PUBLIC AND GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS PROFESSIONALIZATION IS IMPERATIVE!

An overwhelming majority of public and government affairs practitioners throughout the world are stronly in favor of reorganizing their current professional body so that it will have sufficient authority, power and legitimacy to legislate rules and regulations on behalf of practitioners and perform the functions to promote and protect the well-being and reputation of the profession.

1. Need to professionalize Public and Government Affairs

The public and government affairs industry needs to be professionalized. If the worth and value of the profession were more secure, the confidence of the public would be assured and the profession would come to be regarded as indispensable to the welfare, efficiency, vitality and reputation of all major organizations. Both standardization and regulation of the field are necessary to ensure consistency in the quality of service offered by professionals. Public and Government Affairs professionals for their part need to bind themselves to appropriate standards of professional behaviour. Professionalization would enable employers to entertain realistic expectations about what it is that public and government affairs professionals offer, because it would regulate the remuneration that professionals receive for the seervices they deliver.

2. Education and Training

There is a need for the establishment of benchmarks and standards to which Public and Government Affairs professionals need to conform. Practitioners need to think strategically and develop and adequate understanding of areas of knowledge that are vital to the effective practice of public and government affairs. Proper training programmes need to be put in place to keep practitioners abreast with the latest development in the field. As part of the education and training programmes offered, some kind of internship should form an integral part of the professionalization process. While it would be better for each individual educational institution to create and maintain its own standards, these standards need to be monitored and moderated externally.

3. Entry Requirement to the Profession

Stringent entry criteria should be set for those who aspire to enter the profession. This would result in improving service delivery and the quality of practising professionals in the field as well as standards of the work that they deliver. While some practitioners have vast experience in the field and widely recognized skills and abilities, they possess no basic formal qualifications. Too many non-qualified and inexperienced people enter the industry.

4. Role of the Industry

The industry needs to place a greater emphasis on working cooperatively with educational providers on the achievement of high standards, and on defining precise benchmarks for the attainment of professional standards.

5. Need for a Professional Organization

Many countries in Europe and other parts of the world lack a properly authorized public and government affairs organization for legislating conditions for the profession and for controlling and administering the affairs and concern of constituent members. The profession not only professionalization but also the public prestige and reputation that would be the consequence of the proper application of professional standards through the mediation of a professional public and government affairs body. The prime objective of a professional body is the identification, moderation, collection and publication of effective case history data across a broad spectrum of a country's economy. There is an urgent need for formal public and government affairs research in the context of tertiary institutions as well as the need for capacity-building, the continuous review and updating of training programmes,, as well as state support in the form of grants for companies and organizations that are committed to the formal training and in-service augmentation of the skills of practising public and government affairs professionals.

It should be the responsibility of the Public and Government Affairs professional body to accredit universities and colleges to teach approved courses and to award qualifications on behalf of the professional body. Indeed, it should not be the sole responsibility of the degree-conferring institution to determine the content, methods and standards of the professional qualification. A course of studies that is officially approved, certified and authorized by a professional body will not only enhance the credibility of the profession,, but will send a signal to employers and to the public in general that the profession is seriously concerned with the maintenance of professional standards that compare with the best of the world.

6. Requirements for a Professional Organization 

The formation of independent professional associations for Public and Government Affairs practitioners is indispensable for the continued health and vitality of the profession throughout the world. The absence in  many countries of a professional structure encourages corruption and illegal practices. 

A properly constituted professional association should meet the following requirements:

1. Keep members well informed and knowledgeable about the latest elements and operational procedures of the best professional projects and strategic plans being implemented throughout the world.
2. Apply standardized and universal nprocedures for individual and corporate accreditation (registration)
3. Adhere to whatever benchmarks for standards are accepted by the best Public and Government Affairs practitioners in the world
4. Develop, maintain and foster international relations between professional associations with he same aims and standards.
5. Encourage programmes to implement the continuous professional development of existing members.
6. Devise, enforce and administer a comprehensive code of ethical standards and procedures.
7. Make a range of considered benefits available to all accredited members.
8. Oversee the development of training programmes and the certification of professional qualifiations.

Conclusion

While it is important for Public and Government Affairs professionals to address the problems that beset efficientb professionalization, it is far more important to address issues of value, integrity, consistency, and continuining education. The future of professions and professionals is mainly the responsibility of professional themselves. The public will judge Public and Government Affairs professionals by the quality of the values that they ascribe to, by their commitment to solid ethical values and integrity in relationships, the extent to which they are prepared to take responsibility for what they do, and the passion, courage and creativity with which they deal with problematic and challengin situations. Furthermore, Public and Government Affairs practitioners will only achieve the prestige and recognition they aspire to if they commit themselves corporately and individually to a dedicated and continuous programme of the kind of high-level and self-directed learning that is required of well-established professionals such as accountants, doctors and lawyers (to name a few). Without such a continuous and dedicated professional supplementation, Public and Government Affairs practitioners will remain ignorant of important developments in their field.