#research PRleadership

[mandyforpresident]

Exciting new fund to nurture talent

The need for strategy to be based on evidence and insight is a perennial topic with clients and when delivering training.

CIPR as part of its Royal Charter has a duty to undertake research and publish it for the benefit of the PR industry.

Yet, we have no specific fund to do this and no formal process. I’d like to introduce one.

Sometimes through the commitment and leadership of individuals we produce ground breaking work such as that on Artificial Intelligence.

Under the chairmanship of Wendy Moran, Manchester Metropolitan University, the CIPR LPS group engaged with over 200 public sector communicators via focus groups and depth interviews to produce our Influence for Impact Report. I was delighted to be part of that team conducting focus groups in Exeter and Bristol with Tim Borrett.

However, a lot of the work CIPR produces are best practice or skills guides. This is really important in helping practitioners in their day to day but it is generally not research which moves the industry forward.

This new fund would be an exciting place to nurture talent and build a more inclusive industry by allowing those from diverse backgrounds to access seed funding for research.

We will invite proposals or pitches once a year. The whole process to be transparent with proposals published and a panel meeting to award small grants.

This isn’t going to fund the type of research already being conducted by some of our leading academics in Universities. That is already well served, although I would welcome greater promotion through the CIPR channels and the website.

This fund will research specific topics that are relevant to the PR industry and show how PR delivers value. It will also seek to build on primary data such as the CIPR State of the Profession.

Examples of work might include research to show how effective reputation management increases brand value or the economic value of behaviour change campaigns in the public sector.

Applications will be open to any CIPR member.

I hope you find this an exciting new step. Find out more by reading my vision, about me and my other blogs and please vote Mandy when voting starts on 2 September.