Singapore – Following the association’s expanded presence in Asia-Pacific, the Public Relations and Communications Association Asia-Pacific (PRCA APAC) has announced the formation of a new committee dedicated to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Its purpose is to increase diversity, inclusion, and equity across all levels of seniority in the Asia Pacific’s communications profession.

Furthermore, the committee will host events, drive industry initiatives, and facilitate consultations with organizations and individuals who wish to contribute to a more diverse and inclusive communications profession in Asia.

Said committee will be led by Charu Srivastava, senior director at Redhill, while Susie Bates, senior vice president at IPG DXTRA will take the committee’s vice-chair role. 

“Through this mandate, we are committed to creating a real impact on the industry and making it a better place for future generations. Discrimination and inequality in our industry goes beyond racial and gender biases – age, sexual orientation and even the university you studied at can be a cause for discrimination,” Srivastava said, regarding the new role.

She added, “It is imperative to bring these issues to the fore and address them through open and honest conversations, and I look forward to working with a very passionate committee to achieve our goals.”

Committee members include Natashia Jaya, group account director at Allison+Partners; Iknoor Kaur, senior manager for corporate brand and communications at SPAG; Sai Roshini Daswani, director for client strategy for APAC at Sinclair; Vernia Lim, head of public relations at JLL; Lee Nugent, regional director at Archetype; and Tom Evrard, senior managing director at FTI Consulting.

“The last 18 months has inspired renewed enthusiasm for meaningful change, so it’s critical we don’t lose the momentum now. As always, the challenge is to translate talk to action. Each PRCA APAC Equality, Diversity & Inclusion committee member brings a unique perspective and acumen to the table. I very much look forward to their expertise and support as we drive a more diverse and inclusive PR industry in Asia,” said Tara Munis, head of PRCA APAC.

Singapore – A new report conducted by market research company YouGov and public relations professional body Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) reveals the current mental health state among the region’s public relation practitioners, including that 48% of respondents say they are going through a particularly stressful period in their life right now, with more than a third saying the pandemic has worsened their mental health.

According to the report, the main triggers of mental ill health faced by respondents are high workload (cited by 34% of respondents); long hours (33%); lack of reward or recognition for good work (29%); and not enough career growth (29%).

Furthermore, the report notes that due to these mental health issues, many respondents have said that they never or rarely exercise (32%), eat a healthy diet (24%) or get enough quality sleep (23%).

There has been a focus on mental health among women PR practitioners, with 39% of them having experienced a loss of interest in activities or social interactions in the last 12 months (versus 27% of men); and 37% have experienced significant changes in sleep schedule or appetite (versus 28% of men).

“The PR profession has been, as ever, resourceful and resilient in the face of the huge professional and personal challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. But that resourcefulness and resilience has its limits,” said Tara Munis, head of PRCA Asia Pacific.

In terms of mental health support from their employers, the report has found that 32% of the region’s employers have not communicated with staff around mental health during the last year – a number rising to 49% in Singapore and 48% in Hong Kong but dropping to 8% in Vietnam and 20% in Thailand.

In addition, 48% of employers do not provide mental health resources to staff. Again, this figure varies significantly, and is more than 50% in Singapore (69%), Hong Kong, Malaysia (both 59%) and Indonesia (52%).

Francis Ingham, director general at PRCA, commented, “Across the world, PR and communications leaders are increasingly recognizing the importance of positive mental health in their organisations, their clients, their teams, and themselves.”

Despite the mental health issue prevalent across the region’s PR practitioners, 39% of respondents say that the COVID-19 pandemic has improved their mental health than say it has worsened it (35%). In addition, 88% of respondents say they would be comfortable talking to a co-worker about their mental health problem.

Outgoing PRCA SEA Chair Lee Nugent said that as employers, they can and must make changes in regards to mental health support, noting that providing information, support and resources is just one part. He also added that they need also to ensure that they are creating a workplace culture where it’s fine for someone who needs help to say so, and then provide access to mental healthcare in the way that many of us already provide access to physical healthcare.

“The research suggests that around 29% of organizations currently offer their people access to initiatives such as EAP programs that provide professional, expert help to those who need it. I’d like to see this figure climb rapidly in the coming months. Just as importantly, it’s our responsibility to also address those critical issues that, perhaps, sit at the heart of the problem. We owe it to our people to put actions in place to deal with endemic over-working, for example, and to address poor people management both where it exists inside our own organizations and in the client/agency dynamic,” Nugent added.

Singapore – Global public relations professional body Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) has announced that it is now extending its presence to Asia-Pacific with the launch of PRCA APAC, replacing the narrower governing body PRCA Southeast Asia.

With the PRCA APAC, the PR body has also announced the appointment of inaugural co-chairs namely Caroline Hsu, managing director for APAC at The Hoffman Agency; Carolyn Devanayagam, executive vice president and APAC head of corporate at Weber Shandwick; and Nitin Mantri, CEO at Avian WE. The appointments are part of a further strengthening of the Board to represent the whole region.

As part of the changes, current PRCA SEA General Manager Tara Munis will relocate to Hong Kong as the new head of PRCA Asia-Pacific, and further team appointments will be made in Singapore and Thailand.

“We’ve been lucky to call Singapore home since 2018, cultivating a passionate and driven PR community. That passion and dedication to support our industry has inspired incredible membership growth in not only neighbouring countries but to the entire Asian Pacific region. I’m excited to get started in Hong Kong and continue to provide word-class support for all our members,” Munis stated.

Meanwhile, former PRCA SEA Chair and regional director for APAC at Archetype Lee Nugent commented that PRCA’s commitment to drive further professionalism, raise standards and provide representation will be of great benefit to what he believes is the most exciting and vibrant part of the world for PR and comms.

“It’s been a real honor to have represented PRCA Southeast Asia as its inaugural chair over the last three years and I’m terrifically proud of the progress we’ve made. Now is the perfect time for geographic expansion and, as my tenure comes to an end, I couldn’t ask for a more inspiring set of leaders to hand over to Carolyn, Caroline and Nitin – as our three new co-Chairs take on PRCA’s next phase of growth across APAC,” Nugent said.

For Francis Ingham, director-general at PRCA, by representing the industry throughout the whole of APAC, providing professional links between fellow practitioners all around the world, and continuing to collaborate with local associations, they can address the challenges and embrace the opportunities in front of our industry even better than ever.

“Our three co-chairs are highly respected figures from across Asia-Pacific, and it’s a pleasure to welcome them to their new roles, and to the PRCA’s Global Advisory Board. I’d like to offer my profound thanks to Lee Nugent for his chairmanship over the past three years. His drive and dynamism has embedded the PRCA in the wider region,” Ingham concluded.