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Interesting insights from the Council of Communication Management AGM By Kerryn Le Cordeur On Monday, 30 November, the Council of Communication Management (CCM) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM), chaired by Dr Amanda Hamilton-Attwell of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). The CCM is an alliance of professional organisations, including the Southern African Institute of Fundraising (SAIF); Government Communication and Information System (GCIS); the South African Communication Association (SACOMM); the Public Relations Institute of South Africa (PRISA); the Public Relations Consultants’ Chapter of PRISA (PRCC); and the IABC, representing the interests of communication professionals in South Africa, with the purpose of pursuing recognition and excellence in the profession; delivering a body of knowledge and research; and launching initiatives to strengthen and grow the profession. Hamilton-Attwell explained that one of the Council’s initiatives this year has been the undertaking of research in conjunction with the Services SETA to determine the current state of the communication industry, in terms of size and scope of the communication sector in South Africa; the profile of communication employees; and the skills gap within the profession, in order to work towards its purpose of developing the communication profession. The study was conducted in May this year, and included listed companies; private companies; small businesses; government departments; parastatals; and municipalities. The results give some interesting insight into the position of communication within business in South Africa. Most communication practitioners taking part in the study state that they report to executives or middle management, meaning that their importance within the company is being recognised. The majority also claim to be involved in determining the communication budget. Interestingly, 72% of the budget goes toward external communication,while only 26% is used for internal communication. The biggest increase in budget has gone toward research and corporate social investment (CSI), while the most significant decrease has been in the area of training and development, which Hamilton-Attwell isconcerned about in light of the skills gap the study identified, and she emphasised the need for bodies like the CCM to remedy this.Communication practitioners cite their responsibilities to include communication consulting (the majority); strategic planning; branding; events; media relations; public relations; crisis communication; and reputation management. They feel that the most critical skills in the profession are client relations; strategic planning; project management; public relations; media relations; internet skills; editing; ethics; writing; relationship management; and employee communication. They see lobbying and communication law as least important. In terms of their levels of competency, they rate their client relations skills as highest, followed by strategic planning; project management; public relations; and media relations, but feel that they are lacking when it comes to community relations; research; communication law; lobbying; financial management; government relations; cross-cultural communication; and conflict management. The general perception of the communication industry, according to the study, is that it is gaining more influence; its image is improving; and it is being better integrated, and effective communication is becoming more important for business.The feeling is that there is a growing awareness of the role of communication, but the profession is not well enough equipped yet. Hamilton-Attwell discussed how findings show that although junior communication positions are relatively easy to fill, taking less than three months to do so, senior positions take up to a year to fill, once again because of the scarcity of skills in the profession, and the lack of continuous training. She went on to mention some of the biggest challenges cited by participants in the study. These include graduates entering the industry without sufficient English; the necessity to keep pace with changing technology; a lack of technological skills; the need for continuous training; and the fact that employee communication is not always recognised as being as important as public and media relations, illustrated by the fact that only a small percentage of the communication budget is set aside for internal communication. Hamilton-Attwell concluded by saying that in many ways the image of the communication profession has improved, but it is necessary to address the skills gap identified by the CCM study to maintain this image and to continue to improve and strengthen the profession. |
Communik-E