Bite Size Comms

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations is reviewing the role qualifications play for its members and the PR profession in the UK. It suggests that its corporate affiliate companies only want specific training and Chartership credentials for their communications practitioners. This article argues against that strategy, citing global research. Qualifications, training, Chartership, and a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) scheme each have a different but equal role in developing a public relations profession. Please allow me to explain.

Some ten years ago, the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management pioneered groundbreaking research on professional credentials. This research offers valuable insights into what constitutes excellence in public relations practice. The CIPR, PRCA, PRSA, and other bodies contributed to this research. Their work provides a structured approach to understanding the professional development needs of PR practitioners worldwide.

The Global Alliance initially developed the Global Body of Knowledge Project, which examined more than 31 credential schemes, education frameworks, and scholarly works from six continents. This comprehensive analysis identified the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviours (KSABs) required for effective PR practice at different career stages.

This research organised professional requirements into four categories:

– Knowledge (K): The theoretical or practical understanding required for competent practice. Qualifications are for knowledge.

– Skills (S): What practitioners need to learn and practice to act competently. Training, in other words.

– Abilities (A): The innate qualities needed for competent action. Chartership for the CIPR is a good standard for this.

– Behaviours (B): How knowledge and skills are implemented. This leads to competence and should include ethics. A continuous professional development scheme keeps this fresh.

The framework presents these elements as interconnected components of professional capability. Together, they form the foundation of competent PR practice. This framework was the basis for the previous review of CIPR qualifications, and I just spoke to the person who led that review.

In 2018, the Global Alliance’s work evolved into the Global Capabilities Framework, described as “the Global Alliance’s benchmark for how public relations and communication management professionals perform at their best”. This framework represents a significant advancement in defining professional excellence in public relations globally. The capabilities are:

• To align communication strategies with organisational purpose and values
• To identify and address communication problems proactively
• To conduct formative and evaluative research to underpin communication strategies and tactics
• To communicate effectively across a full range of platforms and technologies
• To facilitate relationships and build trust with internal and external stakeholders and communities
• To build and enhance organisational reputation
• To provide contextual intelligence
• 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 society’s expectations
• To develop self and others, including continuing professional learning.

Looking at that list, can anyone say those are irrelevant capabilities in 2025? I think not. As an assessor of the Chartership programme, I recognise all these points as ones I have to assess candidates against. The credibility of the research is very high. Professor Anne Gregory from the University of Huddersfield, a former Chair of the Global Alliance, directed the research and worked with fellow researchers and professional associations in nine countries to develop the Framework.

My argument: Qualifications provide the knowledge and understanding that underpin each capability. Training provides the skills to do something. A CPD programme keeps knowledge and skills up to date, and the Chartership assessment shows that practitioners have reached the highest standard. They are all important parts of the PR professionalism jigsaw. Replacing qualifications with a modular on-demand training programme would be a retrograde step.

Let’s use the Global Capabilities Framework to revise CIPR qualifications and junk the idea that it is all about training. By building competence across all these areas, PR professionals can demonstrate their value and advance their careers and the profession.

[Image: picture of person’s hands clasped together above a laptop, by NordWood Themes on Unsplash]