Skills shortages First published in B&T, December 2006, ©Katrina Fox 2006

©Reed Business Information Australia

Evidence is mounting that Australia and New Zealand are experiencing serious and widespread skills shortages, both on the creative and suit fronts. What can employers do to hold on to their top talent, without salaries escalating?

While being offered another $20,000 may be initially enticing to an employee, unless other aspects of their job are rewarding, they're unlikely to stay in the position, according to recruitment consultants.

"Retention is a massive issue as candidate shortage is emerging, senior regional director at Hays Sales & Marketing, Nick Deligiannis says. "But salary is only one factor and in our market research it comes in the middle of the top five issues. Other things people look for are the overall suite of benefits offered by an employer to stay on a long-term basis - non-financial benefits, career progression, cultural environment, investment in training and development, and work-life balance which is becoming more prevalent."

Aquent global CEO Greg Savage argues that there is "no quick fix" to staff retention and says career progression and carefully structured performance reviews that "aren't just happening over a beer" are essential. "[Retention] is a fundamental systemic issue that goes to the key areas that are important to people - challenge, training and development, clear communications - those are things people look for beyond salary," he says. "I don't think the ad industry is particularly good at people management."

Age discrimination in the industry is rife and is also one of the reasons Australia is suffering a skills shortage, he adds. "There's a sycophantic worshipping of youth for its own sake - it's counter-productive. We see experienced talent having difficulties securing permanent roles and are resorting to contract work and consulting, and I'm aware of a number of people who have great portfolios and histories who have gone to work overseas as they get good roles there."

Agencies willing to be flexible over the age component will fill their vacancies quicker, Deligiannis says - and this also means adapting to different generations' needs and attitudes. Mitchell & Partners implements an 'aunties and uncles' system in its Sydney and Melbourne offices where older staff can explain the various industry cycles to younger ones who haven't yet experienced them.

General manager of Perth-based agency Marketforce, Carrick Robinson, says it's "treading carefully" with Generation X and Y. "They're not backward in coming forward about what their wants and needs are and rather than stifle that, you have to manage it carefully and give them environments where they can use their skills well."

Managing director of Clemenger BBDO Sydney, Jim Moser, agrees. "Generation X expect to be promoted and rewarded quicker than other generations," he says. "The ad industry's appeal to Generation X is you tend to be given responsibility early in your career - you can move up within an organisation at a younger age than other industries, so we're well suited to service those needs. We don't expect Generation X to be in the same job for 20 years - if we get five from them, that's good. We're geared to handle that kind of turnover."
But there is a danger of promoting people too quickly into jobs they may not yet have the skills to do, which highlights the need for effective training and development and people management.

The rewards of these strategies are most obviously notable in corporations whose marketing departments benefit from an overall company culture. Virgin Mobile, for example, holds a regular training review where staff outline their aims and needs. In-house training or external training that is developed to be Virgin-specific is then put in place. At IBM, six-monthly reviews offer staff the opportunity to consider issues, including job satisfaction, according to marketing director IBM Australia & New Zealand, Megan Dalla-Camina.
"For marketers, I've found in the past 12 months in this role, the more closely aligned we are to driving business strategy, the more empowered people feel," she says.
While certain agencies have some way to go to matching the people management skills of corporations, there are signs of improvement. M&C Saatchi, for example, is launching a graduate program for 2006 in its Sydney office, where graduates spend nine months working across the agency. Managing director, Marie Jackson, says while it's predominantly a vehicle for account service people, "we may find in taking them in that their expertise lies in other areas of the agency because a lot of young people don't know what roles exist until they're in the agency".

Grey Worldwide Melbourne pays for external study for staff at all levels of the organisation. "We have a guy with a degree in marine biology, and he brings different ideas and thinking to the agency," MD, Jane Emery, says.

At Clemenger, external and internal training at all levels is offered, in addition to goal-setting with staff and annual reviews. Clemenger is also one of the few agencies to have a full-time human resources director who organises the performance review programs and recruitment processes.

One aspect that recruitment consultants, agency heads and corporation marketing department heads agree on is that while managing your people once they're in is crucial, recruiting the right ones in the first place is even more important. And the number one factor in determining this is cultural fit - even though it may be difficult to evaluate at interview stage.
"We do find that people are very well practised in interview techniques and good CVs, and to filter out cultural fit is quite hard," Robinson says.

Putting candidates in front of a number of people with the agency or organisation is one solution, as it allows both sides to decide if the working relationship is suitable. Virgin Mobile puts 60% emphasis on cultural fit, and 40% on technical skills. According to head of HR, Angela Foskett: "It can be detrimental if we don't put the emphasis on culture. We've got a casual, warm and welcoming environment, and people would stick out like a sore thumb if they didn't fit in with the culture."

With any industry suffering skills shortages, sooner or later, not filling vacancies will impinge on an organisation's profitability. "It's a very lean industry - you're often on the run all the time because it's lean, so agencies don't make the investments [in people] they should, but you have to, or you'll lose them," Emery says.

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