Applying My Personal Values When Working in Public Relations

Applying my personal values when working in Public Relations Naturally everyone has his or her own personal values, which is brought to the work environment. These values are obtained from parents, relatives, teachers, friends and from the surrounding environment. It is the set of personal values that would decide the attitudes and related behaviors that are applied in a job. If I were to work in a public relations environment, there are a few values I would need to put in practice. They are: Tolerant, Empathy and Non-judgmental.

Generally I am said to be a very tolerant person. I do not get annoyed, angry nor irritated that easily. My friends like me especially for this reason because I never throw a bad temper at them. I find myself usually very patient in situations most of my friends easily get angry about. This value, I think, is very important when dealing with people. In the current fast-changing business world, a lot of people get into complicated situations which require more and more assistance from service providers. Customers need patient listening ears.

I believe I have that. Listening patiently and analyzing a given situation before jumping to decisions and conclusions would be what being tolerant is all about. My high level of tolerance will definitely make me a successful PR personnel. Apart from that, I am said to have a strong concern for people I care about (family and friends) and those around me. High level of empathy is definitely a crucial feature of a PR personnel. It is very necessary to fit into an uncomfortable person’s shoes to understand what the person is going through.

Having a soft spot for customers and clients is essential in the PR environment. Being too rigid will only reflect poor customer service. PR is a suitable work area for me because I easily empathize with people in distress. Where possible and necessary, I usually try all my best to solve the problem at hand without further causing unhappiness and pain to the person in trouble. Without empathy, it is usually difficult to work effectively as a PR personnel. Another value I hold closely to myself is being non-judgmental.

I always thought that it is not my place to judge anyone, except myself. I think it is important for me to judge myself every now and then, so that I can work on my mistakes and become a better person. However, I rarely pass a judgmental comment on people around me. I think this value is very important when working in a PR environment because I should not judge and negative comments to the customers and clients. I should be solving their problems in the best way possible with effective results.

Customers and clients would feel more comfortable communicating their issues to a PR person who is not judging their issues and problems all the time. Not passing negative comments to their ideas also improves the business relationship with the organization. Being a practitioner of this value, I will definitely be able to make a good PR personnel. To be in the PR environment, one should have sufficient related values to successfully serve the PR function. I should continue to uphold the values mentioned above if I want to become a successful PR personnel.