Here is my presentation from the Public Relations Institute of Ireland annual conference.

2. •More 10,000 members, from
all sectors
•Member led organisation with
a small supporting secretariat
•Stephen Waddington
President, Sarah Pinch
President Elect
•Focus on: Professionalism,

3. Sarah Pinch FCIPR MIoD
• 11 years at the BBC
• 13 years in corporate comms
• Tricky sectors:
• International development
• Public transport
• Health
• Passion for behavioural change in organisations
• Experience of placing communications as important
as finance/HR
• Professional standards & compliance
• New teams in every role since 2000

4. The Board
• provides direction for management;
• demonstrates ethical leadership, displaying & promoting throughout
the company behaviours consistent with the culture & values it has
defined for the organisation;
• creates a performance culture that drives value creation without
exposing the company to excessive risk of value destruction;
• makes well‐informed and high‐
quality decisions based on a clear line of sight into the business;
• creates the right framework, helping directors meet their statutory
duties (Companies Act 2006) and/or other relevant statutory &
regulatory regimes;
• is accountable, esp. to those that provide the company s capital;ʹ
• thinks carefully about its governance arrangements and embraces
evaluation of their effectiveness

5. CIPR State of the Profession 2013
• Views of CIPR members (75%) and non‐
members (25%) 2,531 respondents, provided a
comprehensive overview
• Half (46%) of practitioners brief board
members and senior staff
• Third (35%) contribute to organisational
strategy
• More than nine out of ten of respondents to
the State of the Profession said that being
considered a professional is important.
• PR must no longer defined by media relations.
• It’s a strategic management discipline focused
on building reputation by promoting mutual
understanding.
• This is an industry wide opportunity.

6. What are our challenges?
Boardroom
• 37% are on the board ‐ 63%
are not
• One in eight say boards
don’t value PR
• 41‐48% have no PR in the
boardroom
Gender
• 56% with PR board
responsibility are men
• 61% public sector in‐house
• average gender pay gap
£12,000 in favour of men.
• From Account Manager/Press
Officer & above – men are paid
more than women, for doing
the same job.
Budget
• 15 ‐ 49% media relations spend
• 4 ‐ 8% social media management
• 4 ‐ 12% event management
• 2 ‐ 15% consumer/public campaigning
• 4 ‐ 5% research, planning and measurement

7. So what?
• How serious are we about putting this
ambition into practice?
• Other professions succeed by
reputation and ‘speaking the language
of the board’
• Ethics must be centre stage
• Engagement with employers and
commissioners of PR services
• Campaigning
• Clarity on the route map
• Continuous Professional Development

8. Five goals for professionalism
1. Meaningful membership
2. Confidence
3. Demonstrating Value
4. Trust – and confidence
5. Telling our story

9. Professional Positioning
• Accountable to an
external code
• Appropriately skilled and
qualified
• Engaged in a process of
renewal for ethics and
competency
• Validated in a way the
public understand
• Leadership
• Articulation
• Connectivity
• Significance
• Reputation

10. Going forward
• In 1960s, no one understood management
as a professional discipline
• Occupy the land
• Clarity of contribution and value
• Confidence
• Passion, engagement, understanding
• Professional standards
• Leave

11. Questions
Email:
sarah@pinchpointcommunications.co.uk
@ms_organised
0780 858 0752