WPRD: The Future of Public Relations in a Changing World: A PR Measurement Perspective

July 16 of every year is a day set aside for Public Relations practitioners across the world to celebrate and reflect on the practice of Public Relations. Public Relations has evolved greatly in practice and purpose as a result of the task and responsibility placed on it by organisations. This ever-expanding responsibility drives PR practitioners to constantly innovate and adapt to the changing world.

Over the years, Public Relations has developed tremendously; from embracing rapid changes in technology to adapting to changes in audience behaviours, social, economic, cultural, and societal expectations as influenced by the dynamic world we live in. As the world continues to move rapidly, Public Relations consistently aligns and realigns its role with the changing business environment to build sustainable win-win relationships and engagements between organisations and stakeholders including the society where the organisations conduct business.

Public Relations is arguably the most efficient and cost-saving department of an organisation, doing more for less. Practitioners use their relationships to secure major news coverage for free, end a crisis with one phone call or solve a major regulatory challenge within minutes; yet, sometimes the profession does not get the deserved credit during Management Review meetings.

One of the pain points of PR practitioners globally is that the profession is not given adequate recognition for its impact on organisations. For instance, only a few organisations in Nigeria provide an opportunity for PR practitioners to attain the zenith of the profession, which is becoming a member of the Board. This challenge of PR being undervalued and underrepresented in the Boardroom may be linked to how the Board perceives the entire functions of Public Relations from a corporate perspective.

It is important to note that to secure a seat at the Table, a department has to show the impact it has on the organisation in clear, measurable and convincing ways, using mostly data (numbers) to show a cause-effect correlation to gauge the impact of the department on the organisation. The Public Relations/Corporate Communications department is not an exception. It is assessed just like every other department from a standpoint of: ‘What and how have you contributed to achieving the organisation’s overall business goals rather than how many press materials did you get published or aired in the media?’

Meanwhile, amid the silent protest among practitioners that PR is underrepresented on the Board, those who have found ways to show the value of their work by either measuring and reporting on what matters to the Board or making what they measure matter to the Board have been offered a seat at the Table. Some practitioners who have earned a seat at the Table include Emeka Oparah of Airtel Africa Group, Bola Atta of United Bank for Africa, 'Femi(Ade) Adeniran, MBA,PMP,PRINCE 2,Certified Scrum Master of Airtel Nigeria, and a few others.

The route for Public Relations to earn a seat at the Table lies in measurement, evaluation and research. As a Public Relations professional with over a decade of experience in measurement, evaluation and research, I advise practitioners to find ways to either measure what matters to the Board or make what you measure matter to the Board.

Even though some PR/Corporate Communications managers understand the importance of measurement and evaluation, they often face a hurdle because most organisations in Nigeria do not have a budget for Public Relations measurement and evaluation. To address the challenge, PR/Corporate Communications managers should create a ‘PR Research Budget’ to address the no-measurement-budget challenge by dedicating a certain percentage of their annual PR budget to measurement, evaluation and research.

The future of Public Relations in terms of giving the profession the rightful accolades rests largely on the perceived impact of the profession in organisational growth by those who determine the departmental allocation of resources in an organisation. The more impactful a department is perceived, the more resources and attention given to the department. For Public Relations to be recognised for its immense contributions to an organisation, PR/Corporate Communications managers need to show how what they do contributes to achieving the overall corporate goals of the organisation. This can only be done effectively through a holistic measurement and evaluation framework to pinpoint the effects of PR/Corporate Communications in achieving overall corporate goals in clear, measurable and convincing ways.