Ethical Behavior in Public Relations

Audrianna Wilde

aw455919@ohio.edu

audrianna.wilde@gmail.com

    Is ethical behavior in PR something employers want from their employees, is it something that they need to demonstrate, or both?

    Public relations is often seen as the industry of strategically lying. Oftentimes, when people think of public relations, they envision a management team trying to cover up a celebrity's latest leaked scandal, or a representative of a company telling white lies to gloss over egregious business practices. While this is not what PR is for, it has become a common misconception due to the fact that the industry may be lacking in stressing the importance of ethical behavior. This has, in return, led to individuals failing to meet the ethical standards of the industry, such as the PRSA code of ethics, and therefore creating a bad reputation for the entire industry.

    According to a three-year study done by the Commission on Public Relations, employers in the PR industry identified areas of skill that they expected people working in PR to be competent in. These employers ranked ethics among the top three skills that they desired in public relations professionals, however, the study also found that this skill, the ability to make ethical decisions and behave ethically, was among the hardest to find in potential employees. This was due to a number of factors, some of them being a lack of disclosure and transparency, selective truth-telling, the absence of consequences for unethical behavior and a lack of ethics training in general in the profession. The question is, how can employers fix these issues and find the people with the skills they desire?

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    Ironically, the root of the issue could actually be found in the very employers who want to hire people with skills in ethics. According to an article by PRSA, the corporate culture of PR can influence how PR professionals choose to behave. Executives should ask themselves: Are they addressing problems head-on by taking responsibility and acting with transparency by reporting such issues? Or do they reward cutting corners and covering up problems that arise? The truth is that employees' behaviors will follow the culture that management creates and rewards. If executives want ethical employees, it is important they take into account their role, holding themselves to the ethical standards of the profession to create an example worthy of admiration to those under them.

    So, what are some ways an ethical environment can be fostered in PR, to avoid perpetuating the negative stereotypes that follow the profession? According to PRSA, promoting a clear set of standards and practices that the organization can hold itself to, as well as holding people accountable for their actions is a start. Modeling the correct behavior for employees and posing consequences for unethical behavior can discourage unwanted actions. Other, preventative practices can include setting up a way for employees to report serious violations anonymously and bringing in outside firms to look at the standards and practices of the organization from an outside and unbiased standpoint. While it may not entirely be up to employers to set the standards of the PR industry, since all PR professionals should look to their own morality alongside professional codes of ethics, employers must recognize their immediate and impactful influence on the behaviors of their subordinates and act accordingly.