Check this out! PRCI has brought out its draft guidelines for accreditation of PR professionals in India.
There will be two categories of accredited professionals - associate and fellow, and the titles will be conferred by a body that will be called the Public Relations Institute of India (PRII) to be set up by industry bodies like PRSI, PRCI, and PRCAI.
PR professionals who have 5 years of experience will be eligible to apply for the accreditation. The accreditation will be for PR professionals, and not for PR agencies. Uma Bhushan, author of the draft guidelines mentioned in her covering note that there is no accreditation for PR agencies in any countries she has studied. Only individual PR professionals get themselves accredited voluntarily. But considering that we have so many PR shops opening up in every nook and corner, should we also go for agency accreditation? This will help in standardizing the fee structure across agencies. Otherwise I can just say to someone - give me INR 10k, I'll give you good coverage in 5 national newspapers. This will tend to give conflicting views about the whole profession of PR to clients in the long run. That perhaps it is not about information management, not about communications, but just a barter system for getting into newspapers' editorial space.
PRCI is inviting inputs from PR professionals before end of August, so that we can take this forward.
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There will be two categories of accredited professionals - associate and fellow, and the titles will be conferred by a body that will be called the Public Relations Institute of India (PRII) to be set up by industry bodies like PRSI, PRCI, and PRCAI.
PR professionals who have 5 years of experience will be eligible to apply for the accreditation. The accreditation will be for PR professionals, and not for PR agencies. Uma Bhushan, author of the draft guidelines mentioned in her covering note that there is no accreditation for PR agencies in any countries she has studied. Only individual PR professionals get themselves accredited voluntarily. But considering that we have so many PR shops opening up in every nook and corner, should we also go for agency accreditation? This will help in standardizing the fee structure across agencies. Otherwise I can just say to someone - give me INR 10k, I'll give you good coverage in 5 national newspapers. This will tend to give conflicting views about the whole profession of PR to clients in the long run. That perhaps it is not about information management, not about communications, but just a barter system for getting into newspapers' editorial space.
PRCI is inviting inputs from PR professionals before end of August, so that we can take this forward.
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Congratulations for initiating the process. As suggested in the document, we need to set up an independent board or PR Institute/Foundation to take care of the accreditation process. The PRCI, PRSI and ABC as well as PRCAI, can be used to promote it amongst their members. At the same time the Institute must set up the branches of the Institute all over the country, or appoint senior PR practitioners, to set up study centres, organise orientation programmes, and conduct the tests at the centres designated by the Institute. The accreditation must be renewed every 3 years. And of course the Institute must ensure standardisation of the syallabus of diploma/degree programmes offered by various Universities and organisations. A great step indeed.
Agreed with you cj, indeed a good step by PRCI. Your inputs are valuable.
btw, check out this case on why PR firms should be accredited by Kami Huyse.
She wrote there are more than enough examples out there of public relations campaigns with questionable ethics,
outright criminal behavior, engaging in activities that harm the client, clueless practices that show a lack of ability to think through a process and deceptive practices like Astroturfing to push through an agenda at any cost.
Why accreditation is valuable:
1. Ethical Practice of Public Relations. Part of exam is demonstrating that you know how to apply a set of ethical standards to the practice of public relations. Both PRSA and IABC maintain a code of ethics. Those that carry the APR designation don’t have ignorance as an excuse for unethical behavior.
2. PR as a Management Function. Public relations is at its best when serving in a management function. Knowing how to speak the language of the CEO and having the confidence to push back on decisions that would be otherwise disastrous in the public sphere are some of the main benefits of PR counsel. The process of studying for the APR instills this confidence in candidates. I have seen it happen time and time again.
3. PR Programs that Link to Organizational Goals. This is one of the most foundational of all of the benefits, gaining the knowledge that public relations programs follow a process and being able to easily show the value that PR adds to the organization. And based on the 2005 PR Week/Korn Ferry Salary Survey, accredited public relations professionals earn 20 percent more than those that are not accredited. Some of that may be because of overall experience, but I think some of that is from the experience gained after earning the designation.
All of us want that the practice of public relations should be viewed as a bonafide profession, which its own body of knowledge, skills and abilities. If we do not demonstrate this exclusivity now, we risk forever to be equated either with the fixers or the liaison men, with the unprofessionals, and unethical practices of untrained so-called PR agents, tainting the very image of this practice.
I shall like to reiterate the history of accreditation for PR practitioners in our country.
It was way back in 1988 that Mr. K.S. Neelakandan, the then Director PR of Pfizer Limited, Mumbai, took the initiative and created India Foundation for PR Education & Research (IFPR).
This was a registered as a trust in Mumbai, and the Board of Trustees included Mr. K.R. Hattangdi (Union Carbide), Mr. Anil Basu (Good Year), Ms. Ronjona Mukarji (Tata Steel), Mr. K.R. Singh (the then incoming national President of PRSI), Mr. C.V. Narasimha Reddi (Hyderabad), Mr. Farrrok Mulla, Mr. S. Bashiruddin (Osmania University), Mr. P.K. Akerkar (the then President Elect of IPRA), and Mr. J.M. Kaul, with Mr. Neelakandan as the convenor.
The IFPR started a programme for DPR and APR which involved written examination, interview, and presentation of the case study.
The first examination was conducted in 1988 in Mumbai, and yours truly, happened to top the list for APR examination at that time, and the first lot of APRs in the country.
I think it was 15 or so PR practitioners at that time who had taken up the examination. The next year the number grew still further, as counsellors were appointed all over the country. I had the good fortune of being appointed the Counsellor for Chandigarh in 1989. A number of orientation programmes were also organised one of which was held in Kathmandu, where PR professionals from different countries also participated.
This initiative however fizzled out as it could not sustain itself. The proposed effort of PRCI now should not meet the same fate, and considering the growing PR activity in the region, we should not have much of a difficulty in getting corporate support.
I suggest the formation of IIPR, as an independent body with representatives from different societies like PRCI, PRSI, IPRA, PRCAI, and ABCI, who should act as the study centres to prepare those PR practitioners who are willing to take up the APR examination.
The detailed recommendations made to Mr.K.Srinivasan, who is heading the expert panel for establishing such an institute for accreditation, can be downloaded from www.prsi.in/publications.html.
Its always better to be accredited but these days people question motives of professionals, especially medical who are more commercially oriented. From another perspective, people somethime have knowledge for one field but intelligence for something else. In such cases qualifications or accredition is deceptive.