Future skills for public relations practitioners - World PR Day
The COVID-19 Communications Advisory Panel report sets out critical skills for practitioners as society learns to live with COVID-19. It's a must read for personal development.
It is no surprise that demand for public relations roles is booming. Practitioners have been at the forefront of helping organisations respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reuben Sinclair was among several recruiters that reported increasing demand talent in January 2021. The market for roles is booming as we learn to live with COVID-19.
There are several forces in play:
Areas of the economy that shut down are reopening and organisations are firmly in recovery-mode
The pandemic has created a new set of roles is areas such as employee engagement and sustainability
Entry level roles are reopening as organisation begin to figure out the balance between home and office working.
I worked as part of a team of professional marketing and communications associations on behalf of the Government Communication Service at the outset of the crisis. The COVID-19 Communications Advisory Panel report records the impact of the pandemic on communications professionals. It also highlights priority skills areas for the future.
The report includes contributions from panel members, formed from leaders from across the UK communications industry. These include: Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Institute of Internal Communication (IoIC) Local Government Association Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) Government Communication Service (GCS)
Public relations as a strategic management function
Two-way communication has been applied as a strategic function throughout the crisis to support organisations and their leaders in listening, planning and engaging with internal and external stakeholders.
Organisational leaders turned to internal communication teams because they recognised the critical role of communication in engaging with staff. According to a poll by the IoIC two-thirds of internal communicators said that leaders looked to them for more guidance during the crisis.
Internal communicators led on employee engagement, supporting the relationship between employees and management, and helping maintain productivity.
Employees were a particularly complex stakeholder group during lockdown. The furlough scheme and home working meant that internal communicators had to adapt how they communicated.
Organisational leaders, for their part, recognised that they would be defined by the crisis. They sought out communication teams to support a strong and frequent drumbeat of two-way communication with both internal and external audiences.
Public sector organisations and large businesses typically already had resilience plans in place that were well tested. Smaller organisations quickly created new processes and workflows. These were maintained throughout the lockdown.
Physical events cancelled during lockdown shifted online as COVID-19 disrupted conferences, meetings, training sessions and workshops.
This has been an area of rapid innovation as new applications and platforms continue to emerge. Digital design and production skills are in demand as events continue to take place online.
Lockdowns released and learning to live alongside COVID-19
As society emerges from the second lockdown, the role of professional communication in navigating complex stakeholder environments gives it an assertive position in helping organisations develop strategic plans.
The crisis has had a devastating impact on financial capital but has led to a rise in social capital. Companies that have invested in their local communities during the crisis continue to benefit from a reputational dividend.
This is likely to be an issue on the corporate agenda for the next decade.
Investment and financial performance will drive the economic recovery, but this will need to be balanced with other factors related to the environment, society, and governance. This is the shift to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting.
As we learn to live with COVID-19, organisations are exploring hybrid workplace models that combine home and office working, providing staff with flexibility. This gives rise to a range of issues including health and safety, insurance, London weighting, and other issues.
There is also a shift in organisational culture that enables choice and trust and balances the diverse needs and circumstances of employees. The new model that emerges could provide access to a wider talent pool, increased productivity, reduced infrastructure costs and an improved employee experience.
These are all public relations problems where organisations need support.
This COVID-19 Communications Advisory Panel report showed the crisis brought the power of communication to bear on protecting people’s health and saving lives. It has acted as a great accelerator to develop communication practice towards a model of integrated, direct, digital communication.
Marketing and communication firmly rose to the top of the organisational agenda during the COVID-19 crisis. It has become firmly aligned with leadership and executive management as a strategic management function.
This status places a responsibility on practitioners to take a progressive approach to professional development. In the conclusion of the COVID-19 Communications Advisory Panel report we set out the areas that should be a focus for practitioners in recovery.
Trends in professional communication skills
1. The shift to virtual communication – enabling more agile, flexible and trusted working environments
Culture change
Employee engagement and experience
Workflow
2. Communication as a strategic management and leadership function – influencing with data and audience insight
Data analytics
Leadership communication
Listening
Measurement and insight
3. The communication hub – cross-functional working and collaboration to a shared goal
Content and channel planning
Influence
Relationship management
4. Inside out communication – the future shape of human and authentic leadership
Coaching and mentoring
Content and channel planning
Storytelling
5. The shift to digital media accelerates – changing content and media consumption landscape
Audience understanding
Content and channel planning
Horizon scanning
Technology adoption
6. Multi-agency working and the power of networks – implementing powerful partnerships
Community management
Engaging networks and partners
Relationship management
7. Achieving best practice communication equality – creating inclusive and equal communication that makes a difference
Diversity and inclusive communication
Language and translation
Understanding the equality of access to information
8. Dealing with disinformation – building trusted communication
Communication monitoring
Working with platforms and media channels
I’d urge practitioners seize the opportunity presented by COVID-19 and develop their own skills in the emerging areas of practice. Your expertise has never been more in demand.
This article is part of a series by practitioners for World PR Day, a day dedicated to truth, honesty, influence, reputation, and the celebration of all public relations and communications practitioners across the globe.
