Dear Srinivasan:
You have once again drawn attention to a issue of importance for PR profession.
You know that I have been an advocate of some form of professional accreditation that should be renewed periodically.
The government wanted me to take up this and had sanctioned money but I advised the government of that matters such as accreditation should be left to the profession. Government accreditation is a political affair. Even AICTE has come under cloud.
I personally feel the the existing PR societies/Bodies by their very nature are driven by personalities and donot have institutional resources/ semi-permanency/stature.
Your suggestion to use IABC that has some muscle better than the PR bodies could be used to begin with.As and when the PR bodies unite,acquire muscle and permanence,it could reclaim its legitimate accreditation role.
One caution: Accreditation should not be a PR exercise,done without fear or favour if it is to mean anything.
S.narendra
(Former Information Advisor to PM and
Chief Spokesman of Government of India)
dear friendsIn the globalised competitive era, the individuals and the companies have now started bench marking their knowledge, proficiency and quality to globally accepted standards. Companies world over subject themselves to ISO or BS Standards, which are globally recognised. Unless the companies get ISO certification, they may not be able to participate in the tenders internally and globally.In the same way, IT professionals have now started benching their individual talents through Microsoft Certification and ISACA certification. These certifications enable the IT professionals to compete globally and succeed professionally.In the same way, communication and marketing professionals also need to get themselves certified to the global standards, if they want to succeed in their career in future. C J Singh (Chandigarh) and myself have been impressing upon the need for such global accreditation for the past eight years. None of the professional bodies in India are able to come up with any globally accepted certification or accreditation process. We need to prepare our younger generation communication and marketing professionals to compete at global levels.Just like we have accepted globally recognised certification process in other areas, the communication and marketing industry also can adopt the globally recognised and accepted certification process to develop their career in future.US, UK, Australia, South Africa, Singapore and few other countries have already started accrediting their communicaiton and marketing professionals. The employers give priority only to such accredited professionals in the internal promotions. Professionals can get accredited in their chosen field, only after few years of experience. Even China has started the Accreditation process through IABC.APR Accreditation by Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and FCIPR Accreditation by Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), London are highly popular in US and Europe.International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) is one of the respected International bodies operating in more than 100 countries. They offer ABC Accreditation (Accredited Business Communicator). All the professionals who are connected with Business Communicaiton field like Public Relations, Corporate Communication, Marketing Communication, Journalism, etc are eligible for Accreditation process. Only working professionals can apply for Accreditation.Accreditation process involves 3 stages. (1) Application, (2) Submission of two Portfolios (work samples), based on the applicant's own experience and (3) written and oral examination. Senior Accredited professionals will mentor and guide the candidates. More details are available in IABC's website.Recently, I recorded an interview with Mr Bish Mukherjee, President of IABC's India South Chapter. Mr Bish was earlier the Accreditation Director for Asian countries and now the Asian coordinator for the prestigious Quill Awards of IABC. He has mentored many professionals.I have also recorded an interview with Dr Rajiv Kumar. He is one of the top management officials in the Tata Group handling Corporate Communication. He is presently the Director in the Accreditation Committee of IABC. He supervises the Accreditation process of Asia Pacific, Europe, South America and Africa.Please watch this interesting and informative podcast (12 minutes). If anybody wants to get more information and guidance, they can send mail to Mr Bish Mukherjee at bmiabc@hotmail.com.Please watch the interview in the YouTube.SrinivasanPrime Point
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