Meet the latest Socially Mobile class of 2022
Socially Mobile helps practitioners step up as managers and increase their earning potential. I caught up with some of the latest cohort of students as they complete the programme.
We've opened paid and funded applications for the third Socially Mobile cohort, the leadership communication programme that aims to increase diversity in public relations. It's a ten-week executive education course aimed at helping PR practitioners increase their earning potential by developing as managers and practitioners.
The programme is delivered via an online teaching platform and Guild community. It is assessed and certificated independently. Each week, students are required to submit an assignment reflecting on what they’ve learnt, and how they’ll apply it to professional practice.
Socially Mobile has been developed by Sarah Waddington and I along with a community of more than 50 teachers, assessors, and examiners. If you know anyone who might benefit, please encourage them to apply. The deadline is 24 August.
I caught up with some of the students as they completed the programme to find out about the experience and how they’ve got on.
Liz Hinds, Senior Account Executive, Radioactive PR
1. What is your view of the societal or business opportunity for public relations and management communications?
I really believe that the communications profession is the key to building better societies and that practitioners hold that key. The values we communicate and behaviours we encourage can shape communities and dictate the values of generations to come.
2. What's your highlight of the Socially Mobile programme?
A highlight for me was learning that there are a bunch of other people across the UK with similar lived experiences just trying to use communications to make businesses and society a better place. In terms of content, learning that community management is quickly becoming a large and impactful channel of communication was brilliant as this is something that I’ve been wanting to shift into for a while.
3. It's early days but what difference has Socially Mobile made to your work and future career?
As a direct result of the course my role at Radioactive PR has changed. More news to come.
4. What have you planned for the next stage of your career and learning journey?
I intend on continuing to learn as much as possible and absorb what will be a somewhat new landscape for me. I believe continuous learning is the best way to stay fulfilled and happy in a role.
5. Who would you recommend applies for the Socially Mobile programme?
Absolutely, I had no idea just how capable I was and this course just helped me regain the confidence to excel in my role and hopefully my new one.
Rosie Ryves-Webb, Senior Communications Officer, UK Health Security Agency
1. What is your view of the societal or business opportunity for public relations and management communications?
The societal opportunity for public relations is huge. In today's modern world we communicate more than ever and the scrutiny on organisations is huge. Public relations is the bridge between stakeholders and organisations and it can make or break a brand.
We are the gatekeepers and custodians of organisations and their identities and we're responsible for helping people find the information they want, as well as the information they don't know they need yet, in a format that engages them and can be understood.
The skills people hold in public relations often means they’re better equipped for management communications too, although I know from experience that’s not always the case. We already have a strong sense of ethics and responsibility as well as the ability to use communications to meet peoples’ needs. With the world of work changing, and the intense pressures that can bring, these skills are needed more than ever to cultivate workplaces and teams that thrive.
People thriving has a benefit beyond the organisation they work for; good management communication means people are happy at work which gives them resilience for the rest of their life, it helps with people’s self-esteem and mental health and it means their other responsibilities can be balanced with work.
The opportunity for us to improve the communities around us, through effective public relations and management communication, is huge.
2. What's your highlight of the Socially Mobile programme?
My highlight has been building connections with other people who saw the world like me and the validation and perspective that brings. I’ve gained so many professional skills, but it’s also helped improve my perception of my peers in the industry.
I did a public relations degree, but I felt very othered as the only working class disabled student. After graduation, I created my professional identity around the niche part of public relatiosI worked in because I didn’t feel the industry was a place that I belonged.
Through Socially Mobile I’ve met people who are like me, both in their surface characteristics but also in their perception of the world. I can recognise now that it’s thought diversity I value (thank you Advita Patel!) and that lots of other people see it’s worth too. I know that my management style is collaborative and it’s not because I’m soft and need to be more autocratic, it’s because this is a wider cultural shift in management that maybe hasn’t filtered through to some of my workplaces! I’ve also met lots of other people, in all areas of public relations, that like me want to make the world a better place.
I also know now that other people struggle – whether that’s with the words to explain their knowledge or with their self-confidence. It’s good to feel that’s not a personal character flaw of mine but a product of the world we live in and the journeys we’ve been on, and it’s something that can be overcome.
3. It's early days but what difference has Socially Mobile made to your work and future career?
Socially Mobile has made me more strategic in my approach and improved my ways of working. I’ve started proactively suggesting solutions and proposals to improve our team and I catch myself applying my newfound knowledge to almost every task.
It’s also given me confidence in my abilities, and it’s helped me find the language I need to communicate about myself and my ideas more effectively.
I’m more focused on what I want to achieve, and I can identify the route to those goals. I also have a better understanding of myself professionally, which helps me define my future ambitions.
4. What have you planned for the next stage of your career and learning journey?
My organisation is currently going through a restructure and new roles are being created due to additional funding. I’m on a temporary contract and I originally planned to apply for a permanent job at the same level as I felt just getting a permanent contract would be a step up.
Now that I’ve completed Socially Mobile, I’m aiming for a role as a senior manager. I applied for one outside my team and, whilst I was unsuccessful, I scored well above the competency level required and it’s been recognised I’m ready for the next step up.
After university I decided learning wasn't for me but I'm not sure I'm going to stop now! I've started signing up for more short courses, inside and outside of work, and I'm always looking for opportunities to contribute and broaden my skills. I'm genuinely disappointed that I can't join a session about directorate ways of working next week because I'm on holiday.
In the long run I’m hoping that I can use my position to influence others and encourage a wider cultural shift, creating a more inclusive and diverse workplace. Socially Mobile has really enforced for me the importance of this and the benefits it can bring to organisations.
5. Who would you recommend applies for the Socially Mobile programme
Everybody! But particularly people who work hard and have all the skills but miss out on the opportunities that should bring. We’re all told that society is meritocratic, but the reality is different.
It’s not just the obvious stuff like doors being opened by connections or promotions if your face fits, it’s also the fact that if you’ve already been held back in some way you’re less likely to have the confidence to take up space and take the roles and work you should have.
Socially Mobile is a way to level the playing field, it’s still hard work, especially around your day job, but it actually pays off. It rapidly improves your professional skills and competency but it also helps you to understand yourself and builds your self-confidence.
Jeremy Sharpe, Public Relations Practitioner
1. What is your view of the societal or business opportunity for public relations and management communications?
Communication is everywhere. If it formed part of the foundations / strategy in any working environment and crucially, were done properly, we’d be on to a winner.
2. What's your highlight of the Socially Mobile programme?
There are so many highlights. What I would say, is that the sum is greater than the individual parts. The masterclasses and additional materials are inspiring. The standout elements for me (of which there are three), have been the links however subtle, between units which manage to pull in other strands of management communications; that the course induces lateral and creative thinking; and thirdly, the use of Guild, and the established cohort community, without whom I could not have flourished, or even had the chance so to do.
3. It's early days but what difference has Socially Mobile made to your work and future career?
This is a difficult one. The teller for me will be whether it facilitates long term, sustainable employment within communications. It has reignited my commitment to lifelong learning. In some ways I feel like I have only re-scratched the surface of our brilliant and exciting profession. There is so much I still don’t know. I’m not sure I could walk into a new job tomorrow and successfully apply Anne Gregory’s planning model with 100 per cent outtake success, off the top of my head, for instance. I would probably have to consult her book. That said – prior to course, I knew nothing at all about pitching and insights for example, and very little about SEO or joining governance boards. I guess the important take away, is that I now know hopefully, where to look and who to ask.
4. What have you planned for the next stage of your career and learning journey?
In the first instance, I plan to review the learning materials and gradually read all the (additional reading) books, I sourced, but never had time to give them my enough attention from one week to the next. I’ll be reviewing and updating the content bios on my platforms, especially LinkedIn. I plan to organise my tech stack and switch to Outlook. I’m co-opted on to CIPR Midlands committee and will pursue that. I need to figure out how CPD works and what to study next. And above all, I plan to get proper paid work by October. All contributions gratefully received.
5. Who would you recommend applies for the Socially Mobile programme?
I think the existing target audiences are the right ones. As someone who has broadly speaking, been out of work for a long time, I feel like I’ve got at least half a chance to get back in the game now.