If you ask just about any PR pro, they will probably have horrible stories about a toxic PR agency they worked for or encountered. Many people in PR talk about hating agency life and that the dream is to land an in-house role. As someone who has worked with a number of PR agencies, I share the sentiment. I just made a decision to leave an agency myself and it is not the second or even the third time I’ve made that call. It is never easy to walk away from a job, especially when you don’t have something else lined up. However, at times quitting your agency is best for your career and well-being. Here are my five reasons you should quit your PR agency.
- They’re Compromising Your Work Ethics
In the second year of my PR career, I took my first prominent role with an agency and one reason I left was for ethical reasons. I remember towards the end of my tenure my boss said I should expect to always write the responses for written interviews myself. That is something I knew I couldn’t do. As a PR pro, it is very key to maintain credibility with media pros. Also, answering for your clients ruins the quality of interviews. This PR agency was also forcing me to hassle journalists who reached out with interest. I knew staying there would result in burning bridges. The same goes for agencies who want you to mass pitch or pressure you into pitching contacts who aren’t solid fits. Leave these agencies or they will ruin your reputation.
- The Agency Expects You to Work Free Hours
I recently read a Reddit post where someone was saying they felt that their agency expected free hours. Many other PR pros agreed and said they experienced something similar. Thinking back on it, I definitely have been there once or twice. One agency had me doing so much work, it was impossible to complete it all in 8 hours. I had about four meetings a day, I was given no time to be onboarded, I had daily tasks and about four new tasks added each day. Realistically it would have taken me about 10-12 hours daily to do all that I was assigned. I felt that the agency owner lied about wanting us to work just 8 hours, but more so wanted us to report just 8 hours and work the rest for free. That kind of work environment left me with virtually no work life balance. It also drains you from doing quality PR work, because the focus shifts from doing solid work to completing work as fast as possible.
- Toxic Leadership Behavior
People constantly say that PR isn’t for the faint of heart, but really it’s more due to toxic leaders. Most true PR pros understand that PR takes time and strategy. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither are solid PR campaigns. I would say that most of us can cope with the challenges, PR is never easy. What makes coping tough is a mix of clients and leaders. I would say both are very much related. Bad leaders will expect you to meet the unrealistic expectations of clients. Some will even sell those expectations to gain the clients. Then when the inevitable failure happens, they blame the team members. A good PR leader understands the importance of managing expectations. One role of a PR pro is to advise clients properly, you’re the expert in the outfit.
Another trait of a toxic PR boss is micromanaging. As a PR pro with 5 years of media pitching and a track record of success with difficult accounts, I find it insulting. One agency head I worked under forced the team to be a carbon copy of him. Every PR pro has their own unique way of getting results, let them do their thing. Why would you care if the results are coming in? A good leader won’t micromanage, they will let their team work and be there to provide guidance when needed.
The worst leader habit in PR I would say is lashing out in anger. From my experience, toxic PR bosses get enraged over the tiniest of things. One of my old bosses talked negatively about each team member I ever worked with. As a group, we did great work together. Our boss also had a tendency to occasionally yell at people, he’d call me up complaining over the weekend and he even fired a team member over a press release not being published on-time by an intern. Let me tell you, a press release going on the wires is just so very unimportant. Leaders like this individual act out in this way over frustrations with the business, not the staff. The team is simply their punching bag.
- They Don’t Vet Clients
Some of the worst PR agencies to work for will take on just about any client. These situations are bad for two reasons: 1. Failure is inevitable and you’ll just waste energy trying to make the impossible happen. 2. They will have too many clients coming in and out the door. PR campaigns take time to build up steam. Working on PR accounts like this can lead to burnout. When you reach this stage, work is just a task, rather than a challenge or adventure.
- They’re Not Competent
I find it funny that many PR agencies want to hire PR pros with significant agency experience. To be truthful, working at an agency doesn’t mean you received useful knowledge. There are a lot of bad agencies out there, rather they focus on the spray and pray method, pass off paid media as earned media or simply sell unrealistic PR expectations. I have worked with 9 different PR and marketing agencies on their PR campaigns. Only four of them actually taught me something. When I left these bad agencies, I really realized that I needed to unlearn their PR beliefs or I would not be good at my work.
Cwamne PR 
Leave a comment