When you are running a PR firm, one of the most vital aspects you need to consider is your workforce. Without a great team of people working for you, your business will quickly wither and die. After all, if there is no one providing quality services, marketing and selling them to customers, helping clients with any problems they have, and building a stronger brand image in your market, then you don’t have a company at all.
Despite this obvious fact, relatively few business owners reflect on who they are hiring to work for them. Employees are often treated as a necessary evil—a headache that constantly brings stress rather than benefits. This is a flawed approach and only serves to impede your business growth. Instead, you need to attract the best possible people to work for your PR team. This way, you will have harder working, more talented, and creative employees—which will take your organization to previously unimaginable heights.
This is how to make your PR agency more appealing to work for so you can retain quality employees, which in turn keeps your customers happy because their work is continually delivered on time and to a high standard. Remember, you may be helping businesses boost their reputation, but you must also think about your own:
Solve problems as soon as they crop up
One of the most attractive qualities that prospective employees look for in an organization is effective leadership and problem-solving. No one wants to spend their life working at a business that neglects to solve its problems, overcome challenges or respond to complaints from the workforce. In fact, it is these types of employers who attract people with similarly slack and lazy qualities—which is not what you need if you want to become a market-leading PR firm. This won’t help your clients get the PR exposure they need or leave you with a glowing reputation.
Take a problem as simple as a water leak, for example. If a tap or toilet in your office is faulty, you need to demonstrate your responsiveness by calling a commercial plumber Columbus OH. The better the environment you give them, the more likely they’ll be more productive writing press releases, monitoring the media, or organizing events for your clients.
Introduce incentives for staff members
Another great way to look more appealing to potential staff members is to introduce an incentive scheme. These incentives could include a generous amount of vacation time, a strong salary, a fun workplace (such as an office filled with table footballs, table tennis tables, or even a slide), as well as team-building activities outside of the office. Of course, you could get more creative by offering discounts at particular stores, private healthcare, insurance, or a company car. Ultimately, you want to look at what your competitors are doing and make your company more desirable than theirs—use your own PR knowledge to get the positive word out about your business. Consider what candidates applying to positions within your firm would most value, and then see if you can offer it in a cost-effective way.
Have a clear career ladder within the business
You could also offer a designated career ladder within your company to tempt the best candidates to work with you. After all, these people are unlikely to be short of offers, so you need to give them the stability of a long-term career. There are many other firms just waiting to snatch up your talent. This should obviously be included as a performance-based incentive scheme. If they perform well, you can say there is the opportunity to be promoted quickly and reach their career goals far more quickly than they otherwise would.
