Kurt Stocker
Member survey produces some provocative insights on the role of the chief public relations officer and how it has changed.

It's customary to conduct a survey of the membership prior to a Page Society forum to gather views on the meeting theme and to help shape the content of the program. Rarely has a pre-seminar survey produced such thought-provoking insights as did the research for Spring Seminar 2000.

The research underscored how much the role of the chief public relations officer has changed in the past decade. But more important, it showed that categories of leadership are evolving and this is having a significant impact on how public relations influences the policy-making process in the corporations.

Kurt Stocker presented a brief overview of the research, which involved about half of the Page Society members who hold senior jobs in corporations. His presentation was supplemented by data from other studies that supported what the membership had to say. Don Wright, research committee chair, provided some additional analysis.

The sample showed that almost all of the members responding hold officer titles and three-quarters of them report directly to the CEO. It also revealed that 83 percent of the companies in the survey had created or elevated their senior positions in the last 10 years. In the last five years, 52 percent of the companies had changes in reporting relationships with about half moving up to the CEO level and others (about 25 percent of the total sample) moving over to report to the chief operating officer, chief financial officer, legal, human resources or marketing.

While three-quarters of the CPROs reported that they are responsible for traditional communications, more and more said they are being given added responsibility for marketing functions. When asked where they spent most of their time, the differences began to emerge. "We saw," Stocker said, "that senior corporate public relations professionals fall into three broad groups in terms of what they do, what they're expected to manage, what they're expected to measure and what they're expected to accomplish."

The first level, he described as 'skill-based' or being 'at the doorstep.' These are the people who manage communications, overseeing media relations, publications, research and other communications functions. "It's a tactical level," Stocker said, "and most of us have been there at some time."

The second level is 'strategy-based' or 'at the table' doing communications planning including prescribing solutions, mediating and interpreting, problem-solving and analyzing research. "These are essentially the people who report to the CEO, sit on the appropriate executive committees and provide leadership from a communications platform," Stocker said. "Most of us are at that level."

He continued, "There seems to be an even higher level being demonstrated by the best in our profession. This phase is fairly new and we are calling it, 'policy-based'. This is where the CPRO is seen as a business person first, a communicator second - where they are an integral part of the actual decision-making in the corporation. This is where the CFOs and chief legal counsels are now. This is where we should be."

When asked what were the greatest professional challenges they faced in their jobs, the members' answers tended to correlate with their reporting relationships. "When an individual reports to the top and spends most of his or her time on strategy and policy," Stocker said, "their challenges are finding enough time and resources to deal with the rapid changes that are taking place. For others, the challenge continues to be gaining credibility and justification for their work, budgets and plans."

There was broad agreement, Stocker added, that the most important contribution of the PR department is supporting the business objectives of the corporation. This includes, he said, "protecting and enhancing the brand, driving and leading changes in business strategy, reputation management, and advising the CEO and senior management. The most positive aspect of the research is that all of these things could have come from any top-level executive in the organization."

To be able to contribute to the corporation's success, CPROs must obviously possess some important leadership capabilities which the members participating in the survey identified as problem-solving/opportunity-seizing skills, judgement and a sense of proportion about issues, and truthfulness and the ability to convey it. In addition, they need to be persuasive in selling strategies and be skilled at partnering, collaboration, mediation and listening. (As Stocker pointed out, there is a lot of Arthur Page in that list of capabilities.)

"In summary," Stocker said, "there's a lot of really good news in this research. The majority of the PR positions are reporting to the CEO. Titles are more senior and more in the officer category. Responsibilities are more strategic and tied to business objectives. Value is better understood and accepted. Departments are responsible for more functions in the company. Work issues are expanding. And counseling has become the more important skill."

But there is also a downside. A significant number of individuals, the survey shows, are still reporting to staff or operating officers. Many are still being asked to document the value and contribution of the function.

What do the members think are the answers? "Many say who you report to may mean everything," Stocker said. "Leadership also comes from the gatekeeper function. It's what you choose to do as an organization. As far as respect is concerned, that seems to come in part from experience and age but also by being able to inspire confidence. Finally, value evolves from being relevant to the business and the bottom line."

Like most research, Stocker concluded, some of the Page survey confirms what we already know or suspect. Some of it flies in the face of some preconceived notions of how PR people function in an organization. But the research also showed some very encouraging trends, seemingly driven by the increasing importance of the profession and the increasing experience and skill of its practitioners.

Certainly the most encouraging trend, in Stocker's opinion, is the evolution of the CPRO as a policy-based corporate practitioner. This relatively new breed of public relations executive, he said, is proving that "the key to the top is a hard link to the business of the business."