Do You Think PR is Glamorous? Think Again!

Hello fellow interns.

I can’t believe I’ve already completed my first week of internship at Omnicane, a company involved in sugarcane and food crop cultivation, bioethanol and electricity production. I’ve been placed in the Internal News Edition & Events Coordination department and what I really like about this department is that I’m constantly on the move.

I discovered places that I did not even know existed in Mauritius. I’m actually working on the annual newsletter and since Omnicane is really active in terms of community involvement, I had the opportunity to interview a few people that received support from the firm. It may sound weird but the company engages so much in CSR that I tend to feel like I’m interning for a non-profit organisation.

I went to Mahebourg Espoir Education Centre, a place where students who failed the Certificate of Primary Education, are given a second chance. They often have a difficult family background, are aged 12 to 16 years old and go there from Monday to Friday, from 08.15 to 16.15. Apart from the academic studies, they are also able to develop other skills since they learn cookery and how to play instruments such as the Djembe and guitar. Moreover, they practise sports like football and judo. The centre’s director as well as an ex-student were interviewed so as to gain a deeper understanding of their experience there. I then assisted my supervisor in the editing of the article about the centre, which will be included in the annual newsletter. 

Students preparing pancakes at Mahebourg Espoir Education Centre.

I also went to Batimarais to write an article about the needy residents’ situation three months after Omnicane gave them laying hens. Many of them have started to sell the eggs and hence, they can now earn an income. After talking to these people, I was reminded of a Chinese proverb that comes from Confucius, a great philosopher: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime".

Gloria Joorun, a resident of Batimarais, feeding her hens.

From a new perspective, I can tell you that PR is not as glamorous as some people tend to think. My short experience has nevertheless taught me that to be a PR professional, you cannot afford to be too emotional. Believe me, it IS a challenge to witness such misery and not break down. However, professionalism is also about maintaining a smile even when the heart is not there. I indeed feel like I just stepped into the real world, already so far outside of my comfort zone. What about you? In what way do you feel that you have stepped out of your comfort zone?

Looking forward to learn about your own experience, be it positive or negative.

All the best,

Haddiyyah Tasneem Futloo

Blog 4: Hotel is not just about hotel, it could be something more

Before I start my internship in the hotel industry, I always have the thought that hotel is just a building that provide “temporary home” or “shelter” for travelers and good food for food lover. After working in the hotel, I changed my mind. Hotel is not just about a place to stay and to dine in with good food, it could be something more.

During my internship, then only I know that actually hotel is just like other for-profit- oraganisation, they operate their business at the same time they also have several Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program. For example, in this hotel, Grand Palace Hotel, they will bring goodies, sing Christmas caroling and share the love and joy to the patients in general hospital during the Christmas season. Besides, they also design and selling bookmarks for charity purpose. From the bookmark design to printing, cutting, typing up a ribbon and packaging all is handling by PR.

                                                                                              

Lesson learns:

• As a PR person, you may need to carry certain level of hard skill as well as soft skill.

• Every software that they use in the hotel must be the original version. Pirated software is not allowed to use in the corporate.

• Regarding to the design, if that is necessary, you can download some of the pictures online and sometime you might need to pay for the picture in order to get the original picture.

•             As a PR, dress up properly and be there earlier for every event.  

Sing Christmas Caroling and bring goodies to children in General Hospital 

Hoh Xiao Mei 

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Truly Embracing CSR

Miri Marriott’s (CSR) Christmas Wish Tree project came to an end last Friday. After 3 months of preparation, we delivered all 442 gifts/money donated by guests, associates and friends of Miri Marriott to the various orphanages, disability centres and the hospital. It was an experience that brought on a rollercoaster of emotions, but an experience I will remember and treasure forever. It did get me thinking about CSR; how some companies (corporations) choose not to do it and for some that do it’s all just a load of green, blue or pinkwashing.

Personally, to experience what I experienced last week, it is worth all the time, all the money and all the effort. It’s a given that acts of CSR are not going to solve all the world’s problems (it would be amazing if they could!) but it is a way for companies to extend a helping hand to society, while also benefiting from it themselves. Clearly the feeling of doing something good for others is not enough, so why else should companies embrace corporate social responsibility? Specifically focusing on hotel CSR, I did a little informal verbal survey among my fellow associates and came up with the following reasons:

1.    Going Green is the new frontier of innovation – Hotels are constantly trying to keep up with the times, in terms of standards and innovations. New generation travellers (Gen Y) are more environmentally conscious and this can affect where they choose to stay. Hotels are very much aware of this and must think of innovative ways to accommodate to their greener needs

2.    It saves money – CSR is one of the easiest ways to cut down on costs. Whether it’s improving energy efficiency or water use, it really can make a difference it terms of saving some money;

3.    Competitive advantage – In conjunction with point 1, CSR can set you apart from your competitors, with guests having your hotel as a preference in response to all the your positive impacts on society/environment/etc;

4.    Long-term thinking – We are all very much aware of the need to be more sustainable economically, environmentally and socially (triple-bottom-line). Long-term sustainability is just good business when you’re in it for the long run;

5.    Communicating and Connecting with Customers – CSR can help you engage with your customers on a more personal level. Since the message you want to put out is about doing something “good,” it can often be an effective way of getting customer attention as well as community attention;

6.    Employee engagement – engaging employees in the company’s CSR priorities can really aid in communication and boosting morale.

Of course different companies do CSR for different reasons. But I take back what I mentioned before about CSR not solving the world’s problems; I would like to believe that if every CEO felt what I felt giving a gift to a little girl bed-ridden in hospital and putting a smile on her face, and then felt compelled to make more people smile, the world would be a much better place. Naive? Perhaps, but maybe I'm just optimistically planting seeds for all you future CEOs :)

Rachel Salinah Jackson

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Curtin Miri