The public relations and communication industry changes every year and there are numerous reports discussing the changing trends. At #PRFest in June 2019, these slides were used to set the scene, where the industry is at, and signposts where we need to be going... Visit www.prfest.co.uk for full details about the two-day festival, which aims to encourage practitioners to learn, share and collaborate.

1. 13 and 14 June, 2019

2. Laura Sutherland FCIPR
Chart.PR MPRCA
Founder, PRFest
Owner, Aura
@laurafromaura @AuraPR

3. Where are we now?
Our skills according to CIPR State of the Profession survey:
1. Copywriting and editing
2. Media relations
3. PR programmes/campaigns
4. Crisis, issues management
5. Strategic planning
6. Internal/employee communication
7. Community and stakeholder relations
8. Events/conferences
9. Social media relations
10.Management of people, resources
12. Research, evaluation, measurement
15. Defining mission/values/corporate governance

4. Senior roles…
Senior skills gap – there’s a notable difference in the skills
recruiters want and what senior professionals have to offer,
including ‘research, evaluation and measurement’, ‘PR and
corporate governance’ and ‘people management'.
1. Copywriting and editing
2.Media relations
3. PR programmes/campaigns
4.Strategic planning
5. Crisis, issues management

5. World Economic Forum:
Predicts creativity is the strongest asset yet practitioners state that
these are the strongest attributes:
Strategic thinking - 61%
Problem solving – 40%
Emotional intelligence – 39%
Writing ability – 38%
Creativity – 32%

6. Other State of the Profession findings
• Steady commercial growth – average salaries increased slightly to £53,000
and the majority of in-house teams (84%) and consultancies (96%) are either
growing or stable in size.
• Is social on the slide? - social media relations fell from the fifth most common
PR activity to the ninth – the biggest shift of any task over the last year.
• Modest progress on gender pay – salary calculations, which consider all
factors influencing pay such as length of service and prevalence of part-time
work, reveal the pay inequality gap between men and women has fallen by
£1,523 to £5,202.

7. PRCA Annual Report & Consultancy
Benchmarking
• Values the PR and communication industry at £13.8bn
• There was strong growth in consumer; media and marketing;
technology; and food, beverages, and tobacco.
• On the gender pay gap, 41% of MDs said that it was a top priority for
the industry. However, only 3% of PRCA members were legally
required to report their gender pay gap, and 15% of members
reported their gender pay gap voluntarily.
• Agencies saw an overall income growth of 6% and expected growth
to increase to 13% in 2019.

8. • On staff retention, 56% of HR directors said the issue had become
more important in the past year. 2018
saw the biggest recruitment drive
• in 10 years with 64% of agencies maintaining or increasing their
recruitment spend.
• 56% of agencies offered more opportunities for flexible working, the
highest rate in five years.
• The over-servicing level this year was 18%. 49% of members
calculate their over-servicing rate whereas 48% estimate their rate.

9. It’s a pretty picture, but it’s by no means perfect.
Collectively, we have a lot to do.