With new graduates, the migration begins
By Susan Lauver, APR
As spring commencement ceremonies end, the migration begins – New grads starting their first “real” jobs and college students signing on for internships. You’ve likely already covered the basics with your new recruits: How they log in, when they get paid, and whether they have to show up in person. Now, as they interact with colleagues, customers, and clients, it’s time to help them launch their careers with a grounding in ethics. It will benefit everyone.
In the classroom, thanks to faculty at the University of Tennessee and elsewhere, many interns and grads will have completed a required ethics course, like UT’s course on “Ethical and Legal Issues in PR.”
In the workplace, they need our help applying that coursework to on-the-job issues. Ethical challenges can occur every day – the risk of incomplete or inaccurate information, comments on social media, potential conflicts of interest, possible breaches of confidentiality. For young professionals, this can be new territory.
A study on ethics and ethical awareness among young professionals was sponsored by the Arthur W. Page Center and PRSA Board of Ethics & Professional Standards (BEPS) in 2016. The bottom line? Reports on the findings say young professionals typically do not feel prepared to offer counsel on ethical questions, and they are unlikely to speak up when facing an ethical dilemma.
In other words, what they don’t know can hurt you. And your clients, and your credibility. The study also found that those who have had ethics training through their employers or PRSA or have the benefit of a mentor are more likely to raise concerns.
That’s where we come in.
Marline Neill, APR and Fellow PRSA, and Nancy Weaver, APR, conducted the research. In discussing the findings on the Institute for Public Relations website, Dr. Neill said raising ethical awareness among young professionals starts with those of us who work with them. Their ethical awareness begins when they see us put our ethics and values into action, with the behavior and integrity we model.
Beyond that, we need to encourage young professionals – and one another – to be aware of potential ethical issues and the codes of ethics for our specific enterprises, as well as PRSA’s Code of Ethics. By being more aware of potential pitfalls, we can act more deliberately and thoughtfully, demonstrating what Dr. Neill calls “greater discernment.” It's on us to foster awareness and to listen willingly – so that young professionals learn to recognize ethical challenges and gain the courage to speak up when they have questions.
Dr. Neill urges us to have conversations about accepted standards of behavior that our companies set and adhere to, and that PRSA has established. She also encourages us to discuss scenarios – the what-if exercises that increase awareness and help prevent missteps.
With the 24/7 news cycle and multiple internal and external communications channels, even inadvertent unethical behavior can make headlines and break bottom lines. The PRSA Code of Ethics can help you start a conversation to reduce risks and add value for your young professionals.
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Hear from Dr. Neill in this PRSA on-demand webinar. It’s free for PRSA members and provides credit toward APR renewal:
PRSA Storytellers: Essential Ethics Competencies in Public Relations: Common Deficiencies and Helpful Resources
The past two reports published by the Commission on Public Relations Education (2017, 2023) found that public relations practitioners were not satisfied with the ethics skills of young professionals, so a new study was conducted that focused on identifying what are the essential ethics skills and which of these are perceived as lacking in our profession today.
The insights are based on a national survey with more than 300 public relations professionals followed by a second national survey with both public relations professionals and educators. Their personal perceptions of preparedness to serve as ethics advisers in their organization were assessed. They were also asked to identify the most common ethical issues facing them today. Some of the results may be considered surprising.
By the end of this webinar, participants will:
- Discover what are the essential ethics skills in public relations today.
- Assess their own mastery of these core ethics skills.
- Learn about resources available for enhancing their ethics skills.