By Jeremy D. Bridgman
They can be both the hardest working and the most ineffective employees your organization will have. They can surprise as easily as they can frustrate. And, they have a direct
impact on your bottom line.
I am writing, of course, about young public relations professionals.
As someone who learned the business in classes and through PRSA and PRSSA, the messages for success were clear: Read the papers, get a mentor, find a job. Knowing
people from other groups and majors, the messages for success were the same.
The question is what to do when one of the better young professionals works at your company. Specifically focusing on those people whom your organization cannot afford to lose,
what can be done to keep them and to recruit similar ones?
Among the professionals I know, the one-line answer is common: Give good people important work that matters.
Disparate corporate cultures aside, here are a few steps designed to motivate and increase loyalty for your company's best young public relations professionals:
Open expectations, open educational opportunities
When I started in the investor relations group at Makovsky + Company, I felt that my biggest limitation was one that I couldn't control: I was young.
Starting in the IR field, I could not draw on my personal experience with an IPO or bankruptcy, but I wanted nothing more than to get to that point. My employer took me on with
the understanding that my dedication would be rewarded with formal and informal training. The upfront understanding was that I would pick up the education and the experience along
the way, and the top professionals at my firm have made it a priority.
Share some "secrets"
Many recent graduates know public relations from the educational standpoint, and some may have a difficult time reconciling the differences between theory and practice. Not
every program is a Tylenol crisis, and we are learning that. There is, however, an opportunity to bring them to the table with more high-level information, putting the
current work into a larger context.
A twentysomething may not need to be privy to contract negotiations, but they should have a working understanding of the high-level strategy. Savvy public relations pros also
know that office politics (both internally and among the client contacts) is important, and managers can prevent issues by being more up front with young professionals.
Admonish the bad, explain the good
We will make mistakes. The good professionals will take responsibility for them. How the mistakes are received is based on interpersonal communication and will directly
impact job satisfaction.
Sometimes as important is how successes are handled. Regardless of whether incentive programs and recruitment bonuses are part of the culture, newly minted professionals can
quickly learn how to repeat best practices when they know why a plan, pitch or presentation worked. Our firm's "We Achieve" program recognizes such accomplishments.
Appease the insecurity
There will come a time a young professional begins to ponder whether s/he has made the right decisions in choosing a profession - and especially a first job. We are hitting our
quarter-life crisis, which is a common term and mindset.
Young professionals are as confused as many people about the future of public relations, and the most promising find comfort in hearing the field and the job are in fact
worthy. Every side of the business should be working in tandem, and young professionals want to be along for the ride.
Embrace technology - for them
Much has been written on each side of the issues about Internet usage in the workplace; to wit, whether instant messaging, blog reading, etc. either improve communication or
crush productivity.
Young people are largely comfortable in an autonomous and automated environment. The point here is the young professionals you are working to retain are the ones who may have a
grasp on reaching informal networks of "sneezers" and "thought leaders."
Together, these suggestions are a way to bring the next generation permanently into your fold of public relations professionals. Call it retaining or mentoring, but it is the
best hope for your organization to keep its best and brightest young stars.
Contact: Jeremy D. Bridgman is an account executive at Makovsky + Company, an integrated public relations and investor relations firm in New York City. He can be reached at
212.508.9676 or [email protected].