Good things come to end

Visiting outstations

On my last main duty at the organization i was granted the opportunity to visit outstations around Gaborone, Mogoditshane, Mochudi and Lobatse. Our regional manager and station manager had to go around those places performing inspection duties. The main purpose of the visit was to see how other stations were doing on different sectors PR included. I felts such opportunity was a "must to go" to me so as to see how other branches are doing as far as PR is concerned also considering the fact that it was my last few days with the organization.

Unfortunately the results turned up to be very disappointing. What even disappointed me most was the fact that the majority of the staff at those stations besides the head quarters did not know anything about PR, never mind its purpose. Those at the high officers felt it was unnecessary since the marketing department can do as decent job as much as PR practitioners can do. Just like the staff, some customers wanted to know my role on the department and had no idea about PR and its role. Some even criticized the government for wasting money on sponsoring students to do unnecessary courses like PR while the nation lack qualified doctors and other 'important' graduates.     


That did not affect my mood negatively since i did not blame them for not knowing about PR. Harsh as it seemed, PR at Botswana is at its rock bottom. Before it came into the picture, Human Resources and Marketing departments used to do its work though not as effective as PR itself will perform. That made the majority of the locals believe it serves no purpose besides wasting government money. Another thing which tends to make the situation look worse is the fact that PR sections under the government do little to promote PR among key public. Yes is new, but some PR offices under the government like mine (DTRS) are not effective enough when it comes to publicity. There are not even aware of the issues concerning the department its self like staff concerns. If they cant handle internal PR will there be to handle external PR? 

If PR is to grow then those responsible for it must fight tooth and nail to make sure it does grow. Most issues among the department needs PR attention and the office is not doing enough. If it can improve then the rest of Batswana will surely know it purpose and appreciate it. The visit was an eye opener for me to get the feeling and touch on how PR works on the organization and how the key public's responds to it. It made me feel if given the opportunity to be part of the industry especially under government, then i will excel to my fullest.   


I cant wait!