The 2015 CIPR State of the Profession report highlights an evolving public relations landscape characterized by inter-departmental convergence and an increasing demand for digital skills, while revealing significant challenges related to gender pay disparity and traditional skill gaps. Despite high job satisfaction among practitioners, the report points to rising stress levels, particularly among senior professionals, and indicates a need for improved diversity and inclusion within the industry. The findings underscore the necessity for PR professionals to embrace change and modernize their practices to meet the demands of a shifting business environment.

1. STATE OF THE PROFESSION
STATE OF THE
PROFESSION
COMMENTARY ANALYSIS
2015
#StateOfPR | @CIPR_UK
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2. 2
STATE OF THE PROFESSION 2015
Since 2009, the CIPR State of the Profession survey has told the story of a resilient practice
that successfully navigated its way through the longest and deepest recession in living
memory, it has documented notable growth client-side and in-house post-recovery, and has
also showcased the shift from digital and social public relations as a specialism of the few, to
becoming integral for the many.
Conversely, despite existing as a record of an evolving and growing practice, in each of
the past six years it has also shown public relations professionals to be paradoxical in their
outlook.
Last year, it depicted a profession with an overwhelming desire to embrace modernity
in every aspect of practice, but was also one anxious about the skills and challenges
demanded by the future. It also revealed a profession of unequals, facilitated and managed
by women, but with a gender pay gap of over £12,000 in favour of men.
State of the Profession 2015 lifts the lid on many of these conflicts with in-depth analysis of
its 2,000+ respondents – yet continues to pose more questions, than deliver answers.
What is presented is the story of a practice where inter-departmental convergence is a clear
and growing trend. It documents how practitioners are hungry to adapt and innovate; taking
on new responsibilities from the world of marketing, sales, HR, and customer service, with
PR now playing a role in every department of a modern organisation. Yet it also shows the
competencies in-demand from junior and senior hires remain focused on traditional PR skills,
not adequately reflecting the new skills required to fully embrace this new environment.
It also highlights notable year-on-year growth in client facing public relations, which makes
a strong contribution to communications and business strategy for UK businesses. However
in the same period results show stagnation in in-house public relations budgets, with
individuals delivering varying degrees of influence across their organisations.
Additionally, data reveals PR professionals have a near-universal desire to be considered
professional, yet rate day-to-day experience and client satisfaction, as the distinguishing
characteristics of a professional practice.
This report also digs deeper than ever into the backgrounds of practitioners, looking at
secondary and university education, happiness and wellbeing, diversity of practice, and
gender balance and equal pay, in a unique record of detail.
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3. 3
STATE OF THE PROFESSION 2015
Blurred lines
Inter-departmental convergence is now a very clear trend. From marketing to HR, a clear
majority of PR professionals are now working “more closely” than “less closely” with every
single department in their organisations, than compared to two years ago. In addition, from
media relations to internal communications, each area of traditional PR practice is also more
likely to have converged, than to have not.
This shift brings new opportunity. A majority of public
relations professionals now have a responsibility for branding,
with other traditional marketing disciplines – copywriting,
sponsorship and print and design – some of the most
common new responsibilities, alongside new technical tasks
such as web development.
This all paints a picture of PR professionals who are being
asked to do much more with their time, and their money.
The impact of an evolving practice on skills confidence is also apparent. Technical and digital
skills, including SEO, HTML and coding, are considered the weakest skills for many, whereas
traditional forms of written communication, interpersonal skills,
or utilising creativity, rank as the strongest. What emerges is a
digital skills gap that not only widens with experience, but is
also one exacerbated by recruitment trends. This is confirmed
by digital and social skills failing to feature in any of the top five
lists of competencies sought by professionals across all sectors
looking to hire senior candidates, whereas this precise skill set
is the third most in-demand for junior roles.
Whilst finding the balance between traditional PR
competencies and new skills and demands is proving a
difficult balancing act for employees, employers, and recruiters, the results indicate that
there is a terrific opportunity for anybody that is willing to embrace change.
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53%
are working “more
closely” with
the marketing
department, than
two years ago
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48%
of PR professionals
now have a
responsiblity for
web design and
coding
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4. 4
STATE OF THE PROFESSION 2015
Professionalism is a work in progress
Just as in 2014, the desire to be considered professional is chief amongst nearly all of public
relations practitioners – with 96% considering it to be important to them.
When asked what most clearly demonstrates that professionalism, the same people are
firm in their belief that professional standards can be defined by ‘satisfying clients and/or
employers’, and that ‘experience’ is a professional’s most
valuable asset. Largely disregarded are the validations of
professional standards as adopted by the professional
disciplines of accountancy and law, including commitment to
professional development, investment in qualifications, and
signing up to codes of conduct.
These findings pose a dilemma
for public relations practitioners
seeking to gain the recognition
and trust awarded to the
professionals from other business disciplines who already have
secured their seats in the boardroom.
The influence of education
For the first time, State of the Profession delivered an overview of the educational
background of practitioners. The findings reveal that the majority of public relations
professionals spent the bulk of their secondary education at
a comprehensive school (53%), whilst a third undertook the
majority of their secondary education at an independent fee
paying school (16%) or a grammar school (16%). In the case
of independent schools, this is more than double the national
average. When looking at those in senior management, nearly
a quarter of all Directors, Partners, MDs and Owners in PR
attended an independent fee-paying school in the UK.
Looking at further education, public relations professionals
are more than likely to be university graduates (84%), and of
the 16% who said they hadn’t graduated from university, the majority are those who have
spent more than 20 years in PR. Of all graduates, a third of public relations professionals are
likely to have gone to a Russell Group University (including Oxbridge). In addition, 40% of all
Directors, Partners, MDs and Owners in PR are likely to be Russell Group graduates.
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55%
of PR professionals
believe “satisfying
clients/employers”
define professional
standards
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79%
of PR professionals
believe “experience
in a PR role” is a
professional’s most
valuable asset
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53%
of PR professionals
were educated at
comprehensive
schools
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5. 5
STATE OF THE PROFESSION 2015
From these findings, a conclusion can be made that those in
leadership positions in public relations are disproportionally
likely to have experienced private education and have
attended a prestigious university. It is also of interest that
despite the development of public relations apprenticeships
and opportunities for work-based learning, over the next
decade it is most likely that the proportion of PR practitioners
with a University degree is only going to increase.
Happiness, stress and flexibility
In looking to understand the pressures and challenges facing PR professionals in the
workplace, many indicate that they enjoy aspects of their jobs, but at the same time, reveal
themselves to be suffering from escalating levels of stress.
Dangerously high levels of workplace stress are more common than not for those in
senior management, with 51% of public relations professionals in these roles “extremely
stressed” or “very stressed”. In contrast, 63% of PR
professionals enjoy their jobs, with only 10% overtly disliking
their jobs. There also appears to be an interesting trend that
age has a direct effect on happiness, with those over the age
of 45 almost 20% more likely to enjoy their jobs than those
younger than them.
As employers find ways to address happiness and wellbeing
in the workplace, the results show that 70% of public
relations professionals work in organisations that promote
a flexible working culture. Whilst this may appear relatively
high to some, in the private sector (both in-house and in consultancies) the results indicate
much more needs to be done to make flexible working a reality.
Addressing this culture in public relations will be important,
yet working flexibly in a client-facing environment can be
tough. The demands of the 24/7 news cycle and the need to
manage a real-time ‘always on’ press office function mean
that maintaining a good work-life balance can be difficult,
but there is clear evidence that enabling a culture that
encourages a happier and healthier working environment are
going to be vital in recruiting and retaining a new generation
of practitioners.
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40%
of Directors,
Partners, MDs and
Owners attended
a Russell Group
University
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51%
of senior managers
in PR are
“extremely
stressed” or “very
stressed”
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63%
of all PR
professionals
enjoy their jobs
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6. 6
STATE OF THE PROFESSION 2015
What influences the pay packet?
The average pay for public relations professionals is £45,633. Consultancy professionals
command the industry’s highest wages with salaries averaging £51,835 per year. The mean
salary of an in-house private sector professional is £49,654, followed by the in-house not-for-
profit/NGO sector averaging at £43,704. Independent practitioners take home an average
income of £35,964, whilst in-house public sector employees
pocket an average of £40,417 per year.
On a regional and national level, London-based
professionals earn the highest salaries (£55,849 per year),
£13,000 more when compared to any other UK region or
nation. Whilst those based in the North earn the lowest
average wage (£38,275).
Further findings which break down average salaries by
sector, seniority, age and educational background, as well as
bonuses, are detailed within the full report.
(Un)equal pay
Acting on last year’s results, the CIPR took a more vocal stance on equal pay and gender
balance, with the Institute taking significant steps to redress the imbalance. In this year’s
survey this matter was scrutinized in a unique level of detail, with multiple linear regression
analysis conducted on a range of independent variables to determine the true gender
pay-gap.
The findings reveal public relations has a pay inequality gap of £8,483 in favour of men.
This means that where the mean difference between male and female salaries is £12,591
(an increase of 2% when compared to 2014), £4,108 can be explained by other factors
such as length of service, seniority, parenthood, and higher
prevalence of part-time work among women, yet £8,483
remains unaccounted for.
Simply, if a man is employed to do one job in public
relations and a woman is employed to do exactly the same,
because of their gender alone, on average a woman would
be paid £8,500 less.
In conducting this analysis, the biggest influences on the
salaries of public relations professionals also are revealed,
which put the above findings in stark context. The first two,
level of seniority and number of years in public relations are to be expected, yet gender
is the third biggest influence on salary, more so than education background, sector of
practice, graduate status, and full-time/part-time status.
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£45,633
average salary for
PR professionals
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£8,483
pure pay
inequality gap
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7. 7
STATE OF THE PROFESSION 2015
From these results, it is clear is that the gender pay gap in public relations cannot be
framed as an issue solely influenced by maternity or return to work, a higher prevalence
of part-time working amongst females, or as the result of a lack of women in leadership
positions. As such, to effectively address this inequality, public relations needs to ask itself
some uncomfortable questions without looking for the easiest answer.
Diversity & inclusion
This year’s survey offers the most comprehensive study of diversity in public relations ever
conducted. In addition to questions on age, sex and ethnicity, PR professionals were for
the first time, asked about their religious beliefs, sexual orientation and where applicable,
disability.
The overall representation of BME professionals continues to be low. Just 9% of PR
professionals identify as being from BME backgrounds. Of this figure, Black, African,
Caribbean and Black British professionals make up only 4%, whilst only 2% identified as
Asian or Asian British.
This survey also provides greater insight into the number of disabled people in PR. 6%
of professionals identify as having a disability or long term health condition, significantly
lower than the 16% of the UK working population that has a
disability, according to government statistics.
A more encouraging narrative emerged when practitioners
were asked to share their views on the need for diversity and
inclusion as part of PR practice. Tellingly, 65% agreed that
PR campaigns are more effective when they are created and
delivered by teams that are representative of the audiences
they seek to engage.
This marks a promising sign that PR professionals are
beginning accept the business case for diversity and inclusion,
even if there remains significant steps for public relations to take to ensure the industry
attracts talented professionals from all backgrounds.
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65%
agree PR campaigns
are more effective when
delivered by teams that
are representative of
the audiences they seek
to engage
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8. 8
STATE OF THE PROFESSION 2015
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Future challenges
Technology and innovation dominates the mindsets of public relations professionals when
asked about the challenges of the future. Of foremost concern to 22% of practitioners is
the ‘changing social and digital landscape’, this is followed
by the challenge of the ‘expanding skill set required
of professionals’ (13%), the ‘impact of 24/7 newsrooms
and “always on” culture’ (12%), and ‘convergence and
competition from other industries’ (12%). Interestingly, ‘the
poor reputation of public relations in wider society’ (10%) is
considered less of a challenge for the future. Least concern
is given to a ‘failure to prioritize education and training’ (2%).
Social and digital technologies have changed the world of
work and the world of business, and will continue to do so for
the foreseeable future. Public relations professionals should consider this an opportunity,
and lead their organisations in embracing new ways of working to build, establish and
maintain valued relationships with their publics.
Conclusion
State of the Profession 2015 is a narrative that poses two important questions for the
business of public relations.
First, how do we adopt the rigor of a profession? Convincing practitioners to embrace
recognisable professional standards will not only improve our reputation, but also deliver a
fairer and happier working environment that nurtures and values its current and future talent.
Second, as many practitioners move away from a sole focus on press and publicity, to
increasingly influencing and working alongside every part of a modern organisation, how
do we go about modernising the application of practice? Public relations has the potential
to not just be the mouth of the organisation, but also its eyes and ears, and its conscience.
Yet if we fail to recognise this evolving function, and equip practitioners with the appropriate
skill set, many risk being left behind.
Realising both of these opportunities will be fundamental to the future of practice.
59%
see issues influenced
by technology
and innovation as
the biggest future
challenge
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