Advertising and Media Agencies Have a Staffing
Advertising and Media Agencies have a staffing problem and they don’t seem to be doing anything about it which leads to an even bigger problem.
Agencies are working with very lean teams which creates a two fold problem, they lose current employees because they don’t have support, but they also have an even harder time recruiting new talent. Why would any Director level candidate who currently has a staff of 5-6 leave their current position to go to an agency that is offering a Director role with one direct report??? It’s a very tough sell even if you’re offering more money.
In order to save money, they are solely relying on in-house recruitment teams which can’t possibly keep up with the demand and sometimes often don’t have access to as big of a network. When you’re having massive staffing issues and losing current employees because of it, you can’t wait months to staff roles, especially mid-level roles which should be some of the easiest to fill. Yet, I’ve spoken with many hiring managers who have told me just that; they haven’t seen resumes or good candidates for their roles in months! Talent Acquisition heads and CFOs at some point, need to look at the big picture. You might be saving money at the moment but how much more are you losing in the long run by hiring the wrong talent, or losing your best people because of burn out? Is it worth losing your best talent and possibly even the account?
Lastly, agencies are selling themselves short in pitches. They are offering huge brands lower fees in order to win the account but then it’s near impossible to staff those accounts. By underbidding , they don’t have a budget that reflects their staffing needs. What’s the point of winning an account if you will lose the people that helped you win it? Employees are no longer willing to sacrifice their families or their mental health by working round the clock. Eventually the work suffers and the account starts shopping around for another agency.
Agencies need to know their worth. They need to stop selling themselves short in pitches. If a brand wants good work, they need to pay for it. The whole budget can not go into just media buying, it needs to go towards staffing also. You get what you pay for.
#advertising #recruiting #media #digitalmarketing #adagencies #staffing #knowyourworth
