Public Relations: A profession entangled in the intricacy of numeric and rhetoric measurement
Even though Public Relations cannot yet hold its own in theory development compared to the older and more mature areas of communication and mass communication, the field has recorded an impressive level of growth which resulted in its classification as a major aspect of applied communication.
Over the past three decades, Public Relations has evolved to become much more than just a corporate communications practice, into a theoretically-grounded and research-based profession, with the resources to serve mankind in different spheres of endeavours. The quality and quantity of research that have emerged from the field, and its ability to coalesce other areas of applied communication towards attainment of a designed objective, signal the emergence of a subfield of communications with its own research and theory base.
As the profession witnesses increased development, its interpretation by practitioners and other industry stakeholders became somewhat complex. The quest to sharpen the rough edges of this fast-developing field of communication constantly triggers high-level discourse and engagement amongst academics and practitioners. One area that has remained a hotbed of these discussions is measurement in Public Relations.
Accountability in this field started receiving practical attention in 2002 when the International Public Relations Association at its World Congress in Cairo, Egypt identified measurement as a major challenge facing the practice globally. Subsequently, a group of accomplished practitioners, academics and researchers, led by Katie Delahaye Paine, the erstwhile CEO of Delahaye held the first PR Measurement Summit in 2003 at the University of Hemisphere. This was followed by the second PR Measurement Summit and the London PR Measurement ‘Think Thank’ in 2004 which had scholarly Jim Mcnamara as guest speaker. It is important I note here that Professor Jim Mcnamara’s works inspired and provided the materials that enriched this piece.
Since then, how to provide credible proof of results and achievements has become a foremost consideration in Public Relations. The dynamics of the modern business environment frequented by management practices and techniques have made the need for accountability more necessary than before, lest the practice loses its status as a catalyst for mutual understanding and meaningful collaboration to immeasurability.
The sweeping revolution changing the face of Public Relations practice globally did not leave out the Nigerian environment. The pursuit of realistic and methodical means of measuring public relations efforts was further necessitated by improvement in the quality of leadership in corporate Nigeria.
Unlike in the past when experience and length of service were the key requirements for becoming Managing Directors, the present crop of CEOs are mainly those who have been exposed to world-class business education and subscribed to the tenet of accountability.
In the course of their trainings, they have come to understand that communication is more than the professed intangibility that once served as a justification for unaccountability during a phase of the practice in Nigeria, like it was in the source countries of the profession. Now, it is known and clear to everyone that there is a science behind the art of Public Relations, which enables measurability, assessment and evaluation of PR programmes, campaigns and activities.
This awareness has significantly altered the diminuendos of measurement in Public Relations. Against the anecdotal and informal methods of evaluation, deployment of more rigorous and practical parameters in evidencing Public Relations results and proof of return-on-investment (ROI) to management is the expectation in today’s business environment.
Notwithstanding practitioners’ alertness to this expectation, the practice is still trapped somewhere between its origin and future because of the peculiarity of the Nigerian environment. It is an incontrovertible fact that Public Relations was once considered to be entirely an art, a fact evidenced by the prescribed ‘attributes’ and subject combination that granted access to the practice, and to higher education in communication globally.
Except a few schools, mastery of literature and exceptional familiarity with Shakespearean verses which typically signal repugnance for complex algebraic equations, was a central requirement for courses in Journalism, Law, Literature, Dramatic Arts, English, Communications, and counted towards admission into the non-numerical Social Sciences like Sociology, Anthropology, Archeology, Political Science and Psychology.
Consequently, graduates of these courses dominate the PR industry. They are men of letters, great storytellers with exceptional knack for painting pictures, without brushes and paints! You now know why writing ability remains a core skill in Public Relations practice, and the reason for difficulty in proving the results of PR activities in numeric terms?
However, with growing interdisciplinary approach to Public Relations education, so much has changed in the practice sphere. The science behind the art is beginning to emerge with the influx of practitioners from the sciences, figure-centered social sciences, engineering and management studies.
Still, it is important to note while practitioners are responding to the demands of the modern business environment by undergoing rigorous trainings and investing in capacity building programmes, institutions of higher learnings might need to revise admission criteria into the area of study and modify programme curriculum with a view to addressing some of the challenges facing the practice in Nigeria.
When Public Relations education or training is tailored towards addressing the challenges inhibiting the development of the profession in Nigeria, it will not only enhance the quality of practice but facilitates economic development, and ultimately nation building because of the philosophical underpinnings of the profession.
Without doubt, Public Relations has become one of the leading professions of interest to youths in Nigeria. Its allure has reduced attraction to some of the traditional profession of interest. It is therefore important that training, education and preparation towards the career empower them with the requisite skills and knowledge to enable them intelligently meet and respond to needs of the highly dynamic Nigerian business environment.
As a profession whose operations is not necessarily brick-and-mortar dependent, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and institutions of higher learning should target producing a generation of practitioners that is as well-equipped as fresh medics from medical schools, knowledgeable enough to carry-out diagnosis of public relations problems and proffer logical solutions that meet the needs of businesses. This will help reduce the length of the unemployment queue, makemore self-defining and open to innovation.
I am not suggesting that Public Relations education should be stripped of the ritual of rhetoric because grandiloquence is not just the foundation of the trade, but adds colour to the profession,and the practice will continue to thrive on the attributes of the art.
However, as the field continues to acquire a distinct identity with the emergence of models, theories and standards guiding application of strategies and tactics, the industry should be alive to a trend that suggests that Public Relations practice is increasingly becoming scientific and precise in its approach, and numeric measurement potentially becoming the only way to validate the profession’s claim to facilitating business collaborations, stakeholder understanding, responsible corporate citizenship, human development and peaceful coexistence.
Segun Fafore
‘Segun Fafore, a communications strategist, writes in from Lagos. He can be reached via segunfafore@yahoo.com.