Blog
The 5 most sought after competencies in a Public Affairs professional
How would you describe the perfect competencies for a Public Affairs professional in your organization? For many this is a difficult question, as Public Affairs can comprise a broad range of tasks - each defined by the individual organisation. But through more than 500 conversations with Public Affairs and Government Relations professionals Ulobby CEO Anders Kopp Jensen has identified the 5 core skills most sought after in a PA professional. Presented here in an abstract from his book The Public Affairs Engine:
Let’s talk about ethics and image of Public Affairs
Working in the intersection between government and business creates a myriad of complex challenges. Ethics is of course an important issue to discuss with your team and reflect upon. Poor ethics, resulting in a shady morality, have been an increasing problem in the past few decades. But PA and lobbyism today still have an image problem. Movies like “Thank You for Smoking” or hit series like “House of Cards” confirm the stereotype or assumptions about people working in the cross-section between business and politics. Even just using the words, “Public Affairs” or “lobbyism”, at a dinner party or in public, can sometimes call for attacks with accusations such as “corruption” or statements like “Ihr seid doch alle gekaufte lobbyisten” as someone wrote in German on Twitter when promoting this guide, which probably doesn’t need any translation.
Three trends that will characterize Public Affairs in 2021
A new year equals new perspectives. 2020 was a very special year for everyone - including for the public affairs industry. But what will 2021 bring for Public Affairs which have significantly proven its value and is in higher demand than before Covid-19. Ulobby CEO Anders Kopp Jensen has given it some thought and here presents 3 trends he believe will characterize Public Affairs in 2021:
The four ‘must haves’ in any Public Affairs plan
As many Public Affairs professionals will know, the PA department can have many different tasks to handle, some which may not even be core for a PA function. This depends of course on the organization, the raison d’être for the PA function and how many people will be working to execute the tasks. However, every good PA department starts with a plan - and in this extract from his book “The Public Affairs Engine” Ulobby CEO Anders Kopp Jensen gives his 2 cents on the four essential parts of such a PA-plan.
The five focus areas on your first 100 days as a Public Affairs professional
It isn’t always easy for a newly appointed public affairs professional to know where to begin the work of expanding the organisation's influence. But Ulobby CEO and experienced PA advisor Anders Kopp Jensen has identified 5 critical focus areas in his new book The Public Affairs Engine. Here we present you with an extract of the book on just that:
How can Public Affairs professionals succeed in their organisation?
On November 17th, Ulobby hosted a panel discussion on how Public Affairs can be successful as an integral part of the organisation. A lot of interesting points were presented during the webinar - but especially three topics seemed to be the most important for the participants. If you missed the webinar or just want a recap, we have therefore outlined these three take away points below.