When I interviewed to join ADPR a few years ago, one of the questions on my list was, “what does the training plan look like?”
Coming from a predominantly corporate background, where training budgets are decided centrally and sometimes based on blanket needs across the business, I braced myself for an answer that might imply a limited budget.
I was wrong. The answer I got was, “we don’t have a budget for training.” The answer was delivered with a beaming smile. Not quite what I was expecting – in my experience, this type of news is usually delivered with an avoidance of eye contact and shifting body language.
As you can imagine, my curiosity was piqued. It later transpired that ADPR doesn’t have a fixed budget for training because personal development is actively encouraged and built into our monthly planning for every member of staff. Each member of staff is encouraged to identify their own training needs and engage with personal development that is unique to them. In short, one size does not fit all. But what does it actually mean to work for a company that has an open budget for training?
Person centred training
Anyone who knows my story knows I partially retrained to join ADPR. I have been client-facing for my entire career, worked in the same office as news teams (since forever), and live for getting under the skin of a brand, but I had a skills gap within certain elements of the role.
This skills gap meant my interest in training and development was well founded. I needed to understand how to draft for PR and quickly. Luckily for me, ADPR knew exactly which direction to look. My first set of training was delivered by the PRCA, our sector body for setting the standard of work we complete, so a natural first stop.
The training was delivered in small groups, allowing for my development to focus on the structural issues I had in my writing style (no surprises, my paid media background loved a superlative – maybe it was a little too excitable for our journalist friends). And as I attended training sessions over the course of my first year, I started to develop a structured writing style, which gave the tools to draft in our clients’ tone of voice.
The real impact of personal development
Fast forward to today. With plenty of feedback from the business mixed with a lot of self-reflection, my personal development journey has now included several PRCA training courses on structural writing for PR, creating stories for press engagement and feature writing. The results of which means I have developed the skill to not only write within a brief, but also to create compelling stories that are relevant to tier one press.
This has made the business more stable. With training, we learn the skill of understanding what journalists need to create a newsworthy story, and how to develop working relationships that mean they trust our content will be print-ready at the point we share it.
The benefit for our clients is clear: when a well-trained team member makes a journalist’s job easier and has a network built on the tried and tested delivery of good content, the client gains better access to relevant and targeted coverage. When our team members offer advice, it’s based on experience and training, which are a great foundation for security.
And what about me? I’m more efficient in my writing. I feel confident in the process, which gives me confidence and job satisfaction.
Why is personal development so important?
You would be safe to assume that training keeps our team members on the ball. It helps us to stay ahead of new techniques and systems, keeping us relevant within our network – all of these things are true. But it’s more than just the impact on the business.
Some who work in PR report high levels of stress, leading to mental health issues. But we all know happy, supported people are less likely to struggle with the pressures of stress.
Also, content employees feel empowered to do the best in their job. They have energy, a sense of adventure and creativity, with a desire to learn and deliver that goes beyond the workplace – these are values celebrated from the heart of our business.
Success is a journey, not a destination
Personal development isn’t just about training courses; it’s about building confidence, creativity and capability, and I got that (with bells on) the day I joined ADPR.
As you can imagine, it never stops. So what’s next? An OU course on creative writing and critical reading. Stop the press – I’m not planning another career change into novel writing. I’m working on developing my own tone of voice and my ability to provide constructive feedback for other people’s writing – all skills I already use. But after all, more is more in the world of training, so why not do more?
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