By Doug Pinkham
Public Affairs Council President
December 2, 2009
There's no doubt that many congressional staffers are willing to work long hours for low pay because they hope - and expect - to land lucrative jobs in the private sector. And many of them do just that. But two studies from the Public Affairs Council indicate that Capitol Hill experience is no longer a firm requirement for those wanting to become senior corporate public affairs executives.
According to a survey of 130 companies conducted last year, only 29% of senior public affairs officials (many of whom work at corporate headquarters) had experience in the legislative branch and only 19% once worked for an executive-branch agency. Put together, fewer than 50% had government experience.
The second survey, which has not yet been released, asked 80 Washington office executives about their background, budgets and programs. Since this group represents the top federal lobbyists or policy strategists for their companies, we would expect a higher percentage of former government employees. But the numbers aren't overwhelming: 37% of DC-office heads had Hill experience and 24% had executive branch experience.
Compared with a similar study in 2006, the number of office heads with a background in government has declined. In that earlier report, 50% said they had Hill experience and 35% said they once worked for a federal agency.
What's going on here?
For starters, these data suggest that public affairs is increasingly regarded as a profession requiring specific training and expertise. As the first study, "The State of Corporate Public Affairs," states, " Moving executives from sales to marketing to public affairs is no longer a common strategy, and neither is the requirement that senior public affairs executives be hired directly from Capitol Hill."
Public affairs executives must be skilled at managing global and domestic issues, building alliances, overseeing political involvement programs, determining a CEO's role in public policy, coordinating efforts with corporate communications and deploying staff and consulting resources where they can do the most good. Their legal knowledge must span campaign finance, lobbying and ethics rules at the state, federal and international levels.
In addition, they need to demonstrate an understanding of business operations so they can address regulatory issues affecting business units, support sales efforts and help the company expand into new markets.
It's not surprising that 69% of executives interviewed for "The State of Corporate Public Affairs" survey had previous corporate government relations experience. This was by far the most common item on anyone's resume. Back in 2005 only 51% had a background in corporate government relations.
Now, let's look at the Washington office survey in more detail. While Hill experience was still the most common item listed (37%), more than half had worked in either corporate public affairs or in government relations for another company. In addition, more than one quarter came from a trade or professional association. (This survey, called "The Corporate Government Relations Washington Office Benchmarking Report," will be available in late December.)
While a background in government often builds a person's expertise and provides good contacts with decision-makers, companies have learned over the years that they can't solve all their legislative problems by hiring a top executive directly from Capitol Hill. And, in fact, they might create problems of a different kind if they recruit someone without corporate experience.
That's because working for a big corporation is not like working for Congress. Corporate employees need to produce strategic plans, keep senior management in the loop, follow corporate hiring and contracting procedures, respond to pressures from different stakeholders and measure the success of their public policy work.
This is not to say that companies are rejecting candidates who have worked in the halls of Rayburn or Dirksen. Instead, they are building their staffs with bright, versatile people with excellent communication and analytical skills who are quick studies on all matters of public policy. It certainly is a bonus if an individual has a background on Capitol Hill, but it is becoming less of a requirement.
Companies then supplement this core group with consultants and contract lobbyists who often have direct experience and contacts on a wide variety of issues. Congressional staffers looking to move up quickly may find better opportunities in these firms.
But here's a word of warning: corporate consulting budgets generally are more vulnerable than their staffing budgets. According to the Washington office survey, only 18% said they had increased their spending on contract lobbyists and consultants in the last three years - and one in three companies reported they had cut spending.
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