CIPR PRESIDENT’S Q4 2014 REPORT: HANDOVER

CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Chartered Institute of Public Relations: President’s Q4 2014 Report: Handover 2

CIPR PRESIDENT’S Q4 2014 REPORT

This is my final report as President of the CIPR. I committed to reporting to the CIPR Board, Council, Groups and members, in this way, at the end of each quarter.

In 2014 the CIPR has had a back to basics focus on its

vision and purpose, returning the organisation to its roots

of professionalism as set out in our Royal Charter. We have

also looked to shift the organisation towards being better

networked and member-led.

VISION AND VALUES: PROFESSIONALISM

That vision is very simply to promote professionalism in public relations for practitioners, and in the public interest.

Professionalism is a barrier to entry in the form of foundation knowledge; a Code of Conduct that can be publically tested; continuing professional development; qualifications; and a healthy exchange between academia and practice.

Professionalism is not accepting the lack of diversity or the average gender pay gap across the profession of £12,000.

We have sought to align the organisation firmly with this vision in 2014 through changes to governance, operational activity, campaigning and thought leadership.

This focus and sense of purpose has been helpful in defining priorities. It has made decision making straightforward by removing emotion and informing what we do, and more importantly what we don’t.

GOVERNANCE CHANGES

The CIPR is a very different from the organisation that I took on 12 months ago.

We've reformed our governance to make the organisation more purposeful and more business focused. These changes were agreed at the Annual General Meeting and were agreed by the Privy Council on 8 October.

The Council has been slimmed down from 50 to 30 people with a board of directors. Furthermore, the governance changes have embedded the Code of Conduct more clearly in our structures.

View previous CIPR President’s reports from 2014

• Q1 Vision and Purpose • Q2 Work in Progress • Q3 Community Engagement

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INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP

We've invested in content, policy and education, making membership more relevant to members, and we’ve taken a firm grip on the business, overhauling finance and IT.

We’ve sought to state a clear value proposition to members whatever the stage of their career from students to Chartered PR practitioners. Chartered Public Relations: Lessons from Expert Practitioners, an anthology of examined essays, will be published in February 2015. This continues to be a significant area of work in progress.

We've led campaigning on ethics, equality, professional standards, modernisation, and wearables, in the UK and beyond. We’ve hosted two industry-leading debates in the House of Commons.

TEAM WORK

I’ve had the good fortune to benefit from the energy and focus of our chief executive Alastair McCapra and the team under his leadership. I owe them my gratitude for responding so positively to the changes that we have made.

I’d also like to thank the Board and Council for supporting and helping see through my modernisation agenda.

However if 2014 has been a year of modernisation, 2015 must continue and consolidate this agenda.

As I reflect on my original ten pledges I recognise that there is still much to do.

As Past President I plan to focus on the development of a competency framework for the profession, and improve the engagement between academia and practice. To this end I have been appointed as a Visiting Professor in Practice at Newcastle University.

I look forward to working alongside my successors President Sarah Pinch and President-Elect Rob Brown in the next twelve months.

Stephen Waddington, Chart.PR. MCIPR President, CIPR

I hosted a week-by-week activity summary on Pinterest. Please check this for further information about initiatives highlighted in this report. For information about the CIPR please visit our web site and follow @CIPR_UK on Twitter for regular updates from the Institute.

CIPR PRESIDENT’S Q4 2014 REPORT

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As part of my campaign for President for 2014 I set out a series of 10 Election Pledges. I have set out progress in each of these areas in the next section.

01 COMMUNITY 02 CONFIDENCE 03 PROFESSIONALISMDESCRIPTION

Support, promote and celebrate the leadership of the CIPR in the regions and nations by providing a clear vision and purpose. Actively engage the Council – the CIPR’s governing body – and all its committees to represent the membership and the profession. Modernise the institutional model of the CIPR as a central provider and start the shift to a member-run and member-led networked organisation.

DESCRIPTION

Assert the CIPR’s leadership nationally and internationally in areas such as diversity, social media, public affairs and internal communication, ensuring that members have a leadership voice in their relevant communities.

DESCRIPTION

Recognise that the public relations industry must shift from a craft to a profession by putting Continuing Professional Development (CPD) at its core. Set a roadmap to ensure that CPD is recognised and seen as a key CIPR member benefit.

ACTIVITY

• We tackled an issue impacting the public relations profession at each CIPR Council meeting throughout the year.

• In November Paul Wilkinson led a discussion

on independent practitioners with a view to

developing a programme of initiatives in this

area. There are an estimated 800 solo practitioner members within the CIPR.

• Nine PRide events have taken place throughout the UK during Q4 celebrating regional excellence in public relations practice.

• An ebook called #PR2015 will be published in Q4 with comment and analysis on the public relations business in the coming 12-months from each of the CIPR regional and sector groups.

• The 2014/2015 State of PR survey is underway. This is the largest benchmark of the PR profession of its kind. The results and analysis will be announced in Q1 2015.

ACTIVITY

• What’s New? 2014, an innovation report published on 4 December spotlighted more than 65 areas of development for the CIPR in 2014.

• Speaking commitments were fulfilled at four industry events in Q4: Data Breach? Preparing

for the Fallout, The Economist, London; Can an

organisation be social?, Upload, Lisbon, Portugal; All Business Is Social: The Bigger Opportunity for

Public Relations, PRSA International Conference, Washington DC, US (October); Do you want to

be a big name in public relations? #FuturePR event hosted by the Crowd & I, London; and Panel: Digital disruption or business as usual? Econsultancy Festival of Marketing, London.

• Spoke at two CIPR events in Q4: Future of public relations, future skills and Q&A, CIPR Yorkshire & Lincolnshire, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds; and CIPR North East PRide, Newcastle.

ACTIVITY

• The Privy Council approved our proposal governance changes. These embed the Code of Conduct more clearly in our mission and structures.

• Sarah Pinch continues with her work looking at the reputation of the profession and has developed a guided discussion document for interviews.

• Work is underway on scoping the development of an enhanced continuing professional development (CPD) offer for mid-career and senior practitioners.

• CPD completion rates in the 2014 to 2015 cycle continue to increase year-on-year. Increasing this numbers will be a key focus for 2015.

• 45 new skills guides developed in conjunction with Chartered PR Practitioners will be published before the end of 2014; an updated CIPR Research, Planning and Measurement Toolkit will be published mid-2015; and the Best Practice Guidance that supports the Code of Conduct will be a year-long project for 2015.

PROGRESS ON THE 10 PLEDGES

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04 EXCELLENCE 05 RELEVANCE 06 RELATIONSHIPSDESCRIPTION

Actively promote the Accredited Practitioner and Chartered Practitioner schemes as a benchmark for excellence to all members and with their employers in all sectors, charity, public and private, in-house and consultancy. Ensure that these schemes continue to resonate with employer and member needs.

DESCRIPTION

Quantify the benefit of public relations to the UK economy through a research initiative to provide the industry with a confident and authoritative voice. Use data to assert the role of public relations as a management discipline.

DESCRIPTION

Further promote working relationships with key national and international organisations in advertising, digital, marketing and public relations. Support the work of the CIPR diversity group and actively engage with school and college students, and the wider public, about public relations as a profession that fully represents the wider community it serves.

ACTIVITY

• Chartered Public Relations: Lessons from Expert Practitioners, an anthology of stage two papers written by Chartered PR Practitioners will be published in February 2015.

• Ella Minty MCIPR, an active member of CIPR Scotland, was announced as the latest Chartered Public Relations Practitioner.

• The newly formed editorial board is exploring a means of publishing leading work from diploma graduates and Chartered PR Practitioners on an ongoing basis.

• The CIPR announced 19 new Fellows in October in recognition of their outstanding work in public relations; service to the Institute and personal achievements within the profession.

ACTIVITY

• The CIPR has entered a partnership with Tomorrow’s Company and is working with CIMA, KPMG and other partners on the future of corporate governance at board level and the value of relationships to successful companies.

• The CIPR has renewed its sponsorship of the Taylor Bennett Foundation. This is an important initiative focused on tackling the lack of diversity in our profession.

• The Institiute launched a series of 10 guides in collaboration with The Talent Keeper Specialists to navigate the challenges of maternity leave and return to work process.

• We also held a gender pay hack day on 17 November to explore further initiatives for the CIPR to lead in 2015 to tackle the issue of gender diversity and the existing pay gap.

ACTIVITY

• Partnered with the Global Alliance for Public Relations on the development of a competence framework for public relations professionals.

• Hosted the 3rd Brazilian Corporate Communications Day at the CIPR, Russell Square.

• Collaborated with UKPAC and APPC on response to the new Register of Consultant Lobbyists.

• Launched a series of 10 guides in collaboration with The Talent Keeper Specialists to navigate the challenges of maternity leave and return to work.

PROGRESS ON THE 10 PLEDGES

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07 SOCIAL 08 LOBBY 09 TRANSPARENCYDESCRIPTION

Move the CIPR along the journey to becoming a social organisation, putting content and conversation at its core. Connect directly with members and the broader industry through a monthly Twitter discussion.

DESCRIPTION

Seek swift resolution on the issue of the registration of lobbyists and ensure that any new statutory rules are fair and applicable to all practitioners, irrespective of role.

DESCRIPTION

Promote the CIPR Code of Conduct and ethical standards in public relations. Ensure that the CIPR is an open and transparent organisation working in the public interest.

ACTIVITY

• The CIPR discontinued its partnership agreement with Haymarket Publishing for the distribution of PRWeek to members, and management of the online CIPR Jobs website.

• The CIPR plans significant investment in 2015 in its own content to deliver member engagement and campaign on professional standards in public relations, through a variety of owned and shared channels. The CIPR will also invest in its own online jobs marketplace.

• A new editorial panel met initially in Q4, under the leadership of Rob Brown, and agreed a plan to develop the CIPR Conversation. A member survey will follow in Q1.

• A monthly #CIPRchat Twitter chat took place in Q4 on solo practitioners. Suggestions for future topics such as these are welcomed.

ACTIVITY

• Alastair McCapra met with Alison White, Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists to discuss the consolation on the lobbying register (19 November). A member consultation and roundtable were subsequently undertaken ahead of the consultation deadline.

• A new public affairs representative role agreed for Scotland; work continues with the Scottish Parliament on a proposed Scottish register.

ACTIVITY

• All CIPR members undertaking CPD will be required to complete a compulsory Ethics component from March 2015 in order to meet requirements.

• Managed the CIPR Board and Council in a transparent way.

• Answered personal emails within 48 hours and published minutes of meetings with 24 hours of them being signed off.

• Published quarterly progress against plan.

PROGRESS ON THE 10 PLEDGES

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PROGRESS ON THE 10 PLEDGES

10 VOICEDESCRIPTION

Displace Max Clifford as the mouthpiece of the public relations industry and promote the expertise of CIPR members to the media, through social media and speaking opportunities.

ACTIVITY

• Published thought leadership content on agency and communication team modernisation; gender diversity; maternity and paternity; and social business.

• The CIPR hosted a Debating Group event at the House of Commons in partnership with Tomorrow’s Company (27 October).

• Alastair McCapra debated the European Union Right to be Forgotten legislation at the Cambridge Union in October.

• Thought leadership, opinion and comment published via the CEO and President’s personal blogs; and columns in Communicate and PR Week.