Despite industry-wide claims of long hours, our research suggests that PROs, in the main, work less hours than other professions. So, if you were hoping to escape your family, PR is probably not the right career.
Unlike many other professions, it offers flexibility and reasonable working hours. Richard Ellis, communications director at the PRCA, says according to the PRCA’s annual benchmarking survey, the average working day in PR is not that long when compared with other professions such as accountancy and the legal profession: “The average number of working hours for an account executive, for example, is 41 hours a week, and for an account manager 42 hours a week.“
Not having to be in the office all hours, however, does not mean that PROs are going to devote all their free time to having quality time with their families. After all, it is a profession that is well known for having many social events to attend. Ellis believes that this does not need to interfere with home life, as it is up to the individual to choose a job that requires only the level of out-of-hours commitment they are happy to put in. He adds: “You have to be intelligent about how you choose your career and there are questions you have to ask yourself before you sign any work contract. Some jobs require lots of travel, for example, but there are so many different types of roles in PR, that there’s something for everyone essentially.”
In fact, it could be argued that the social nature of PR tends to attract people who are naturally better at building relationships, and this should bode well for their personal relationships as well as for their working ones. For example, one essential skill of a good PRO is the ability to listen, and this is always valued by others and is vital for successful relationships.
Nevertheless, no matter how great a PRO’s interpersonal skills, it is bound to be tricky if they have to work with their other halves, or members of their family. Especially if they work in a small or family firm, where they are likely to feel particular responsibility for the business’s success, as well as having to be in close, and almost constant, proximity with their loved ones.
In their book Family Wars, Grant Gordon and Nigel Nicholson illustrate through stories of 24 famous family business bust-ups the perils of working closely with your kith and kin. Nigel Nicholson says: "Great family businesses are world-beaters so long as they can get a strong positive family culture into the firm, but there are plenty of hazards along the way." He says these include: a mix of personalities that is too explosive; family business patriarchs deaf to the ideas or needs of others; and a lack of basic governance mechanisms to regulate normally occurring conflicts. He lists a number of warning signs and strategies for dealing with conflict, and says that above all, people should cultivate the art of seeing the world from others' points of view, and not let self-righteous emotions overwhelm decision-making.
To find out effective strategies for working with your nearest and dearest, we asked PR couples to explain the secrets of their own relationships’ success. All were still together at time of writing!
Couples at work
Case Study 1
Helen and Shaun Westgate are directors of PR/branding firm Westgate. Here Helen discusses why she never brings her work home, or her home to work:
“When I am at a party and someone asks me what I do and I tell them that I run a business with my husband they look at me as though I am completely mad. But all I can say is that it works for us.
“Who knows why? Perhaps it is because we are complete opposites (I veer more towards the people skills side, Shaun is more strategic and analytical), or is it because in an agency of 22 people we actually don’t see that much of each other day to day anyway? I do think that trusting each other is integral to making a personal partnership work in the commercial arena. I always respect his opinion and, as I would say to that person at the party, if you can’t trust your husband who can you trust? Five years ago, when we first started Westgate, the blend of our respective branding, marketing and PR skills combined with our contrasting personalities made for as strong a commercial partnership as a domestic one and this still works today.
“But at the end of the day, its different strokes for different folks. It also helps by setting some ground rules along the way ... such as never talking about work at weekends or after 7pm on week nights, and always behaving professionally with each other in the office, avoiding the temptation to air domestic issues in front of colleagues. As far as humanly possible anyway.”
Case Study 2:
Stephen Francis and Kelly Lloyd-Watson are directors of PR firm Real Reputations. As well as discussing the challenges of working with your partner, they list top tips for making it work.
Stephen's view:
“Kelly’s and my personal relationship was borne out of business, having met 14 years ago when she successfully helped to promote my digital comms business prior to a sell-off.
“Neither of us thought about working together after that, but our personal relationship developed fast and our little girl Evie May and big boy Josh kept our minds focused on what is most important. Over a period of time, working together just seemed to happen as our respective business worlds came closer together. We started to rely more and more on each other for advice, knowledge and support, starting with day-to-day work stuff and then the bigger communication issues – this ultimately led to me working full time on ‘the dark side’ with Kelly.
“For me, Kelly’s daily advice, tutorials and occasional bullying has helped me greatly understand the business of PR over the past few years and, I hate to say it, become more disciplined in what I do. Throw in her never-die attitude and a ferocious commitment to delivering what she has promised to and I could not have had a better teacher. You will have to ask Kelly what I bring to a unique mix – most probably, glamour…
“Finally, on a day-to-day, work-versus-private balance you need to draw a line between the two areas as often as possible because it isn’t easy – they use two very different parts of your brain and both demand as much as the other.
“We have put down a few pointers below but the key words that come to mind are instinctive, empathy, friendship, love and straight talking when required.”
Kelly's view:
“As usual, I can’t get a word in edgeways as Stephen has taken over this article, so here lies my first qualm! Seriously, working with Stephen has helped me a lot over the last two very tough years, especially when big decisions have to be made. When I first set up the business the toughest thing for me was the decision-making process and I constantly felt very alone. Now, I can rely on Stephen for additional input, that more often than not is completely ignored as once discussed I realise that I was right in the first instance!
“Of course, there are times when I want to jump across the desk and punch him, but as a professional I simply grab my fags and pace up and down outside the office scr
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