People making money under any position of 'status quo' are unlikely to be keen on change - which explains why public relations has never achieved the level of influence or credibility that it should. Does that mean it will always be the junior management craft that is bolted on after all the important stuff has been done? Perhaps not! The new career entrants into public relations will be better trained and more ambitious than any before them, according to the recent experience of Roger Haywood. But will they be tacticians or strategists, he ponders? Ina series of guest lectures he is delivering across the UK - and at other universities across the world, he has been checking students' views. He believes that some excellent courses with experienced tutors are currently producing a new generation of trained and tested would-be public relations professionals. In the UK, universities setting the standard include Cardiff, Huddersfield, Leeds, London Metropolitan, Loughborough, Sheffield, Warwick and Westminster. At least a proportion of students from these and other top academies will change the shape of the world of public relations. Their students are bringing both intelligence and critical analysis to bear on the many problems and issues that previous generations have failed to solve. The low standards that apply in the business, the emphasis on tactics, the predominance of media relations rather than of setting corporate policy have damaged the credibility of the discipline and its potential influence for good across all management levels. Too many practitioners have swept such issues under the carpet - where they have recognised them -whilst they focussed more on making a name for themselves and, of course, making money. The new graduates may also expect to make a decent living but at least 50% of the output from university courses seem to understand that public relations is more about what the organisation does than what it says, argues Haywood. And these more talented of these young people also understand that the real rewards in all senses come from helping management to shape policy and this cannot be done down the corridor when fully occupied in pushing out news releases, important though these can be. A test that he applies at each lecture is to set an impossible hypothetical challenge to the students ... where in some classes there can be more than 300 attending. "I ask then how to deal with a problem that arises from poor management planning and where there is an unethical assumption that could destroy the organisation's credibility. Some 50% will challenge these negative factors and suggest the job is to get these attitudes changed and policies improved - and would see that as their most important job of persuasion. That is impressive. However, it does suggest that half the students would be prepared to take jobs where they would be yes-men and women and would do anything they are told, provided they are paid enough." The public relation strategies of some high profile companies are beyond belief if their public performance is the measure; remember Ford and Firestone and their argument of responsibility for accidents top the Explorer and related vehicles that resulted in over 250 deaths. One credible witness to a US government investigation stated, "There was a documented cover-up by Ford and Firestone of the defect". Another inmdustry witness said "Emerging information shows that both Ford and Firestone had early knowledge of tread separation in Firestone Tires fitted to Ford Explorer vehicles but at no point informed the authorities of their findings". Or consider Coca-Cola and its abject failure to deal with the concern over suspected product contamination of their product in European schools, or Shell's over-claiming of its oil reserves and the disappearance of the chief executive at a time when he should have been facing the music ... and the media. Or the very recent collapse of the public relations machinery at the BBC when the public complained about the obscene and invasive comments of Russell Brand and Jonathon Ross. The list could go on. Once, Haywood recalls discussing public relations with an old friend of his, Lawrence Sear, then managing editor of the Daily telegraph. He pointed out the difference between good and poor public relations but Sear interjected that there appeared to be no difference for at the heart of every public relations disaster that the paper wrote about was a highly paid public relations professional. In comparison, the finest public relations performance comes from some of the most admired companies and that must be no coincidence. In the UK, these models of how to do it would include Capita, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's, Sky, Tesco and Rolls Royce. Public relations planning depends on getting the basics right. Some parts of the planning may be more exciting than these basics but to address these first would be like an architect designing a beautiful building without the foundations to ensure it will stand up. Creativity, vision, imagination are great, even essential but they will never work unless the basic planning steps are in place. Who, what, why, where, when... and how? Indeed, the 'how' should come a long way after the initial, careful thought and discussion of the 'who' and 'why'. Public relations must be central to the organisation and a strategic resource ... and a force that shapes policy, group values, the vision and the corporate strategy. The groundwork is likely to include a thorough review of such areas as: an analysis of the issues; clarification of the strengths and weaknesses; a study of the allies, the opponents, and the neutrals; the audit of existing perceptions amongst these; how these might need to be changed; the market business or community environment in which you have to work; the competitive position; the relevant current and impending legislation; possible trends and guidelines; the views and influence of pressure groups and NGOs ; the trade and professional perspectives ... and so on. Never, ever, begin the tactical planning, the 'what' until you are completely clear on the 'why' and the 'who'. Not only must you fully understand this but you must also have achieved or found ways to achieve the necessary internal debates on these that will lead to complete management support. Only then, should you start thinking and about the steps to be taken to achieve this. So the essentials in a short list: 1. Public relation is all about corporate strategies that are planned and driven from the top 2. If the organisation does not have promotable values, then public relations will never work 3. Only organisations with good policies can expect to win the goodwill essential for success 4. Therefore, truly effective public relations is really about what the organisation believes 5. What the organisation does must be far more important than what it may choose to say 6. Understanding must be won first, and then goodwill built, before developing the reputation 7. No organisation has relationships with those it depends on for success without reputation 8. Communication is an important part - but only a part - of the broader role of public relations 9. Practitioners must be management advisers on policy, goodwill, reputation and relationships 10. Communications alone will rarely be the solution to most public relations problems that arise 11. Indeed, public relations problems are always caused through a failure of thinking and planning 12. Ultimately, if the public relations fails, this will be the fault of the public relations professionals 13. Trusting relationships between the professionals and top management is essential to the plan 14. The public relations strategist must be involved in all major policy making discussions 14. Advisers must be able to review, question and, if necessary, challenge policy before it is agreed 15. Therefore, he or she must be part of the most senior planning group within the organisation 16. Though, remember, the top republic relations person in the organisation is the chairman Roger Haywood has set up a new website to help young people get that vital first job in public relations: for more information click on www.getstartedinpr.com He is the only person to have chaired both the Charterd Institute of Public Relations and the Chartered Institute of Marketing. He also helped form and chaired the world's largest network of independent business communications consultancies.