PR Knowledge Hub

There's a great deal of discussion about the way forward for society. The notion of our licence to operate and subsequent social capital has finally begun to feature in good conversations around the world so, with spring in the air here, I've dusted off and updated my video explanation of the licence to operate - what it is, what it does, why we need one and how public relations and communication helps us get - and keep - one of our own. Public relations builds and sustains the relationships we need to maintain our licence to operate - it is the very heart of what we do. 

August has been a bit of a blur of webinars, question and answer sessions and debates on the nature of what we do. As the month came to a close, having answered all the questions asked of me as best I could, I decided it was time to update our 'What is PR?' video which has all the answers to the question 'What is PR', including definitions of public relations, our purpose and a newly minted PR Atom model in motion that shows you how it all works. Enjoy.

Are you ready for the challenges ahead? For the impact artificial intelligence will have on public relations?  On society? The pandemic caused a paradigm shift for millions with a leap to digital they never thought they’d take - but the change was coming long before then. 

Subtle steps have taken us towards everyday artificial intelligence and the deployment of digital entities that sooth our emotions, help our daily tasks and act as companions at home.  In case you missed it, that paradigm shift has even greater implications for public relations and communication practice, reshaping our work, redefining the relationships we build, the reputations we guard and the risks and issues we manage. 

I tackled the topic recently in a webinar which you can access here. It takes you through the developments, the opportunities and the concerns of artificial intelligence, digital and human relationships and the problems we might expect.

In a world turned upside down, how do you develop strategies to navigate uncertain times? How do you develop strategic relationships that will help you survive and thrive in times of global recession?  Available early July, our new course, Navigators, gives you the opportunity to find out how.

I've been looking ahead these last few months and, as we have slowly worked our way through lockdowns, dramatic societal change and new ways of operating, I've had the privilege and opportunity to guide fellow practitioners through the twists and turns of strategy development, examining some of the changes we face and how best to meet them. 

We must constantly challenge ourselves to explore new approaches and new thinking so we can help our organisations make sense of what's ahead and maintain the relationships they need to maintain their licence to operate. Understanding the process, looking beyond the tactical - the 'sending out stuff' - is critical if our discipline is to remain relevant. 

I hope you'll find this guided professional development session both useful and informative. Old rules don't apply - take some time to navigate the new ones.

There's a lot of talk about what's next.  Like many others, I have some thoughts. Here they are.

​New era (AC19) trust will be the new oil. Success and ability to restart operations will be based on your behaviour throughout pandemic, your redefined operating practices and your (genuine) concern for society and people. Economic structures and ‘success’ will look very different – by necessity. Models from the last century (and the century before) will be redundant with a need to re-focus the way society operates, a rethink of what constitutes ‘value’ and reform of political, societal, economic, environmental and technological activity.
 
Existing profit-driven economic models have been felled by COVID19 and, as we sink into global depression, recovery to the place often described as ‘business as usual’ is unlikely. There will not be any kind of normal for a long time – any ‘new normal’ is a decade away. There is – and will be – an unwillingness to go back to ‘how it was before’ with its inequities and imbalances. Since March 12, I’ve been urging people to spend the time we stay at home working on shaping what’s next, collectively taking the opportunity to understand and discuss the difference between value and profit (otherwise all that clapping and ‘thank you for your service’ chanting for those who have historically been omitted from any kind of value recognition will be nothing more than empty noise). Walk at least 100 laps around your mind and raise a million ideas for improvement.
 
Post-pandemic: PR’s first job must be to help turn the confidence curve – as viral transmission rises, so confidence and trust fall. Our job - build confidence and trust so people feel sense of safety just being out and at work. Ultimate test of success – I trust you enough to shake your hand or share a coffee with you or sit beside you and believe that what you say about your breath is true. PR will only have this job to do if it works to its central purpose – build and sustain relationships to maintain licence to operate, and central to relationships are trust, communication, behaviour and understanding.  
 
Expect and plan for micro-localised/nano-economies till feasibility and freedom of personal, national and international travel is ascertained. We will see large scale demise of many sectors between now and 2022 and many will go the way of the dinosaur (including PR and marketing if they don’t renew purpose).

Plan for famine (see locusts swarms, supply chain breakdowns, post first-wave gate price drops, disrupted food production thanks to current droughts and altered weather patterns – e.g. Western USA megadrought in progress – all sitting neatly on top of widespread loss of income).  Probably worth planning for war too as there’s an increased likelihood autocrats will start fights over scarce supplies or imagined slights in a bid to distract their national populations from the oncoming crushing depression. On the upside, the potential is there for global and regional interdependency to emerge as countries attempt to rebalance, recover and prepare for resurgence of COVID19 or other pathogenic threat.
 
In October 2019 all our talk was of sustainability and environment health. Taste for profit over people has waned and formation of a new approach is now a necessity. Emmanuel Macron expressed it well during his recent FT interview when he said (and I paraphrase) ‘we are fighting a disease that suffocates us and, when we recover, people will want to breathe clean air, all the time. They will not want to suffocate and attention must turn to ways we can protect our environment, listen to the earth and avoid finding ourselves in climate catastrophe’.
 
Smart thinking – one would hope - should make AC19 world fair, just and sustainable but progress will be slow as those ‘with power’ will not want to relinquish it to those currently 'without'. This year’s elections across the globe will reveal whether democracies still live or if they’ve been gerrymandered to death.  
 
All businesses and organisations – small or large – must figure out why they’re relevant, their critical relationships and their degree of trustworthiness. Millions of people have had a fast-track re-education on ‘essentials’ – be they goods, services or people. Same millions are now in a precarious economic situation so even with restoration of their former level of subsistence, there will be a drastic reduction of the constructed consumption levels stimulated from 1980 onwards.
 
It’s going to be very messy with awful consequences for many people for quite some time. Our job is to ease things, help navigate through the storms, help others build the relationships they need to operate, collaborate and build what’s next. Many people won’t want to change, or indeed, admit a need for change. There will be a reluctance to accept change or adapt to different models (mainly from those for whom existing models are of most benefit by way of power and wealth). There will be friction and fracas but, with some hope, some smart thinking, some kind doing, a recognition and appreciation of true value and a willingness to make life better for every member of our human family, we’ll get there.  

Update: This post came together following some comments I made in an online discussion with colleagues. It took on another form a couple of days later when I developed it into an essay for Stephen Waddington's blog which, if you're interested, you can read here.

Image: Danielle Macinnes at Unsplash
 

Below is a piece I first posted on LinkedIn as part of Global Ethics Month - some food for thought, especially if your thinking how #ethicsmatter in your working life...

Amidst the clamour of competing public interests, opposing views and amplified opinions, whose ethics matter more - yours or mine? Whose news is fake - yours or mine? Who possesses the greater truth - you or me? If we shout loudly at each other for a sufficient length of time, will we successfully convince others of our ‘rightness’, or will we artfully wear them into jaded apathy, agreeing - or disagreeing - with one of us simply to secure respite from the noise?
Even if you are in the business of news, information, stories and facts, I suspect you’ve turned off the streams in recent months or weeks to escape the outrage, the ugliness and the despair relentlessly pushed into our feeds. Profit-and-power motivated click-baitery has almost reached its peak and, I suspect, its zenith approaches as we hurtle towards various national elections but, for now, we are still bombarded with the angry, with the hopeless, with the indiscernible truths, leaving us searching desperately for a dancing TikTok kitten to momentarily pause the pain.
This churning, chaotic, challenging communication environment is fracturing relationships, reshaping societal landscapes and confusing everyday values - which means the conversation concerning how, when, where and why ethics matter is more complex than a hashtag share.
As public relations professionals our job is to build and sustain the relationships that maintain our licence to operate. Relationships are at the heart of what we do and those relationships are supported by effective communication, understanding and behaviour. Good relationships are founded on trust, mutual benefit and satisfaction, commitment and loyalty, reputation and understanding but if our behaviours are bad, our communications deceptive or our narrative misleading those relationships will be null and void. 
Unfortunately, today's society is deeply polarised - in no small part due to the grotesque manifestations of leadership we’ve witnessed in the last few years. This polarisation has caused chasms of dissent, aerated by impenetrable bubbles of opinion hardened by the increasing atmospheric pressure of social noise. 
Our role isn’t to parrot or to amplify a polarising opinion. It is concerned with elevating ethical behaviour, communication and understanding so that the relationships critical to our licence to operate are founded on values that benefit society, our fellow employees, our communities of interest, our stakeholders and stake-seekers.
Here's a challenge for you - list and prioritise the common, core values of the 21st century. What, in 2020, do we all agree is good behaviour? What constitutes transparency? What does the virtuous organisation do? Are values-based organisations actually values-driven or are they playing lip-service to concepts they think might be useful people-pleasing memes? 
Around the world there are many examples of stated values being disconnected from the lived experience of an organisation — so experiential communication is discordant and the wrong notes are struck. There might be a government that says it cares about flood victims but fails to convene the necessary emergency meetings to help those affected. There could be governing bodies that crow about a child’s right to life, yet imprison them at borders or leave them to grow up in squalor in ever-expanding refugee camps. Or there might even be companies that pledge money to global causes and charities but fail to pay their employees a living wage or provide decent working conditions. Actions speak louder than words and, in the fifteen years I’ve been writing and speaking specifically about the role of the practitioner as organisational conscience, in some cases, thankfully, actions have improved and we have seen organisations of all types begin to actively demonstrate and live their values rather than simply publish some aspirational waffle on their websites. But — and there is always a but — times change and one of the greatest changes has been in the way in which we use language. Instead of using language to develop relationships, understanding, shared meaning and improvement, be that improvement to society, productivity, sustainability, well-being, economy etc., language has been used (and abused) to create disharmony, discord and despair, again in no small part due to the destructive caricatures of leadership we have endured. This means as well as looking at our organisation’s actions, we must carefully consider and guide the language and tone used in all forms of communication. Question whether it articulates and demonstrates our values or whether we are demonstrating a disconnect between who we say we are, what we actually say and where we say it, be that in person, on Twitter, or the office front desk. How well, as an organisation, do we listen when we converse — or are we simply talking and sending out stuff? Language is critical - and the choices we make around the use of language are ethical choices forming part of our guardianship of our organisation’s integrity, character and reputation. 
In the many ethics, risk and reputation sessions I have facilitated, one question is always asked. "What if the organisation I work for continues to behave unethically, despite my very best attempts to advise otherwise and enact change". And that’s when ethics matter most - when they inform your own decision making and empower you to do the right thing. The stark choice for a practitioner may be accepting bad behaviour and, compromised, remain with the organisation or, walk out the door. Livelihoods jeopardised in this way throw choices into stark relief but, if we have a developed understanding of our own ethical self, the only choice is to leave and to be better for it. 
Many professional associations around the world have a code of ethics. Adhering to a code of ethics is often the main point of difference between professional practitioners and those who have decided to hang a sign outside their door to say they ‘do PR’. Many of those codes are based on Western philosophy and behaviours and neglect to include some essential components — for example the wisdom, philosophies and values of indigenous peoples. A failing yes, but at least the codes exist and form a starting point for practitioners — and my sincere hope is that global organisations will revisit their protocols with a multicultural and diverse eye rather than a dominant Western one as has tended to be the case. There are many tools and processes out there designed to help practitioners build ethical behaviours into their strategy and planning - pyramids, question trees, issue boxes - there’s really quite the list. Part of our role is to help our organisations determine and enact their values, often arising as part of a change management or cultural change programme so we must equip ourselves so we can facilitate and provide good counsel.
As public relations professionals we are involved in some powerful undertakings and the choices we make, be they concerned with behaviour or language, all have consequences. Speak out or stay silent - yup, consequences. Push back, ‘speaking truth to power’, - again, consequences. Tim Marshall, PRINZ Life Member, expert practitioner and go-to ethics person here in New Zealand is often heard to say 'public relations operates where issues collide'. I agree entirely and where issues collide, as practitioners, we need a strong sense of our ethical self in order to help our organisations navigate issues effectively and build ethical relationships that endure and are of mutual benefit. We also need the one capability that I prize most among practitioners but which the one capability most often forgotten - courage. Courage doesn’t manifest itself when things are easy. Courage is found only when situations are hard. 
The Global Capabilities Framework provides us with a great steer as to how we can discover our ethical self — and it is easy. Devote time to your own professional learning so you are equipped to meet the challenges ahead and develop the following professional capabilities as outlined in the framework:

• To provide valued counsel and be a trusted advisor
• To offer organisational leadership
• To work within an ethical framework on behalf of the organisation, in line with professional and societal expectations
• To develop self and others, including continuing professional learning

So yes, #ethicsmatter. They matter enough to be at the heart of all we do. In fact, our present and future profession depends on it.

Photo by Joao Tzanno on Unsplash

Parliament is suspended in the UK. A communications staffer is marched from Downing Street under police escort. Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn is harangued in Parliamentary corridors.  Tory MPs who voted with the opposition are sacked.  The unravelling - the loss of a system's licence to operate - has begun. And begun quite deliberately.

Power has been put ahead of people and functional relationships are a thing of the past as autocracy replaces public accountability in the UK. Observing all the strands of disfunction being pulled together it seems evident that the next move will be to encourage further dissension on the streets so that 'emergency powers' can be implemented and, at that point, we can probably declare UK democracy dead as Cummings pushes the UK's countries towards uncivil war and the system breakdown he seems to desire.

It has nothing to do with Brexit - that is simply a convenient scapegoat for years of austerity and poor government. It is instead a screen for Cummings and Co to manipulate an election so they can secure power for the few and misery for the many.

Aside from the difficulties the country faces, the current situation, stoked and fuelled a select group of mainstream media moguls already proven to wield too much power and influence, will put communications practitioners within UK's government in a very difficult position. The electioneering has already begun judging from the tweets, updates and photo ops coming out of No. 10 so the communications teams will be faced with some tough choices in the shutdown period - is the material campaign material or government communications, the latter being a valid use of their time. It's going to get a whole lot messier in the next few weeks.


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PRINZ conference this week had the theme 'changing mindsets' supported by an eclectic group of speakers from inside and outside public relations and communication management.  Most memorable for me was Jackie Clark, founder of The Aunties, a charity supporting women affected by domestic violence that meets needs with love. She spoke about her work, her experience, what keeps her going and what we should be doing to change things. She commanded the room, made us think, made us laugh and challenged us all. An amazing woman, awarded the Queen's Service Medal and voted Supreme Winner of the 2018 New Zealand Women of Influence awards. Minds were definitely changed.

One of her instructions has stayed with me. 'Claim your space', she urged. An instruction that's been rattling around in my mind ever since - because generally, as a profession, we really don't claim our space at all. We apologise for being here - even though what we do has immense value. We laugh off the worst portrayals of who we are and what we do - even though they are frequently offensive, untrue and often misogynistic. We allow ourselves to be seen through the lens of others - an ancient black-and-white image from another time, edges frayed by misunderstanding and misconception. All of which is not without irony given what we do - and what we do  I've explained in another post.

How then do we claim our space? Recognising and championing what we do has to be the first step. Once again at a conference I found myself gnashing my teeth in frustration as some speakers (who hadn't done their homework) pushed us into the media relations box and closed the lid. Digital divas, behavioural economists, media measurement gurus lined up to talk to their own imagined version of who we are and what we do. I know the reasons why this happens and it's a conversation-for-conversion I've been having for most of my professional life - but the time really is now for us to claim our professional space. To do this successfully we need to be backed by our associations, like PRINZ, like CIPR and of course Global Alliance.  We build the relationships necessary for organisations to keep their licence to operate. This involves effective communication, good behaviour and a developed understanding. Simple, easy to understand. Tough to do but we do it well. 

We could let the misapprehensions persist or we can help people understand that it's more than order taking, word processing, content creation. Much more. Professional development will help. Being a lifelong learner will help. Most of all it takes courage to recognise who we are, stop apologising, reset the picture and claim our space - before it is occupied by someone else.

There's a lot that's still right with Twitter and I'd include tweetchats as one of those things. Tweetchats provide the opportunity to converse with anyone, anywhere, anytime on pretty much any subject you like. There have always been chats concerning public relations and communication and recently I joined the regular #PowerandInfluence conversation run by Ella Minty.

The discussion - and the reason for bringing it here - centred on the question of whether public relations should be regulated. It's a discussion I've had many times over the years (and suspect I will have again) but it got me thinking about the progress we've made as a profession and whether now is the hour for regulation. 

Public relations and communication makes a real difference to organisations of all types. Unfortunately, this can be for good - or for bad. Anyone can stick a sign on the door saying they're 'in public relations', without qualification, licence or even a basic skill set. They are also able to practice what they believe is 'PR' - often not 'PR' at all, but a weird publicity-mainstream media hybrid. In this scenario, there is no regulation, accreditation and qualifications are optional and, as a result, there are many people out  there providing services that are at best misleading and at worst unscrupulous.  That's a problem for everyone, not just the professional practitioners who have studied hard, gained qualifications, accreditation and subscribe to ethical practice by way of their national association or industry body code of ethics. 

Historically, some countries have licensed practice but not without controversy, as, in some cases, government has regulated practice to restrict and control information - again, not as it should be. 

Personally, I believe we should be regulated but the discussion around what type of model would work will, I suspect, continue for some time. There are models that could be adapted and applied, for instance, here in New Zealand, the real estate industry has an independent regulatory body. Every working agent must gain a licence in order to work, the licence is awarded on successful completion of study, followed by a probation and must be renewed annually.  Such a system for public relations and communication management would give assurance of good conduct, improve understanding as to what we do and why we do it and provide a quality benchmark for both recruitment and consultancy.

It's a step forward that is long overdue.

Musing on measurement and evaluation led me to some recent conversations around public relations and its purpose. Silly of me not to have revisited the topic in a while but I truly forget that people still paddle around in the tactical shallows and miss the ocean of opportunity right in front of them.

There is still a propensity in western public relations practice to equate PR with mainstream media relations. It's a historical hangover from the time when media coverage was the only visible output and also because of the many journalists who wandered over from newspapers to work in the field - years ago, I made just that journey.  Trouble is, those who move into public relations often never move on from journalism and fail to recognise that public relations is a different job entirely. The other problem is that many organisations don't understand (or, quite frankly, have no idea) as to the purpose and value of public relations. It has been variously defined - there's a bit of last century research that is generally trotted out which found hundreds of definitions - but life's moved on and there is plenty of current research that identifies quite correctly that public relations is concerned with relationships. Hardly a surprise when you consider the name of our profession. 

The definition I've developed and advised after many years working in the field is this: public relations builds and sustains the relationships needed to maintain a licence to operate. Simple, straightforward and does what it says on the tin. But then you get arguments around communication v. public relations and all points in between. 'No, I do reputation', says one. 'No, I do corporate comms' says another. 'Wait', yells someone from the back, 'it's internal relations we should be highlighting'.  The secret  is there is no secret - everyone is right. What isn't right is their context - they are only seeing one part of the whole - which is why I developed the PR Atom pictured above to help visualise how it all fits together. 

Relationships are at the heart of what we do. Without good relationships, with their components of trust, mutuality, commitment, loyalty, satisfaction and - my addition - reputation, organisations of all types will lose their licence to operate. Additionally, we function (for the moment at least) in a relationship economy. However, good relationships don't just happen, which is where our work is supported by the essential elements of communication, behaviour and understanding. All relationships need good communication, a clear understanding of each party involved plus good and appropriate behaviour from everyone.  As relationships have their components, so too do the other elements.  Practitioners - and their organisations - have to be adept at written, oral, visual and experiential communication, across channels and cultures. Our organisation or client behaviour must be ethical, fair, contribute value to society and be considerate of our stakeholders - which includes employees, internal relations and the employee experience. All these elements work together, constantly in motion to help fulfil our purpose. Practitioners may specialise in one or more areas of activity, indeed they may focus entirely on a single aspect or channel but if they lose sight of the whole, ignore the bigger picture and don't understand the purpose then they end up bogged down in the tactical, becoming order takers stuck on the hamster wheel of sending stuff out. Critically, working in the shallows leaves practitioners at seriously disadvantaged when crisis strikes or issues evolve as they'll be isolated from the rest of the organisation. 

If you've recently joined our profession, a very warm welcome to you. I hope you enjoy this world of work where issues collide and there is something new to learn every day.  My advice would be don't get stuck in the past, when practice was (in western countries at least) confined to publicity, media relations or lesser activities. Be curious. Be an evolved practitioner. See the whole. There are all sorts of places to find out more - there's a 'What is PR' page on this site for your reference and, last year, the Global Alliance published the Global Capabilities Framework which identifies the competencies we should seek to develop. Check it out and see the real scope of your work, escape the shallows and make a real difference to the communities and societies we serve.