Why This Really Will Be a Happy New Year for PR People

Public relations ranks among the 50 best careers of 2010, according to U.S. News & World Report, which should be good news for all of those wishing good riddance to 2009.

U.S. News expects the public relations industry to rebound strongly this year, and so do I. Every major trend--the rise of social media, declining public confidence in major institutions, increased transparency--suggests that building stronger relationships between organizations and their stakeholders will be vital to any success those organizations (be they corporations, governments, or non-profits) enjoy in the coming decade.

If you want more reason to believe that the immediate future is bright, two articles in the mainstream media--one on either side of the Atlantic--suggests that public relations is gaining a little respect from those on the other side of the media divide.

Paul Argenti has an impressive piece in the FT--drawing on the ideas presented in his new book--on the new communications challenges facing companies in the 21st century. "In addition to rethinking the definition of communication, the best companies are rethinking its structure," he says. "There is a greater need for integration, collaboration and partnership among corporate leadership, human capital, finance, sales and legal teams."

It makes an interesting companion piece to this article in Forbes by the Reputation Institute's Roger Johndrow, which examines the role of the "chief reputation officer" asking who should fill that increasingly vital role. (It should be obvious. It's a tribute to the PR industry's ability to undersell itself that it isn't.)

But likely growth is not the biggest reason I'd put PR at the top of the list of the best careers.

Public relations, done right (and it will have to be done right in the high-pressure, high-stakes decade ahead of us) aligns the behavior of organizations with the expectations of the society in which they operate. It's hard to think of any function more vital to solving the problems we currently face.

This is a decade for public relations people to finally demonstrate the value to the organizations that employ them and the world in which they live.