Competence, growing pains, and talent turmoil highlighted by CIPR report
The public relations profession is capitalising on its new found status following the COVID-19 pandemic but it must take a more strategic view of its capabilities and work a lot harder to address inequalities.
There’s a narrative at the core of the CIPR State of Profession 2022 report and the broader public relations profession that needs to be challenged.
The annual report published this week suggests that copywriting and editing is the most common activity undertaken by public relations practitioners. The result has been same for the last four years.
It’s like reporting that numeracy is the most important skill for an accountant, or that analysis is a critical skill for a lawyer. Both are true but they understate the expertise of each profession.
The list of activities most commonly undertaken by public relations practitioners include: copywriting and editing (82%); campaign management (69%); strategic planning (68%); media relations (64%); and community and stakeholder relations (54%).
Notwithstanding commonly reported skill gaps such as analytics, data and evaluation, the list conflates the skills and experience of a management and tactical function.
As professionals we need to separate the competency requirements of entry level and mid-level or senior practitioners to assess to true state of the profession.
The competency models developed by the European Communication Monitor (opens as a PDF) and the Global Alliance both propose a diverse set of capabilities.
A profession on the move
The CIPR State of Profession report finds an industry in a period of expansion but struggling to meet an increase in demand as vacancies remain unfilled due to low numbers of skilled applicants and a fight for talent.
LinkedIn data reported by Wadds Inc. showed 87,000 practitioners working in public relations in the UK in December 2021. Today that number is 99,000.
More than half of organisations are struggling to recruit, including 78% of those working to recruit in agencies and consultancies.
Almost one in five practitioners has changed role in the past six months. This is a trend that is set to accelerate according the CIPR with 35% saying that they are some likely or very likely to change role in the next six months.
If these shifts are reflected across the profession it will represent a movement of 34,600 people.
There is clearly huge confidence in the employment market however it is likely that the economy will act as a brake.
“This report highlights that the reputational gains experienced during the pandemic have continued with rapid growth indicative of a thriving industry. But we know better than anyone how fragile this can be and we must not fall into the trap that short-term growth equates to long-term success,” said Rachel Roberts, President, CIPR.
Well paid, hard work with shocking levels of inequality
There’s lots to celebrate in the annual CIPR report.
The reputation of the public relations function has increased within more than half (51%) of organisations over the past six months. The figure is slightly less for agency and consultancy clients (46%).
Public relations is a well-paid job. The average salary of a practitioner in the UK is £56,340. The starting salary for an account executive or assistant is £28,754 and a communication director or the director of an agency earns £76,581.
It’s not all good news.
The recruitment shortfall has led to an increased workload for the existing workforce.
More than half of practitioners say they are working more hours than they are paid with the biggest challenge facing the profession identified as the mental health of practitioners.
The PR industry’s gender pay gap has risen to more than £7,000 following years of it shrinking.
There is a considerable shortfall within the profession in terms of ethnic diversity. White British accounts for 89% of the profession versus 80% in the 2011 population census.
The State of the Profession report didn’t examine socio-economic data this year.
