At the moment, there are two main problems with training people when they start their first PR agency job. One is that PR is modernising so quickly that it is a fast-moving feast – meaning the whole agency really needs constant training. The other is that most agencies have a long and undistinguished history of being pretty lacklustre about training people properly.
There I go again, wooden spoon in hand. But it’s true. Admit it. There are a few exceptions, many will say they have a structured training programme but they’re hardly comprehensive, while others do next-to sod all really.
The ability to turn entry-level people into really good PR people is not just a commercial priority, it’s something of a moral obligation too. Given these types of stories about exploitation of graduates by agencies, the industry is going to soil its own reputation if it can’t take a more responsible approach.
It’s blindingly obvious. Agencies are people businesses. Winning and retaining the best clients is linked closely with attracting and developing the best people. Inadequate training is bad for business and bad for the industry. And I’m sure the industry bodies would agree wholeheartedly with that.
So what should training for entry-level staff look like these days?
Well, first off in my experience the best training schemes recognise that the person starting their first PR job doesn’t just need skills and knowledge to enable them to do their initial jobs, but to equip them well for the rest of their careers. And to enable them to progress as fast as they’re able to. It’s not just a question of giving everyone a gun, boots and a tin hat and then sending them into combat. They need to understand how the machine works and what its aims are, and be exposed to some of the many subtleties that will determine success. Equally, they need to know what not to do if they want to keep themselves ‘alive’.
But the scope of training needs to be pretty broad. There needs to be sufficient time allowed to undertake it. It needs to be taken seriously, treated like another client essentially. And the individual needs to understand its purpose, rather than see the scheme as a series of disconnected chores.
Here are nine things I think entry-level training for PR agency jobs should encompass. Pace will depend on individuals and budgets of course, but this lot is all realistic – or should be – within the first year:
1. How to do the basics: most agencies seem to be reasonable good at ensuring people have some basic grasp of what the job entails and what it’s all about in order to get started. Of course they do – otherwise there’s a massive risk that someone will monumentally f*ck up something important. Learning on the job is vital, but equally there should be some structure behind what’s required to deliver all of the client work assigned, how best to manage time and how to undertake basic personal administration.
2. The money side: exposure to the fundamentals of how the agency makes money, banks and may lose money. The basics of risk and reward. But also some outline knowledge of how clients’ budgets work and how we help manage them (and what things tend to cost).
3. Keeping everyone happy: you have three masters – clients, the media and the person who pays your salary (the agency). You need help juggling their multiple wants and needs, all of which may suddenly turn without warning.
4. People development: OK, you’re on the bottom rung, but you need to know what the other rungs all look like and how others will help you to get up them. It’s part of their jobs too. Agencies should ensure their people are all clear on how they develop people, then come good on their promises. Few do. I am by no means perfect, but am doing all I can to be far better at it in future. Oh, and firms should have transparent salary scales, rather than trying to play mind games and fob people off with vaguaries.
5. Understanding the media and media change: yes read the media, but also understand how it works and how it is changing. Even ask senior people about media change at interview stage – if it’s clear they don’t understand it, it might not be an agency that offers you a long-term future.
6. The agency and its difference: most PR firms are pretty ropey at explaining how they’re different – because many of them AREN’T that different. But where points of real difference exist, everyone in the business should understand them, rather than relying on some mystic osmosis to enable people to find out.
7. How we do new business: I know some agencies don’t let junior people pitch, ever. It’s not always appropriate, as whatever is needed to win the pitch is the priority. But people should all be exposed to new business and be involved, in whatever way possible, in sales from day one. The best new business people of the future will be those who start early.
8. Legal/contractual obligations: well the contractual stuff can be tedious, but it’s the best way to understand what the agency has assured it will do and what the scope of the account is. Perhaps more important, though, is to understand the legal implications of PR work – media law, employment law, criminal law, copyright and so on. It amazes me that PRs are hired to represent brands to the outside world and yet so few get even the most rudimentary instruction of the legal risk of doing so and the potential consequence of their actions. If you don’t tell them, you’ve only got yourself to blame if the sky starts falling in.
9. English: the best saved ’til last. I wish it weren’t so, but far too many people coming into PR these days have poor spelling, a scant understanding of grammar and seem to have never received any instruction whatsoever on how to use the humble apostrophe. And don’t start me on incorrect use of plurals. So rather than moan about it, those who get it should help them. That is all.
Anyway, I hope these few posts have been in some way useful in setting out what PR firms should be doing, commercially and morally, to breed the best talent for tomorrow. And what people coming into the trade can do to increase their odds of landing the right job, and ask the right questions in doing so.
PR has largely been paying lip service to proper people development for too long. We need to improve, and the new generation trying to get a foot in the door is the best place to start. Before it becomes a lost generation.
