Business News of Sunday, 2 July 2017

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Public Relations practitioners charged to stay relevant

President of the Institute of Public Relations (IPR), Dr. Elaine Sam play videoPresident of the Institute of Public Relations (IPR), Dr. Elaine Sam

President of the Institute of Public Relations (IPR), Dr. Elaine Sam, has charged individuals responsible for projecting the ideals of companies in the country to prove their worth by dispelling suggestions that business entities in Ghana 'waste' money on PR activities that have little to no impact on the goodwill of their brands.

Dr. Elaine Sam who was speaking at the 2017 Women in PR Ghana Seminar, urged Public Relations (PR) Officers, especially women, to show their skills and prove how significant they are to the company’s corporate image and business development.

“Because PR is often time difficult to measure, we are seen to be people spending money and generating no income. So you must be able to speak in a business minded way. Task yourself to bring something to the table. If all you do is to go explain things on radio in times of issues, what if they there is no challenge in 5 years?”

According to Dr. Sam, women in particular must be hardworking and eschew 'women related excuses', adding that such excuses only make women even more expendable at work places - a situation she sees as a major contributor to the low number of female managers in the country.

“When the place employs you and gives you a job description and attaches salary to your name. It doesn’t mean the company is oblige to continuously pay you. You have to hold on to the opportunity and grow your skills. And please ladies some the excuses we think help us play truant will not help us develop our carrier”

Dr. Sam also admonished women to leverage on Ghana’s affirmative space and rise to positions of influence.