19960909
INTERNATIONAL/PUBLIC AFFAIRS
September 9, 1996
Canadian Departments: Lean Staffs, Healthy Budgets
The reorganization and reengineering that have swept through corporate America also have made their mark on Canadian corporations, a new study of that country's corporate public affairs departments suggests.
Departments have reduced staff and realigned functional priorities, while maintaining or slightly increasing department budgets, according to a study by the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Public Affairs.
The survey involved contacting 212 Canadian corporations, of which 69 responded.
Most corporations that responded indicated that professional staff in public affairs departments had dropped in the past two years. Moreover, respondents projected further staff decreases.
The average department two years ago had 11 professional staffers, compared to nine today. The average department will have seven professionals in two years, responses indicate.
The picture is better for PR budgets. Nearly half (47 percent) of respondents said 1996 budgets were higher than one year ago; 26.5 percent said budgets were flat. An equal proportion (26.5 percent) said budgets had declined.
Looking ahead, nearly 40 percent of responding departments project that their budgets will increase from 1996 levels, 34.4 percent see budgets holding steady, and only 25 percent expect smaller budgets.
As would be expected, the largest proportion of budgets is spent on staff salaries--36 percent at the average organization.
Departments devote about 20 percent of their budgets for lobbyists, external consultants or contractors. Dues for associations and industry groups take another 10 percent.
Important Department Functions
The study asked corporations to name those functions carried out by their public affairs departments which were growing in importance. More than one-half of the responding companies listed the following areas as growing in importance:
--strategic business planning
--issues management
--grassroots management
--community relations
--internal communications.
Respondents also rated traditional public affairs responsibilities predicted to become less important:
--corporate advertising
--government relations
--environmental management
--philanthropy/contributions
--marketing activities.
(Canadian Council for the Advancement of Public Affairs, c/o Annette Stephan, 416/675-6622, ext. 3465.)