PR practitioner launches coaching service for PR firms

This will provide the coaching students an opportunity to learn from over 23 years of Rams' experience, using tried and tested success models that have been applied in private, public, local and international companies over the years.

Need for support

"Other countries, such as the US, are far ahead of us in terms of their business strategies and the quality of employees they produce and this is more a matter of coaching, than talent," says Mabote.

Mabote, who has been in the PR industry for 17 years, which he joined after working in different newsroom as a journalist, believes that in South Africa one of the biggest frustrations is that many PR practitioners at management level do not get adequate coaching support from their employers.

"This is because most business environments are highly pressured and, in essence, there is no time allocated to coaching in an effort to help these young professionals get to the next level. The programme will also provide me with an opportunity to assist their bosses with performance management."

B2B offering

"Unlike mentoring, coaching is not friendly advice. It is outcomes based. We look at current and practical stuff on the candidate's current portfolio and help them do it best and learn to do it on their own."

The service is a business-to-business offering with a price range of between R150,000 and R240,000 per annum per candidate. A typical coaching programme will run for a year, where PR practitioners will have a one 2-hour session a month with Mabote, have 24-hour email access, receive support material including his successful book: 'Crisis, What Crisis? Public Relations NOT According to Thabo Mbeki' and a seminar every quarter, where participants will get a chance to network and share experiences.

For more information, go to www.kingmaker.co.za.