Welcome back to the office - Public Relations Student Event Re-cap
Introduction
Working from home during this pandemic has challenged most PR professionals to adapt to a new normal. Now, many are faced with the challenge of returning to in-person work in the coming months. A group of post-grad PR students from Centennial College recognized many are feeling anxious, dread, excitement or fear so they hosted a virtual panel discussion called ‘Welcome back to the office’ on Monday, November 29 to share what ‘work’ may look like for the PR industry in the near future.
The distinguished panel of PR and HR industry experts provided insights, ideas and ways they are supporting their employee’s mental health during this time of transition.
The four panellists from four leading agencies included:
- Andrea Cunningham, operations manager, Argyle PR;
- Lena Knight, vice-president, Agnostic;
- Maggie Hall, account director, Kaiser & Partners; and
- Stephanie Bell, vice-president and head of human resources, Media Profile.
Key takeaways
- Stronger team bonding: As a result of remote workplaces, PR professionals are pausing, observing and getting inspired by practitioners from within their existing network; an opportunity that wasn’t as readily available pre-pandemic.
Kaiser & Partners organizes virtual luncheon sessions to discuss insightful industry events, learn from one another as team members and engage in cultural exchanges to foster a deeper sense of community amongst employees.
- Taking care of mental health: To ensure that employees aren’t left feeling burnt out and exhausted, agencies are taking a preventive approach to mental health.
At Media Profile, each staff meeting ends with a wellness activity such as yoga or meditation to help retain mental freshness. Every year, the agency provides $500 to each employee to maintain overall health and wellness and $2,000 to access mental health resources, when required. Two mental health paid days per year are also provided.
- Personalized work models: Agencies are surveying employees to get a gauge on their feelings about returning to work and many are open to accommodating those who’d like to continue working from home.
Agnostic shared their long-standing ‘employee-centric’ work policy, even pre-pandemic. The agency is less concerned about where an employee is working from and more focused on creating flexible support for their employees.
Argyle PR is indulging their staff with some retail therapy by providing a small monetary incentive to put towards the purchase of a new coffee mug, a new computer bag or transit fare…a little perk to make the commute back into the office a little smoother.
- Maintaining work-life balance: Working from home means the lines between our professional and personal lives are often blurred and during the pandemic, many employees were working long past 9 to 5. Most have implemented policies to maintain work hours and restrict emails and calls from clients and managers after hours.
Media Profile provides employees with financial resources to work from anywhere in the world for one month at a time. These ‘nomad’ programs provide employees with a change of scenery and an immersive cultural experience while completing their day-to-day client work.
Conclusion
During this time of transition from the virtual office to the in-person office, many employers are going the extra mile to make sure their team members feel valued, heard and taken care of.
If you are experiencing anxiety, insecurity or fear about returning to your office, contact your HR department to help you ease back into your workplace with a fresh, creative, collaborative and open perspective.
By Dhruvy Rawal, Public Relations - Corporate Communications Student