Climbing the Public Affairs Maturity Curve. The Internal Side of Public Affairs (51)
- marta2253
- Sep 29, 2025
- 3 min read
Co-Founder Advocacy Academy, Advocacy Strategy
In previous posts of the Internal Side of Public Affairs series, I have explored how internal alignment, clarity of purpose, and organisational integration shape effective Public Affairs functions. All of it has been about how to professionalize our Public Affairs work, build greater credibility, visibility and confidence internally – to ensure we are a strategic and well-resourced business partner. Working with some clients recently made me realize that doing this perhaps requires a benchmark of sorts against which you can objectively assess where your organisation stands. This way you better understand what it takes to evolve. Enter the Public Affairs Maturity Curve.
This curve, which I have seen used across sectors and geographies, offers a structured lens through which to evaluate the current state and development of a Public Affairs function. It outlines a journey from nonexistent or immature approaches to sophisticated, income-generating strategic functions.
Understanding the Curve
The maturity journey typically includes six stages:
No Public Affairs: No formal PA function exists. Risks and opportunities go unaddressed. The organisation focuses on compliance only.
Ad-hoc: Reactions to major issues occur, but without structure or consistency. Likely major and immediate risks will be managed as short-term one-off projects. This also often involves giving Public Affairs work to existing staff on top of their day job and without (necessarily) Public Affairs training or skills.
Reactive: Some structure exists (e.g., a PA hire or basic function), but the focus is primarily on reacting to external developments. This is now more of a risk management function.
Proactive: The function starts shaping its own agenda. A greater percentage of work is forward-looking and opportunity focused. We now have an 80-20 split of risk management and opportunity creation.
Managed: Now we have a balance between managing risk and leveraging opportunity, often supported by agile processes and with real C-Suite buy-in and understanding of the roles that Public Affairs can play.
Effective: The function is embedded at the highest levels of the organisation—well-resourced, strategically led from the boardroom, and viewed as a value creator. It demonstrates value year on year.
Moving Up the Maturity Curve
Progressing along this curve isn’t just a matter of headcount or budget. It involves a shift in mindset, structure, and perception—internally and externally. These are many of the things I have addressed in my previous posts. To recap some of the strategic steps include:
Clarify Purpose and Metrics: What does Public Affairs deliver for your organisation? If your PA team is still viewed as a reactive cost center, it’s time to define its strategic value.
Build Internal Allies: Senior leaders, legal, communications, and commercial teams can either be roadblocks or accelerators.
Establish Process Discipline: Embedding structured ways to track issues, assess risks, and engage stakeholders systematically moves you from ad-hoc to managed.
Tell a Better Story: Demonstrating wins—both defensive (risk mitigation) and offensive (policy influence, market access)—helps elevate PA’s standing.
Resource Intelligently: Professionalization requires investment—not just in people, but in systems, training, and external intelligence.
A Sector-Agnostic Lens
This curve is deliberately universal. Whether you work in energy, technology, or consumer goods, and whether your HQ is in Nairobi, New York, or London, the same questions apply: How intentional is our Public Affairs strategy and what value does it create for the organisation? How integrated are we within the business? How do we measure value? And from this where are we now on the Public Affairs Maturity Curve and how do we move ahead. This will not happen on its own – it needs a plan and action to advance.
Public Affairs doesn’t mature on its own. It requires vision, patience, and champions inside the organisation. But with the right approach, even a modest function can become a strategic powerhouse.
Where are you on the curve and what are you doing to move head?
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