Creative Compensation and Benefits | Alison King of Media Profile

PRGN Presents • Season 1, Episode 1 • Originally published as an audio podcast on July 7, 2022. What can a PR agency offer employees beyond a competitive salary? Alison King, president of Toronto-based Media Profile, joins Abbie Fink to talk about creative compensation, flexibility and the agency’s new Media Profile Work Away benefit. Anyone who has been at the agency for six months can work from anywhere in the world for up to a month, with $3,000 toward travel. Alison explains why the program runs on trust: people keep Toronto hours and never let clients or teammates down. She and Abbie also talk about hiring good writers from outside PR, mentoring junior staff who no longer sit nearby, and a Canadian market where clients still want traditional media coverage. KEY TAKEAWAYS • A distinctive benefit can set an agency apart: Media Profile Work Away even drew questions from a major prospective client. • Work-from-anywhere arrangements depend on trust and clear rules, such as keeping the home office’s hours and covering for no one. • Employers who assume that people out of sight aren’t working will struggle to hire and keep talent, because hybrid work is here to stay. • A good writer is a good writer, so agencies can widen the talent pool by hiring people trained outside public relations. • Remote teams need a fresh approach to onboarding and mentorship, because junior staff can no longer swivel their chairs to ask a quick question. Read the full episode notes and transcript: https://prgnpodcast.com/episode/aliso... --------------------------------------- ABOUT THE GUEST Alison King is president of Media Profile, one of Canada’s largest independent communications agencies, based in Toronto. Over a 30-year career she has advised the CEOs of major Canadian brands and worked with editors in the country’s busiest newsrooms. Her culture-centric management style has earned the agency numerous best-places-to-work awards, including recognition as a best workplace managed by women. • Learn more: https://prgn.com/agency/media-profile... • Connect with Alison:   / alison-king-7038292   --------------------------------------- ABOUT THE HOSTS Abbie Fink is president of HMA Public Relations, the oldest continuously operating PR firm in Arizona and a founding member of PRGN. • Learn more: https://prgn.com/agency/hma-public-re... • Connect with Abbie:   / abbiesfink   Dr. Adrian McIntyre is an anthropologist and communications advisor specializing in the marketing and selling of expertise. He is a founding partner at Speed of Story, where he helps entrepreneurial experts and boutique firms clarify their positioning, package their intellectual property, market their premium services, and get paid for their thinking, not their time. • Learn more: https://adrianmcintyre.com/ • Connect with Adrian:   / adrianmcintyre   --------------------------------------- CHAPTERS 00:00 Podcast Intro 00:59 Meet Alison King of Media Profile 02:18 Media Profile Work Away: $3,000 Toward Travel 03:34 How Do You Keep Remote Work Accountable? 04:31 Recruiting, Retention and the Demand for Flexibility 06:50 Hiring Talent From Outside Public Relations 07:48 Rethinking Onboarding and Mentorship for Remote Teams 09:13 Building Agency Culture Through Intentional Conversations 10:17 Canada’s PR Market: Why Clients Still Want Media Coverage 11:35 Closing: Celebrating PRGN’s 30th Anniversary 11:49 Podcast Outro --------------------------------------- PRGN Presents features conversations with members of the Public Relations Global Network. No matter where you do business, there is a PRGN member agency in your region with the deep industry expertise, international experience, and local market knowledge you need to connect with your target audience and achieve your goals. Find a PR firm near you: https://prgn.com/pr-agencies/