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Talking about… the Business of Diversity

The first CIPR conference dedicated to Diversity took place yesterday afternoon. A resounding success, delegates were eager to hear about how to enhance their communications skills in an increasingly diverse UK.  They were also given exclusive insight into the new CIPR ‘The Business of Diversity’ report, launched at the conference.

Wide range of speakers

Chris Genasi, Chair of the CIPR Diversity programme and Past President, kicked off by setting the scene and talking about the report, which focuses on diversity in the PR industry.

Guest speaker Zena Martin from Acknowledge Communications, who worked in the US PR industry before coming to London, enlightened the audience with some great parallels between multi-cultural communication practice in the US and Great Britain. It was stimulating to have this international approach and learn from some experiences already in place.

Transport for London’s Paul Mylrea delighted delegates with anecdotes about the ethnic media strategy of their busy press office, dealing with a city where more the 300 languages are spoken. Paul also presented a brand new TfL ethnic minority internship scheme which they launched at the conference and which the CIPR proudly supports.

After coffee, conference delegates heard from Rakhee Vithlani at Weber Shandwick about their recently launched Multi-Cultural Communication division in the London office, and how it operates. Key tips on how to handle multi-cultural communication schemes were highlighted and discussion centred on the market for similar organisations.

The presentation from Kate Nash from the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation (RADAR) changed the tone and was a key moment in understanding how to engage with disabled people. Kate explained the various meanings of disability, talked about market opportunities amongst disabled people, and the way PR practitioners should communicate with this audience.

The conference closed with a presentation from Helene Martin Gee from recruitment company Hays. She highlighted the many benefits of having a diverse workforce and how to find suitable staff, as well as commenting on examples of what to do ‘when things go wrong’ with diversity policies.

A lively networking session followed the conference with speakers and delegates exchanging ideas and contacts.  More information on this and other CIPR conferences can be found at www.cipr.co.uk/training

What the delegates thought...

“We fitted a lot into the afternoon”

“It made me consider things I hadn't thought of before”

“I gained an insight into how much needs to be done in our workplace”

The Business of Diversity is available for CIPR members to download from the Member Area of the website. Non members can purchase the report for £50+VAT - visit the publications section for more information.

Selected presentations from the conference are available on the Diversity Matters website, which contains information and resources on diversity in the PR industry.

Is there a business case for diversity?

A glance around any PR industry gathering underlines that the profession is hardly a shining example of diversity in action, according to Kate Nicholas, Associate Director of Communications at World Vision and formerly associate publisher/editor-in-chief of PRWeek. “In-house PR departments have a fair ethnic minority representation, and the public and third sectors tend to more closely mirror the society they work in.  But 95.6% of consultancy staff say they are white and in my ten years at PRWeek I only remember meeting one disabled PR professional,” she continues.

This begs the question of how you can communicate with communities if you aren’t completely cogniscent of different cultures and ways of thinking? How can you deal with an increasingly specialist multi-channel media if you do not connect with the journalist's agenda?

Issues such as language and cultural representation are critical in terms of engaging with customers and take on a whole new resonance in the public sector. How can organisations feel confident doing business and communicating on an international basis with no understanding of the cultures they are selling to?

The PR profession has to actively promote cross-the-board diversity and may have to face up to the possibility that many highly aspirational ethnic minorities, in particular, just don’t see PR as a top notch career option.

It’s also noticeable that some types of diversity are deemed more ‘attractive’ than others. There is certainly a sound business rationale for pursuing the ‘brown pound’ currently worth around £32 billion, and the ethnic media is growing at an amazing pace – the South Asian community alone has 18 dedicated TV channels.

But what about ageism or disability? Perhaps the greatest step forward will be when diversity no longer means different things to different people. 

If you would like to find out more about the business case for diversity, you can attend the CIPR’s half-day conference on 18 October.  For more information, visit www.cipr.co.uk/diversityconference