family. I like to watch programmes related to current affairs and business developments. I also like to watch musical programmes along with sports events. Some of my favourite channels are Star Plus, CNBC, BBC, NDTV, Star News amongst others. Some of the channels are really good in terms of education and enhancement of knowledge; others provide entertainment.

Hobbies

My hobbies include travelling, music, movies and social work. I have been associated with a number of voluntary organisations - that are involved in matters related to child education and environment protection.