Pleiades Matter: Communications that contribute - introducing the Youth Employment Index

By Kerry Botha

I have always believed that PR and communications should operate in context. Companies never speak in isolation. To be effective they should speak to the current context and debate – certainly if they wish to be heard. Nando’s quirky and satirical campaigns are brilliant in articulating the nuances and meta underbelly of South Africa’s society and its politics. Their campaigns are savvy too in speaking to the brand’s inherent humour. Their food is welcome time out as a result.

In the many years (20 +) of working in the business of public relations and with the media, I have come to appreciate the latter’s capacity to shape and shift thoughts, opinions and indeed society itself. I studied Journalism and Politics at Rhodes University in Grahamstown at a time when media freedom, and in fact virtually all civic mediums, were either denied or threatened. Despite working with some of the most successful brands in the market, this formative experience has shaped a need somehow for my PR business to contribute to, shape or shift the current debate in our still fledgling democracy.

PR's role must extend beyond product or service to impact the triple bottom line and include people and the environment. Indeed, one of the purposes behind setting up Pleiades Media was to be able to contribute use the public relations platform to contribute to the debate, be that social, political or economic.

Youth unemployment (which stands at 48,2 percent) in South Africa is such a debate and one we need to address and solve

Hence Pleiades Media’s involvement in the establishment and launch of the Youth Employment Index. We as Pleiades Media are so thrilled at the real opportunity to play a role in addressing youth unemployment in South Africa through our partnership with Uwin Iwin and Mazars in the Youth Employment Index (YEI). Through our work with the YEI, we hope to contribute to the triple bottom line.

The YEI is an online index which can be found here, whereby employers of all sizes, be they government, parastatal, corporates or SMEs, can register and be instantly recognised for their efforts to actively promote and support youth employment. Organisations that wish to participate in the YEI will be asked to register the number of young people between the ages of 16 and 35 that they employ and to commit to developing these employees.

The YEI board from left:

Kerry Botha, Director of Communications and Marketing; Sarah Botha: Operations director; Nazreen Pandor Chairperson; Shaun Vorster: Financial Director; Danielle Issa: Associate Director; David Sand: Director of Corporate Sponsorships and Education.