CIPR

Most of us probably never question whether our conduct is ethical. We take it for granted that we know what ethical behaviour is, and that we never knowingly neglect our standards.

That is, until we are unlucky enough to come up against an ethical dilemma. Take, for example, a scenario when our chief executive or client asks us to issue information to the media that we know is false. For some professionals, this isn't a problem.

Their duty, after all, is to follow the instructions of their paymasters to the best of their ability. This is the 'all's fair in love and war' approach to business ethics. And you could argue that it's ok to operate like this in a world where taxpayers fund derivatives traders' bonuses and the media pays for phone-tapping.

But knowingly giving untrue information to the media, or any other stakeholder, is in direct contravention of the CIPR's Code of Conduct. If a disciplinary hearing finds the member guilty, that member faces immediate dismissal from the Institute.

The alternative to lying

So if lying in your day-to-day job keeps you awake at night, what do you do? Do you put the Code of Conduct above a valuable client relationship and risk losing your job because you refuse to break the CIPR's rules?

Frankly, yes. Your boss or client is asking you to violate the PR profession's Code of Conduct. You cannot comply with their request, but you can think of another way of presenting the information without deliberately misrepresenting the facts. Most clients and chief executives will see the point. Even cynics know that lying is, at best, simply a short-term solution.

Sam Goldwyn is supposed to have said: 'A principle ain't a principle unless it costs you money'. In some ways this is the acid test: it's easy to be ethical if there's nothing much at stake. But when facing the prospect of real financial loss, disruption or embarrassment, sticking to the rules is a lot harder. The worst predicament is when you feel that you are letting the side down. Executives at a well-known US agency who falsified their timesheets for exactly this reason ended up in jail.

For all kinds of reasons it's tempting to go with the flow, do what we're asked and not lose too much sleep about it. Nine times out of 10 no-one will even notice. So what's the point?

Being a professional

Let's assume that you are striving to be a professional, that you want to make progress in your career based on sound technical competence; you want to develop a personal reputation for reliability and diligence, and you want to ultimately be regarded as a trusted advisor by your clients or your senior managers.

The CIPR exists for only one reason: to support you and people like you. All its training, qualifications, knowledge-sharing and advisory services are designed for the single purpose of equipping you with what it takes to be a professional in PR or public affairs.

A big part of this work depends on the reputation of the PR profession as a whole. What defines a profession is the public availability of a set of rules, most of which govern ethical conduct. The Code of Conduct is at the heart of the CIPR's original articles of association and, more recently, its recognition by the Privy Council as the CIPR.

Being a professional means a lot to most CIPR members. It is acknowledgement, and even status; a pathway to advance in our careers, with commensurate financial rewards and security; the opportunity to learn from others, including well-known experts, in a collegiate environment; and not least, it is the personal satisfaction of aiming for the highest standards in our field of enterprise.

But there is a price to pay.

Why professional ethics matter

Because we are specialists we usually know a lot more about our subject than most reporters, most public officials and most men and women in the street. Because we are trained in the art of communication, we find it easy to present a credible case. With these two advantages it would be simple for PR practitioners to mislead their audiences.

Ethical codes are conventions based on general agreement about correct behaviours. These codes focus on the effect of practitioners' activities on audiences. The CIPR Code recognises that members are in a privileged position; the requirements are few but fundamental – we must restrict ourselves to behaviours which are fair, honourable and above board.

How the CIPR fosters ethical conduct

One of the hallmarks of a professional body is that it maintains a system for investigating possible breaches of its Code of Conduct and a disciplinary system for punishing violations.

In our case, the Professional Practices Committee works hand-in-hand with the CIPR's Compliance Officer, Martin Horrox, to make sure the Code is up-to-date, relevant and clearly expressed; the PPC and Martin Horrox also act as the 'front-end' of the complaints procedure, communicating with people who wish to lodge a complaint and determining if there is a case to answer.

Complaints, which might be instigated by any member of the public or by the President on his or her own initiative, are often resolved by conciliation. From time to time, however, they lead to a PPC investigation and from there to a hearing by the CIPR's Disciplinary Committee. The penalties imposed by the CIPR range from admonition to dismissal from the Institute.

If you are facing an ethical problem and want advice, you can telephone or email Martin Horrox in confidence for advice on how the CIPR's Code of Conduct affects your situation.

Adrian Wheeler FCIPR is a partner at Agincourt Communications