Sarah Pinch is managing director of Pinch Point Communications, President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and a non-executive director for the Health and Safety Executive. Here DTW invites her to talk about her priorities as president of the CIPR for 2015.
Every year the CIPR elects a new President, and after three years as the chair of the CIPR in the South West and many more as an active member, I am this year’s President. I came to office on February 1, as I was still on maternity leave in January. This was a first for the institute; and a reflection on how the work already highlighted here, by Sarah Hall my board colleague, on gender pay and gender equality in PR is central to making membership meaningful to CIPR members.
I was elected to focus on four areas and this is shaping my mission and the mission of the board for this year:
- To make membership more meaningful to clients and employers
- For the CIPR to stand up for a profession confident in its high standards and able to demonstrate its value
- For the Code of Conduct and our CPD system to be positioned as assets that build trust in our practice
- To reach audiences beyond the industry.
It’s my privilege and responsibility to lead a membership body that is represented by four foundations of professional standards in public relations, and thereby in turn we hope to influence business to understand what it means to be professional. Professionalism for members of the CIPR includes:
- Being held accountable to a code of conduct,
- Having the right skills or qualifications to carry out their role,
- Being engaged in continuing professional development, and
- Enabling the public to find validation of these points in a way that can be easily accessed and understood.
This means we have a busy, exciting and challenging year ahead. I hope many of you will join us.