Digging Deep - A Less Comfortable Q&A

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) needs a President for 2022. This year, there are two candidates standing for that position - one of them is Rachel Roberts.

I met Rachel in 2016 when I assessed her, in Birmingham, for the Chartered PR Practitioner status; she passed with flying colours.

A couple of months ago Rachel got in touch, asking me if I'd support her nomination to the Presidency of CIPR; I didn't say "yes" immediately. I challenged her views, election platform and priorities - nominating a President, even the one of a membership body, is not a mean feat.

I want to be 100% certain that the person who is standing for that position has:

• integrity;
• respect for the practice and its members;
• a superb level of professional knowledge (Rachel did/does anyway, otherwise I would have never "passed" her during the Chartered assessment);
• no intention of using their President "position" as a means of direct material gains for themselves or as a marketing promo;
• a clear understanding of the complexities faced not just by CIPR and its members, but by our practice and peers across the world;
• the ability to have tough conversations and take tough decisions, while bringing others on board and building a coalition based on respect and professional responsibilities, not one built on cliques, inner circles and whatnot.

I also asked Rachel to give me the answers to some questions I had for her - I didn't edit any of her answers, nor have I given Rachel any feedback on her replies; that was not the purpose of this Q&A.

Whether you agree or disagree with her answers below, that is up to you. If she does get elected as CIPR's 2022 President, at least you (if you are a member of CIPR or supporter), get to see an unpolished, unedited version of the person who will be there, fighting for our practice and its recognition.

I asked Rachel these questions (and she gave me the answers) at the end of September. Out of spirit of fair play and providing a level playing field for both candidates, I chose not to publish these until after their #PowerAndInfluence debate was over this past Wednesday.

And, before I copy/paste the Q&A below, one more remark from me: vote for that candidate you'd be proud to call your President, and for the candidate whose vision and plans align closest to yours; I casted my vote - it went to Rachel.

What do you believe in, Rachel – as a practitioner and a woman?

I believe in enabling PR practitioners to be the best they can be professionally and remove the barriers that can hold back career progression. Ten years ago I started spottydog specifically to overcome the barriers that family responsibilities were bringing to my career. I was committed to my professional career, but also my family. Freelancing gave me that opportunity to develop my career but also the flexibility to work to live, and expanding spottydog has given me the chance to create career opportunities for over 35 team members who have worked with me and help them make the most of their talents.

I think women benefit from so many more opportunities than perhaps our mothers had – more flexible working, dads able to be more involved and technology, but the gender pay gap data and bias of men in senior leadership positions still suggest its not a level playing field.  I want to support women to find a way to use their talents to the greatest affect, but it’s not just about gender - I feel the same about anyone that needs to overcome barriers to further their career especially those from under-represented groups and we need to think about gender, race, sexuality, age, disability and social mobility. In the area of social mobility – frustrated that the popular route into PR is through unpaid work experience that only those from a certain income bracket can sustain. 

I made a pledge when I joined the Board this year to stand on a message of diversity and inclusion to help remove those barriers to those that find it difficult to get involved. I’ve taken action engaging with Taylor Bennett Foundation, hosting an inclusion event and this month supporting the Diversity in PR Conference. I hope that I’m a good role model for LGBTQ+ practitioners – it’s not something I feel the need to particularly shout about, but I hope just being visible about my personal life will give others the confidence to know that we are part of a more inclusive society.  

What can you achieve that other CIPR Presidents haven’t?

I would be honoured to follow in the footsteps of some great past Presidents and its important to recognise there has been some great steps forward in recent years – particularly with the increased communication and visibility driven by Emma Leech and this year the collaboration fostered between sector and regional groups by Jenni Field.

I personally would like the CIPR to take a massive leap forward in inclusion – broadening the voices that can participate by doing things differently. I consider myself a normal member and have only had visibility of CIPR Governance as a result of being co-opted to the Board for one year. I didn’t know Jenni Field terribly well before she co-opted me to serve on the Board for one year as the President is entitled to do – but I hugely value that her approach has to bring new voices to the table and not surround myself with the same voices, so I’m committed to enabling this.

My observation that we are heavy on governance to be a representative body, but there is a tight community that participates and that makes it incredibly hard for new voices to get involved. This is not a criticism at all of the volunteers who participate in these roles and I thank them for the time they give, but it is a criticism of the system.

We have legacy ways of working as a consequence of our 70 year history. The form for nominating the CIPR President needed ten signatures signed on a piece of paper, harking back to the days when people met in smoky rooms! The pandemic has forced change in new ways of working which we can learn and build on.

I’d like to see Group Chairs given a greater voice and resource as groups provide most direct member interaction and do a lot of heavy lifting in terms of organising events and acting as local CIPR community champions and it would be great to evolve the role of Council. The current structure of meeting only five times a year doesn’t make it easy for Council to be reactive when a week is a long time in PR. 

How do you aim (if at all) to change the perception of Public Relations externally?

I would like to strengthen the reputation of PR and give greater clarity to the role of PR by focusing more on our core mission. It can feel as an institution we can get involved in a broad range of issues, but that dilutes the narrative and our core purpose. I would focus on boardroom / C-Suite / organisational leadership engagement and keep tirelessly making the case for the role of PR. For me this is the CIPR being the voice of ethical PR practice, industry leadership, employability, inclusion and continuing to drive boardroom engagement for PR as a strategic discipline informed by robust metrics, if we stray off this agenda it needs to be carefully considered so we don’t undermine our own voice.

How will you engage the Chartered Practitioners (if at all) and empower them to be the ambassadors of what we do and have best as a practice?

We ask a lot of our members and our volunteers and we need to remember we all have day jobs, so if we ask too much we could switch off a very valuable community, but as a Chartered Practitioner there is clearly pride and enthusiasm to support and be ambassadors. However my experience is that when the CIPR asks members to help it can be at short notice and becomes ‘another job to do’. I would prefer it was structured into the CPD pathway, asking Chartered Members to undertaken one Ambassador activity each year so they can plan accordingly, perhaps awarding CPD points for contributing to industry activity in the same way CPD is awarded to those who volunteer on committees.  

What is your position on professionalising PR, i.e. creating mandatory qualifications for practicing PR?

Unfortunately unless we have the same legislation that makes mandatory qualification a licence to practice, like other professionals in medicine, teaching, finance and law, qualifications in our profession will always be an ‘opt in’ choice. Reputationally, the CIPR can bang the drum, and we should continue this, but if we raise the barriers to entry I fear participation would drop. I have proposed previously teaming up with professional liability insurance providers to gain recognition that Chartered Practitioners have achieved third party assessment of their professional capability – they should be a ‘safer bet’ to insure, and a reduction in insurance premiums and the associated financial benefit might provide a good incentive to invest in Chartership. I appreciate this would mainly benefit independent practitioners though, not inhouse – but I guess the point is, I’m someone that looks at things differently and innovatively and I hope a new perspective will benefit CIPR.

How will you diversify the composition of the “voices” in CIPR’s echelons of power, making it an inclusive rather than exclusive top heavy membership organisation?

Absolutely the key for me is holding the door wide open to enable new voices to participate, and recognising that our members are diverse in their background and the nature of the work we do. We have seen a reduction in participation in the State of our Profession and ten candidates appointed already in this year’s election who have stood unopposed, suggesting a lack of participation. I’m standing this year to do what I can to get CIPR Members to participate in the Election – I hope they will vote for me, but I can accept a second place if a lot of members engage.

The set up of this election process has been difficult - with no chance to communicate to members prior to voting and three days notice of the Hustings. That doesn’t help increase inclusion and participation, or give a voice to members that don’t have an big existing CIPR community to get involved.

The CIPR does some brilliant stuff, but sometimes I feel there’s too much going on so I can miss the important bits. I’d welcome a monthly President Town Hall and webchat to facilitate two way conversation. I love that Jenni Field has put a Volunteer Conference on the table and the joining up between groups so group Chairs have better visibility of what’s happening centrally.

I’d like to capitalise on the enthusiasm members have at those milestone moments – when they join, when they achieve certain qualifications or to recognise long service engagement and use this as a communications opportunity, but we can’t just send them another blinking email to ask them to contribute – I’d be happy as President to reach out and engage if that’s what it takes. If you’re an ordinary member juggling a day job and not actively volunteering its easy to miss some really wonderful benefits you get through being part of the CIPR through the proliferation of communication.

Why should I vote for you?

In the current climate CIPR Members need to know their money is wisely spent and can get maximum benefit from their investment. As an entrepreneur I have a proven track record understanding how to build a successful business – even in this pandemic I have welcomed three new team members to my team in the last six months. We have to grow our way through this landscape and from strong financial foundations we can deliver on our promises to CIPR members, and hopefully welcome a few more to the community. I see an exciting opportunity ahead and some easy ways to take a leap forward – just repacking the knowledge we already have to create packages for students, members affected by redundancy, returners, graduates and international members would be an incredibly easy way to engage with practitioners around career stage need.

I recognise though that I can’t only achieve change and deliver on my promises if I can harness the power of Team CIPR. The role of President is to get everyone involved and excited about the future possibilities, not just champion specific initiatives or force an agenda. I’m about the power of many, not the power of one – but I need the power of many votes to deliver on this – so a vote for me is really a vote for you as a CIPR member.

Thank you for the opportunity to be quizzed and I welcome CIPR Members to get in touch through Twitter or Linkedin – I’d love to hear their thoughts and welcome them to get involved.