The War For Talent Is Upon Us: Five Things Every Agency Must Do Now to Grow in 2021
Britt Carter, President, Pemberton
My partner Mark and I have spent a lot of time over the past year with agency leaders. We have helped guide them through several waves of upheaval and transformation affecting their businesses. At the beginning of the pandemic, it was “should we keep our office?” and “how many staff will we have to let go?”
Then it became “how do we transform our business to survive and prosper during the pandemic?” Now, we are working to solve “how do we keep our (great) people here, and also grow our team?”
The threats are real. We hear every day that agency staff members, especially those at the SAE, AD and VP levels, are getting offers from competitors that are 40 percent to 100 percent more than their current comp. How can an agency plan and grow with their people jumping at impossibly attractive offers? And how do they backfill positions and add staff to support growing client demand?
Here are five things that we recommend to our clients:
- Create clear advancement pathways. If your people, at every level, don’t have a clear understanding of their advancement pathways, they are at risk of finding greener grass. Clear metrics and regular encouragement milestones go a long way in keeping your high performers engaged. And if your agency doesn’t current have an Organizational Growth Plan then your vision is just a wish.
- Talk about money! What is it with agency people that makes us apprehensive, even fearful about talking money? It’s time to get over it. Set clear expectations with your team about compensation and benefits, as well as their individual contribution to the overall enterprise. Which leads to:
- Communicate that the business of the business is everyone’s business. Many staff, especially more junior staff, don’t really understand how your agency makes money. They need to. We counsel our clients to conduct quarterly or semi-annual all-staff meetings to show how the agency is performing. Then, meet with every account team for a deeper dive. Be specific! Without knowing where every $ comes from, your team is at a disadvantage, especially since you must:
- Double-down on organic growth. Most agencies think they’re good at organic growth. Most of them are wrong.
Here’s a quick story: One of our clients, an award-winning hot shop that was having a great 2020 despite the pandemic, realized they were leaving revenue on the table from existing clients. In a few short months we helped them grow multiple accounts by an average of more than 10%. In some cases, the number was much higher. The net revenue impact was more than $200,000 in Q4 from existing clients. Okay, great! But what does that have to do with their staff? Each account lead was talented but stalled: They were good at their jobs but were limited in their ability to identify and pursue organic growth opportunities, and they were ripe for poaching by another agency looking for more account “farmers.”
But, once they developed the skills to find and close business from their account base, they themselves grew. They became more confident, more strategic, more immersed in their clients, and more bound to the agency. This opens leadership opportunities for them. They saw how they can advance and, most importantly, increase their personal earnings. The scenario quickly escalated into “How do we staff to support these new leaders?”
Another note: Immersion and problem-solving equals more loyal clients. Remember, your clients are getting calls every day from your competitors. Do your clients feel that you are a true partner in their business, or merely a vendor?
- Be honest with yourself about your under-performers. Will they help you prosper this year? Mark and I developed a simple “Client Leader Scorecard” we use to help determine who can be part of the future of the agency, and who cannot. We do not ever make snap decisions on a team member’s future employment, but we do see that our client’s great people are being lured away at an alarming rate. You must protect and keep those who will help you build, and let the others go.
One final observation we’ve had: some agencies are having their best year ever, while others are barely treading water. The fact is, however, the Five “must dos” above apply to every agency, irrespective of where they are in their business cycle. Taking care of your people, showing them how the business works, and teaching them how to truly partner with their clients is a hedge against a volatile business climate.
For more information on Organic Growth, Organizational Planning, and Client Leader Scorecards, please contact Britt Carter (britt@pembertonworldwide.com) or J. Mark Riggs (jmriggs@pembertonworldwide.com) or visit www.pembertonworldwide.com.
