As part of LRR’s ongoing diversity programme, one of our core focuses for 2022 is to partner with a more diverse range of charities; looking to utilise our team’s expertise to help benefit those looking to learn more about pursuing a career in PR and communications. Last month, our founder Vic, and diversity champion, Rob, hosted a PR masterclass with the Taylor Bennett Foundation.
The Taylor Bennett Foundation is an organisation set up to ensure people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds can pursue a career in communications. This work involves a variety of people, from students to post-grads. The foundation runs a variety of schemes to do this, including internship schemes, mentorship programmes, and even quarterly PR masterclasses, where members of the foundation can sign-up to attend sessions hosted at various agencies and in-house PR teams to gain direct experience in a variety of businesses.
These masterclasses would ordinarily be hosted in-person, with the trainees getting a brief tour, meeting with the team, alongside a few classes on the way a company works, and a more tailored masterclass on an activity said company ordinary carries out.
Our masterclass was held virtually but was still an excellent session. Beginning with introductions to the team, we delved into an overview of Little Red Rooster, giving an insight into our agency at-a-glance.
From there, Vic led a session on the culture of Little Red Rooster, giving the trainees an opportunity to learn something about how we operate as a business, and the agency’s history. From there everyone had the chance to ask direct questions about us, learning how we differ from other agencies and getting to hear some of the team’s experience at other agencies.
Next, Rob led a brief masterclass on ‘The Six Steps To Success When Pitching’. This saw us delve into the bread and butter of what we do as an agency, giving the members of the foundation an insight into not only how PR is done at a consumer agency, but also into how Little Red Rooster’s distinct culture and history have shaped the way we work.
Finally, the team held a 20-minute Q&A into everything discussed. This gave both parties time to chat, talk about what everyone thought of the session, and ask any questions the trainees had, on how we work, how PR works, and anything more generally on the team’s experiences.
Overall, this was a brilliant morning, giving the team the opportunity to use our expertise to help people, who ordinarily would face greater barriers to entry into the industry.
According to the CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations), diversity persists as one of the industry’s biggest challenges, especially regarding workplace diversity. The CIPR’s most recent ‘State of the Profession’ report notes that 91% of PR staff classify themselves as white. As such, hiring a more diverse workforce is crucial, not only on a moral and ethical level, but also to benefit a team in the ideas and cultures it has an insight into, which can help tenfold in ensuring creativity.
All in all, it was a brilliant session, and one we can’t wait to do again, hopefully in-person next time! If you’d like to learn more about Little Red Rooster’s diversity programme, please visit https://littleredrooster.co.uk/diversity/.
