How to keep PR teams motivated in a stressful environment
24 Nov 2023, By Deya Bhattacharya
24 Nov 2023, By Deya Bhattacharya
The PR life is a highly rewarding one, but there’s no denying it’s a tough job. Long hours and tight deadlines are often the order of the day, and keeping abreast of industry trends for a broad portfolio of clients is its own challenge. The profession demands a lot as resources have an additional layer of stakeholder group to work with and satisfy. Unlike most professions where it is just the clients and the bosses to have to work with, a PR professional needs to also engage with and build a rapport with the journalists and the media. This adds immense pressure on the teams to work with and appease all stakeholders.
By investing in a healthy and happy work environment, however, PR firms can motivate team members to keep showing up and doing their best while maintaining a balance with the rest of their life. And the average PR professional is between 25 to 35 years making it a young and vibrant industry.
Here are some of the ways we keep them motivated beyond just monetary compensation –
● Culture – Build a strong culture based on powerful values and ethics. Transparency and an open culture should drive innovation and collaboration across teams. A company will most often be remembered by its culture and its values by employees past and present prompting loyalty and positive equity.
● Recognition – This is a seemingly small but extremely important part of employee motivation. Openly appreciating contributions at the time they are made shows the employee that you are noticing their efforts and motivates them to keep performing every day. We make it a point to publicly acknowledge what our team members have done for every client and every project milestone.
● Hybrid Model – A hybrid work model is advantageous for team members allowing them to balance their work and personal life effectively. It eliminates the endless hours spent on the road for commute to office and back on a daily basis.
● Training – The PR and marketing industries are evolving rapidly. To offer our clients the best possible service, it is vital that we stay abreast of the latest trends. We conduct regular training sessions on PR, marketing, advertising, communications, technology and other relevant areas, bringing in external trainers to contribute as needed. Team members also have the opportunity to attend conferences and seminars wherever relevant.
● Peer-to-peer mentorship – We match new associates with our more experienced team members to encourage closer bonding while they learn. This also allows new team members the opportunity to share their thoughts more freely and take on a collaborative rather than a subordinate role.
● Offsite events – Team-building in person is vital to creating authentic bonds and letting everyone learn and have fun together. At Star Squared, we host an annual offsite event where we share our achievements over the year, present awards to outstanding contributors and bond over activities. In addition, we host festivals and other special occasions throughout the year.
● Volunteering – At Star Squared PR, we strongly believe in the virtue of giving back to the community. Our team members are associated with charities to which they devote their time and resources.
● Diverse team – We believe that diversity is key to bringing fresh ideas to the table and promoting a culture of innovation and collaboration. We’re proud to be a women-majority team and to welcome professionals from a variety of backgrounds.
● Open culture – Every member of the team at Star Squared PR has equal opportunity to express their ideas and suggest ways to improve. We ensure that all ideas are given equal consideration and encourage everyone to own their roles rather than be led.
● Ensure suitable compensation – Institute a strong financial support system to help employees benefit the most from monetary compensation. Never delay payments be it to employees or to other vendors and partners as this is a strong reflection of the company’s value systems.
Ultimately, building and nurturing a motivated team doesn’t have to be hard. It’s about understanding what their needs are at work and beyond and endeavoring to meet those needs as sincerely as possible. Over the last seven years, our team has consistently won us accolades and goodwill in the market, and we like to think that the culture we’ve strived to build has much to do with it.
We’re a young but thriving team at Star Squared PR, and we’re proud to regularly add loyal members to our ranks. It is pertinent to note that some of the team members have been with the company since its inception and continue to grow.
