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1. Make marketing cool again
In the old days, "advertising" had the cool factor of power, exclusivity and glamour. Have you seen the television show about advertising in the 1960s called Mad Men yet? Watch it and you'll get what I mean. As marketers and advertisers, we define our culture's hopes, fears, dreams and vanities. We're paid to make stuff up, to be creative.
Face it. We're unemployable in any other industry.
But agencies in general have lost their luster, and we're sometimes relegated to a fall-back plan for the best talent. The hottest talent knows where they want to go. If you're an engineer, you aim for Google. For operations people, you go work for a hedge fund. For creatives, you freelance, multi-lance or become your own brand. I could go on.
Who aspires to work for an agency these days?
We need to make working for an agency cool again. We need to foster a sense of entrepreneurship and give our folks the means to follow their passions and pet-projects within agency walls. At Organic, we've set up a lab environment where great ideas can see the light of day, even if there is no client directly attached to them. We have a long history of doing this with much success.
2. Look beyond the usual conscripts
Let's get back to the game of musical chairs. At the top of the talent pool, there is a small group of very gifted people jumping from agency to agency. This doesn't do any of us any good, as inbred talent means inbred ideas. It's stifling.
For this reason, and others that I'll mention shortly, we need to broaden the candidate pool. At Organic, we're actively reaching out and finding fruitful pockets of previously undiscovered talent. For example, we are hiring account folks from traditional agencies and training them in the digital medium. We're stretching our immigration lawyers thin by actively recruiting talent from far off places like South Africa, Brazil and Eastern Europe. We have someone 100 percent dedicated to managing our diversity and college recruiting programs.
Since so much of what we do is built around an empathetic connection to the consumer, it's vitally important that agencies not only represent the consumers that we're trying to reach, but also bring in people who have unique and fresh perspectives to offer.
3. Market your agency like your clients market to their customers
Recruiting, as we all usually think of it, is not just a function of the human resources department. Bringing people through the interview process and closing the deal is relatively easy. The toughest part is reaching the right people -- a very sophisticated and thoughtful audience -- and encouraging them to take the leap to your agency. Use your marketing and campaign skills and the digital medium to attract them.
For example, at Organic we have two blogs that have done a great job of not only showcasing our thought leadership, but also giving candidates a peek into our culture. We have MySpace and Facebook profiles. We are cooking up some interesting online campaign ideas, targeted around highly prized disciplines and skills.
The shoemaker's children line just doesn't cut it anymore. Use your skills to market your agency.
4. Go back to school
Most young adults are digitally addicted. They have 10 IM windows open (splayed neatly over their MySpace and Facebook pages), three text message strings in play on their phone, and their Xbox is on pause because they are watching an episode of "Lost" on their video iPod.
OK, this is probably an exaggeration, but not by much.
The internet is something that they learn outside of school. It's an integral part of their community and culture. They are passionate about participating in it and exploring the next new thing. In fact, they would probably exhibit withdrawal symptoms if they were suddenly "unplugged."
The important question that we should be asking ourselves is why aren't colleges and universities teaching digital skills and how they apply in business? What could be more lucrative or useful?
Today's graduates are completely switched on, but lack the degree or formal training necessary to place them straight into agency roles. We need to reinvestigate the idea of cultivating "feeder schools" with more formal internship programs, guest speaker programs and classes and/or degrees, particularly at the more prestigious schools.
Let's all go back to school, to volunteer our time and teach so that we can grow the next crop of talent.
5. Get real
Our industry is a victim of its own success. Yes, the demand for our services is high, and you would think that we could ask clients for a king's ransom, but this just isn't true. Rate pressure is an ever-present reality in our business and procurement offices remind us of that every day.
The war for talent only complicates this already challenging issue.
The final analysis
Do great work for great clients. Everything above is moot unless your agency is committed to exceptional work. This is -- and will always be -- the greatest recruiting tool of them all.
Besides, we all know that happy people make great work, and great work translates into happy clients. The key is making people your first priority and fighting for them, every step of the way.
Instead of fighting over the Ted's of the world, let's grow our own.
Shane Ginsberg is executive director, global business development, for Organic. Read full bio.
