As a university public relations academic, there are times of the year when I'm suddenly very popular. Here's a clue: It is not always (or often) with students around assignment deadlines. The sudden popularity comes when the same students are coming up to graduation and PR employers are looking for talent.

Some are very direct with a "Tom, old friend, tell me who the really bright students are." Or it's "Hi Tom, I haven't seen you for a while. Why don't we have lunch soon?" Either way, the search for talent has an annual cycle and, at Bournemouth University in England, we have many very employable students.

But when it comes to senior appointments, I get a different message from old colleagues, headhunters and other industry contacts. The phone message is nearly always along the lines of: "We are looking for a really good senior communicator, but it's tough to find them these days. Who can you recommend to us?" This is often a phone call with a tinge of desperation.

When starting the research on competencies needed for future senior communicators for the Institute of Public Relations (IPR), I did my own phone and email research with contacts, as I wanted to identify senior communicators who would take part in our study. In some parts of the developed world, there were many people to speak with. But as I moved to the developing world, the question was often reversed to "There's no one here—who can you recommend to us?"

In this world of very fast turnaround and dynamic communication flows, it's apparent that in developed-world markets like North America and north Europe, there are many technically able communicators who are comfortable on the home cultural terrain. In the developing countries of the Gulf, south and east Asia and southern Africa, however, there is a dearth of both local talent and senior-level international communicators. (I have omitted Latin America and francophone Africa as these have not been researched).

So why are there so few truly international, senior-level communication advisers who operate with some confidence across cultures? How can they be developed? These are questions that I have started researching for the IPR. With my colleague, Dr. Chindu Sreedharan, we reviewed academic and professional journals and media for the major issues that will be shaping high-level corporate communications and PR.

Our aim is to guide the public relations industry on what it takes to prepare the next generation of leaders in globally integrated organizations. The reputation of organizations is increasingly challenged in this age of rapid response. Communicators need to be educated and trained on higher skills than ever before—and this research will identify the most important skills and knowledge areas.

The situation is that communicators are now operating in Thomas Friedman's "flat world" of working without borders for corporations that are global entities with new engagement rules. It is also an information age that is ever more intricate and more complex. Here are headlines on the challenges and the future needs:

The challenges for communicators are:

• PR and corporate communications are behind the curve on social media. They are slower to adopt more technologically complicated tools and must change from broadcast machine to community participation.

• They must place greater importance on ethics, CSR and sustainability.

• There are more and complex demands for communication from internal audiences.

• They are new to operationalize culturally sensitive communication in a changing world.

• Getting to the C-level remains a significant challenge.

• They must provide proof of PR and corporate communication's contributions to strategic decision-making, strategy development, realization and organizational functioning.

Future communicators need to:

• Be flexible communicators, capable of adapting quickly. "One key role of our profession in the decades ahead will be to master the skills and dynamics of these new media," the Page Society says.

• Be able to interpret changes and trends in communication practices and technology and guide implementation—but not necessarily be a communication technologist.

• Have broader analytical and critical skills in order that they become respected at C-level.

• Become closer to trends and policy-making, especially on CSR/sustainability, often actively participating in the discourse.

• Possess a more inter-disciplinary set of competencies so they can act as advisors with equal standing to other senior operational colleagues.

• Have negotiation, relationship-building and management skills.

• Coach and mentor senior management to communicate, manage relationships and deal with new demands.

A study to test these propositions is under way among senior communicators in North America, Europe and other markets. It will report in early 2010. The research is being made possible by a grant from the Coca Cola Company to the IPR.

Dr. Tom Watson is deputy dean of the Media School at Bournemouth University in England. A former consultancy M.D. and chair of the UK's Public Relations Consultants Association from 2000 to 2002, Tom is a member of the Commission on the Measurement & Evaluation of Public Relations. He is leading the research that will be reported to the IPR's European Professional Colloquium in the first quarter of 2010. The IRP has commissioned research into the skills, expertise and competencies required for the top public relations advisers and corporate communicators in the next decade.