MORALITY AND YOUR LEVEL OF COMPETENCE | Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice (PR in Practice)

The Code of Professional Standards of the Canadian Public Relations Society says surprisingly little about it, as does the IABC Code. The Public Relations Society of America's Code of Ethics is only slightly more concerned about it. Can we conclude from the lack of discussion about the issue of competence in public relations that there are few ethical concerns about it? Or, rather, is it more likely that the issue of competence is a difficult one to measure and therefore an unpopular issue about which to provide ethical guidelines?

The truth is that as a profession, we provide a service to society. In doing so, society has a right to expect a certain level of competence in your ability to actually do your job. Indeed, would you consider it ethical for a doctor to practise medicine if he or she did not possess the required level of competence as measured by performance on the licensing examinations? When a doctor hangs out his or her shingle, you the patient infer from it the message, ˜I'm a competent physician . You can trust me. Nothing less should be expected from a PR practitioner who sets up shop or goes to work for an organization. Anything less than professional competence to do your job could surely be seen at the very least as lying.

The questions: How can you ensure that your level of competence in the practice of public relations fulfils your responsibilities to society when we are not required to achieve a standard like one that might be imposed by a licensing board? How can we demonstrate our professional respect by ensuring that we maintain an acceptable level of professional competence?

Help from the professional codes?

We often look to professional codes of ethics to help us begin our search for answers to ethical dilemmas, recognizing that whereas we might find a direction, we do not expect to find the final answer. The Canadian Public Relations Society code says, ˜A member shall not guarantee specified results beyond the member's capacity to achieve. ^[4] The International Association of Business Communicators indicates a sentiment that is almost identical while the Public Relations Society of America is somewhat more direct about the issue. In their introductory list of values upon which the tenets of the code are based, they identify expertise and explain what they mean this way: ˜We acquire and responsibly use specialized knowledge and experience. We advance the profession through continued professional development, research, and education. We build mutual understanding, credibility, and relationships among a wide array of institutions and audiences. ^[5] Then, in their provisions of the code itself they indicate that members should ˜actively pursue personal professional development.

The Global Ethics Protocol as suggested by the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management proposes ˜expertise as one of its protocol standards and says this:

We will encourage members to acquire and responsibly use specialized knowledge and experience to build understanding and client/employer credibility. Furthermore we will actively promote and advance the profession through continued professional development, research, and education. ^[6]

Thus, it appears that whereas competence is something of interest to the ethical public relations practitioner and that it is, indeed, an ethical concern, we still cannot answer the question about how to ensure your level of competence. The codes tell us that it is important ”and thus we can connect it directly to our ethical responsibilities ”but no one seems to be able to define precisely what that competency might consist of.

The true meaning of competence

The codes of ethics seem to shy away from actually using the word competence , instead selecting words such as expertise, knowledge and experience (CPRS avoids specific words entirely).

With all the talk today about incompetence and how it is to be avoided at all costs in any field (indeed, haven't we all observed PR behaviour that we labelled incompetent?), it seems more than germane to the issue to define the term competence. One useful definition of the term is ˜possession of required skill, knowledge, qualification, or capacity. ^[7] Our problem in the field of public relations is that there are no required skills, knowledge or qualifications . Anyone who pleases can print up business cards and go into business. It is specifically this area of a lack of requirements to enter into the practice of public relations that leads to problems in identifying and, more importantly, doing something about incompetence.

In a professional sense, there are two main objectives of this attempt to achieve competence in the field. In public relations the primary one is to protect the public. One need only read books like Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber's books Toxic Sludge is Good for You and Trust Us, We're Experts to understand the potential for harm to the public when public relations uses its power without concern for the harm it might cause. The second objective of ensuring competence is to secure the future of PR's image as an ethical pursuit. But, there are few external measures of competence. (Keep in mind that even if you graduated from a public relations degree or diploma programme, it doesn't mean that your level of competence will always be appropriate.)

Competence to practise, then, becomes more of a personal commitment to professional excellence and one way that you can clearly demonstrate your respect for your clients and employers , your profession and society.

Your ethical responsibility to be competent

You owe it to yourself, to your employers and clients, to your profession and to society to be competent to act in the capacity of a public relations practitioner (see Figure 7.4). While we all recognize that not all of us have the same levels of skills regardless of our educational backgrounds, our responsibility to be competent has three components :

to ensure that you have the skills necessary to do the work that you take on at any given time;
to ensure that you avoid giving employers or clients the impression that you can guarantee specific results; and
to keep your knowledge, skills and expertise current.

The question remains: How do you accomplish this? Here are some ideas:

Take a formal course from a local college or university. Even universities that do not offer specific programmes in public relations often offer courses that are very related in terms of both background and skills. Don't be fooled into thinking that the only kinds of courses you need are skill- related . As you develop your career, more than ever you need to consider educational cross-training. Consider courses in cultural studies, conflict management, philosophy, applied science. In fact, try any kind of course that forces you to think about the world in a different way. It can bring freshness to your work in PR.
Attend professional development sessions. Since PR is largely an urban profession, most PR practitioners have access to regular PD sessions sponsored by professional associations. And try to get to a national or international conference once in a while.
Consider teaching a PD session or a course yourself. It is often said that teaching is one of the best ways of learning (and I'll vouch for that). Whereas you will certainly teach something that you know a lot about, you'll also learn a lot, and students' questions ( generally the ones for which you don't have ready answers) can lead you to learn more about areas that you hadn't previously considered .
Read, read, read. Read PR and industry-related magazines, journals and books, but also read material that isn't directly related to PR. Cross-reading is considered to be a very useful way to kick-start your creative thought processes.
Consider obtaining a recognized PR credential. Professional associations have such programmes which bring us ever closer to the notion of actually being able to measure competence (at least at the time you went through the accreditation process).

Throughout history, PR has been sprinkled with practitioner after practitioner whom we would now consider to lack the necessary competence to practise ethical public relations. Let's make this just an historical blip and not a prediction for the future.

Public relations competence check list

Consider the following statements as a guide to reflecting on your personal level of competence in the practice of public relations.

I consider my educational background to be appropriate to my current public relations position.
I rarely have to define my credentials to my peers.
I read the PR industry literature regularly both in print and on line.
I attend professional development sessions on an annual basis.
I recognize when I am facing situations for which I am ill-prepared.
I have a public relations mentor (for early careerists).
I am a mentor to a young practitioner (for later careerists).
I have a network of colleagues with whom I can consult on PR-related issues.
I have plans to enhance my educational preparation as a move forward in my career.

Figure 7.4: Public relations competence check list

^[4] Canadian Public Relations Society [accessed 21 November 2003] Code of Professional Standards . http://www.cprs.ca/AboutCPRS/e_code.htm

^[5] Public Relations Society of America [accessed 21 November 2003] Code of Ethics . http://www.prsa.org/_About/ethics/preamble.asp?ident=eth3

^[6] Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management [accessed 21 November 2003] Global Protocol on Public Relations Ethics . http://www.globalpr.org/knowedge/ethics/protocol.asp

^[7] Infoplease.com [accessed 21 November 2003]. http://www.infoplease.com/ipd/A0382180.