Retaining talent is a massive challenge: PRCAI

The Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI), in its annual report, mentions that the Rs 2,100 crore PR industry is on an upward trajectory. 

The 2022-23 Study of Public Relations Insights, Nuggets and Trends (SPRINT) paints an optimistic picture of the changing PR landscape. As per the study, PR consultancies in the country are making considerable investments to strengthen their regional outreach, as clients reach out to consumers in Tier-II/III cities. 

The report also reveals that the high employee attrition rate in the industry (20%), is a pressing issue that may hamper the quality and ability of client service. 

In an interview with afaqs!, PRCAI president Atul Sharma and CEO Deeptie Sethi talk about some interesting parts of the report, the evolving PR industry, the challenge of retaining talent, and more.  

Edited excerpts: 

What are some key highlights of the report?

Sethi: The PR industry is growing and there’s a lot of optimism. We’re a Rs 2,100 crore industry that has registered double-digit growth over the years. While there was a dip during COVID, the comeback has been quite strong. We grew at 13% and will continue to grow on the back of the unicorn economy. 

Today, PR is seen as a strategic problem-solving role. As per the study, eight out of 10 CEOs are involved in the process of planning and strategising. 

The report highlights that South India is the fastest-growing market. What has fuelled this growth? Can you also talk about the regional markets?

Sharma: For the western and northern markets, the base was always huge. For the southern markets, however, the base was small. But there’s been a lot of growth in the southern markets due to the demand for PR from startups. 

As far as regional growth goes, companies have now realised that the spending power of Indians is beyond just the top cities. So, the communication needs to be altered and specially designed for regional audiences. 

An interesting finding of the report is that technology adoption and automation will bring more efficiency to PR. How does PRCAI promote the responsible use of technology and ensure that AI isn’t being used in ways that could be harmful or unethical?

Sethi: One of the charters of PRCAI is, how do we make the industry more professional, ethical and prosperous? We have a professional charter, wherein ethics is right at the top and tech is also an important part. So, every time there’s fake news, tech is able to pull and point it out. PR has been trusted for centuries, because it involves third party validation. 

Sharma: Every time a PR professional puts a fact out, it has to be verified by them. It has to be the truth. So, while representing clients and putting facts out for media, social media or influencers, the onus of verifying that fact lies on PR professionals.

What are the most important skills that PR professionals, who's just beginning their journey, require? What is the role of industry bodies like PRCAI, here? 

Sethi: We’re in a good direction to this. We can’t do everything ourselves, and it has to be a joint responsibility. What we found is that about 1.5% of the revenue of organisations, are invested in training people.

The challenge is in terms of writing skills. While member organisations have their own programs, we, at an association level, have also launched a program called ‘the writing pen challenge’. 

Over the last year, we’ve trained about 90 people through a three-month rigorous program. We’ve tried to take them back to the habit of writing. 

Sharma: Our education system hasn’t evolved as fast as the private sector or the job market. While the bigger firms are able to hire people and train them internally, for the mid-size and smaller firms, the PRCAI has put together many programs, like ‘Accreditation in public relations’. Here, we test people for the minimum skills required to become a PR professional.

There’s another program that the PRCAI is running with academic institutes. We tell these institutes what they need to teach students so that when they become a part of the industry, they can start executing things well. 

Talent deficit continues to be one of the biggest challenges for the industry, as it records more than 20% attrition. How do agencies address this?

Sharma: Retaining talent is a massive challenge for a PR agency. First, there isn’t much employable talent and then, most people tend to be attracted by corporates that have started developing their own in-house teams and others by media houses, digital and advertising agencies. 

However, if we can get the academic institutes to come up with better curriculum, it can address the needs of employability. The Indian PR industry is just 1% of the total global market and the size of our economy, in comparison to this, is quite big. If the Indian PR industry grows the way it’s growing in the West, then it will become aspirational for the new-age talent. 

Sethi: Post-COVID, people have gone into higher introspection mode. We’ve seen people leaving the industry to pursue their interests. We need to ensure that their aspirations are met with good opportunities and they join the industry by choice, and not by chance.

Access the PRCAI SPRINT Handbook here: