Top issues and responsive strategies in public relations practice: An empirical assessment in the Greater China area

•To find, develop, and retain highly talented communication professionals is the most important issue to deal with in the Greater China area.•How to manage the digital revolution of social media and to improve employee engagement and commitment in the workplace are also emerging issues in the region.•Providing greater autonomy on the job is an effective strategy for top talent recruitment, development, and retention.•It is difficult to create key performance indicators to measure social media activities.•A positive communication climate in the organization can increase employee engagement. An online survey of 132 public relations practitioners in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and, Taiwan revealed three issues (i.e., finding, developing and retaining highly talented communication, professionals, managing the digital revolution and rise of social media, and dealing with the speed and, volume of information flow) as the most urgent ones to deal with in today's public relations practice. Consequently, various responsive strategies have been applied to deal with emerging critical issues.