Agencies ‘undervalue human resources to detriment of stressed staff’
Marketing communications agencies are woefully under resourced in their HR departments, to the detriment of stressed and over-worked staff, according to Aegis Media regional CEO Lee Stephens.
Panellists at the Mumbrella Question Time forum spoke about the need to reassess the working culture in many agencies.
“It outrages me that there are so few HR departments in our industry. We really need a commitment to quality HR. We’ve got three people in HR and I couldn’t imagine life without them,” he said.
On stress in the workplace, Craig Davis, Publicis Mojo’s co-chairman and creative director, said that thinking about something apart from work is an important part of the creative process.
“There’s a certain point where switching off and resting is the best thing to do. Go talk to a duck, see a film, sleep or see a mate,” he said.
Peter McDonald, MD of pitch consultancy Agency Register, added that while he doesn’t agree that companies necessarily need HR, managers needs to take the time out to get to know their staff on a more personal level.
“It starts with the culture and DNA of a business. Studies have shown that there is a disconnect with between management and employees. You need to talk to people,” he said.
The comments coincided with the launch of the first suicide prevention R U OK? Day on Sunday. The initiative was the idea of Gavin Larkin, the CEO of creative agency The Brand Shop.
As part of the campaign, today sees the launch of R U OK? Arvo, targeted at the corporate community.
Lion Nathan, News Limited, STW Group, Nielsen and the ABC are among the companies that have signed up in support of the cause by letting staff have half an hour in the afternoon today to contact people in their lives to see if they’re okay.
Larkin talks about R U OK Day in the latest episode of The Mumbo Report:
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Wouldn’t the logical solution here be, instead of hiring more HR staff to sooth stressed and overworked staff, actually hiring more staff to take the workload and stress off the current ones?
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It’s interesting how in an industry where every companys most valuable asset walks out the door each night, there is so little attention, time and real resources allocated to ensuring happy, productive and efficient workplaces.
Some agencies think providing a good work environment is always keeping the beers cold and the fridge full – not so.
I don’t know how to fix it but there is something so definitely wrong with so many creative organisations it’s impossible to begin. But let me say; Instead of poring over expense reports, time sheets and head hours, managers of creative organizations MUST start from the point of view of their staff, what motivates them, what they find rewarding, and attempt to tailor workplace experiences to match this criteria.
The tricky part is reconciling all this with client’s expectations. HA! But that’s why upper managers get the big bucks.
ON THAT NOTE – I’m sick of upper managers sharing all their company’s financial woes with everyone in the agency. You’re payed the big bucks to carry the responsibility – deal with it yourself – nothing demoralizes morale more than being told ‘we’re up shit creek, does anyone have a spare paddle?’.
It seems so simple – happy people have good ideas. Happy people play nice together. Clients like dealing with happy people. Happy people with good ideas, working well together, with happy clients = profitable company.
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While agencies and media have all had their fair share of tough times this year (and some not), losing staff due to intolerable stress levels and unachievable work loads only costs businesses more. The recruitment process is expensive and time-consuming, more so than perhaps giving staff a little bonus or pay rise? Not to mention the burden it places on other members of staff in having to cover the workload of a colleague who has left.
I understand that companies are playing it safe when it comes to hiring and firing staff, but when the jobs start rolling in again and clients budgets increase its important to reflect that change and bring on more staff to make the work manageable.
The agency I work for has experienced considerable growth over last year (which was unexpected) and to sustain the team during this period, while another staff member is not quite justified (obviously a budget thing) there have been measures in place to try and keep everyone sane. Two casual assistants cover the administration-based tasks during the week and an external freelance consultant assists with writing and other tasks. A good way of managing the workload, and there are a lot of people out there doing freelance work who are highly valuable assets to a business during periods of growth. I am still seriously busy but at least there are things in place to keep me from totally losing it (although I’ve had my moments more than once!).
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Alternatively if you stopped playing politics we’d be less stressed.
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i don’t envy those who have to manage large groups of people in agencies
media agencies are now dominated by admin ppl who are convinced they are strategists
creative agencies have a load of salespeople who are convinced they are artists
tough egos to manage, in terms of salary expectations and progression and tasks.
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I don’t think the issue really is how many HR staff your company pays to soothe overworked staff- I think the point is that it’s important to have HR staff around to remind your Senior Leaders about things like work life balance, employee engagement and treating people like people- plain and simple! Yes, good HR pros are strategic in making this happen and the others… well how is your christmas party planning going lol..
Leadership impacts upon culture and culture impacts on performance. Without the right message from your Senior Leaders, the culture will be poor and performance including productivity and profitability will suffer.
I know that you guys in Media work incredibly hard and that your jobs require you to put in the extra hours when they are needed. But life is way too short and you spend way too much time at work to be unhappy.
So if you are a manager out there who has an employee who has been doing heaps of overtime- send them home early once in a while! Let them work from home or work flexible hours as long as the clients are serviced appropriately (not everyone has to work 9-5). Don’t jump on them for having a sick day and most importantly- make sure you are giving them regular rewards and recognition for what they are doing. Doesn’t have to be big $$- a simple thank you, mention at a team meeting or a beer at lunch goes a long way.
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I would say that employees have to take responsibility as well. From my experience a lot of agencies are built on politics and fluffy talk. That’s what is zapping energy out of people. if everyone would focus on the end goal – a happy client – rather than themselves it would be a different environment.
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don’t really buy the need for more HR “specialists”. surely the answer is giving more ownership to the whole agency and get more collective decision-making about what kind of agency they want to be. i’m sure some HR people are well qualified and very useful but my experience of junior to mid-level HR people is not great. would be more effective to spend the money on a good espresso machine…
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I could talk at length as to how true this is and how many ridiculously unprofessional agency professionals I’ve worked with in management positions who think that working your employees til they burn out is something that is across the industry and therefore acceptable.
Oh well I am just extremely thankful that I don’t have to put up with it anymore being on client side…
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In the case of many agency manager the roles these people hold have been are evolutionary. People did not necessarily start out in ad land to become manager of people, and in many cases they may not be equipped or trained to deal with the requirements of their positions and the responsibilities inherent in these roles.
Management training on topics like issue resolution, how to deal with problems, recruitment and so on are significant advantages of having an in-house HR team.
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And while you’re all moaning, not one of you has come up a good idea.
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hmm I thought my post had a few ideas around leadership from the top, demonstrating the right behaviours etc..
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Having stressed staff breeds contempt definately and I’m a big fan of having a good work life balance. There are a number of agencies in the marketplace who have adopted a much better work/life balance ac ross the board for their entirestaff and have reaped the rewards of happy and contented staff – the big plus is these agencies are producing some of their best work! The GFC has seen many companies cut staff and double the workload on the remaining staff. These individuals left to pick up the pieces are more often than not overworked in the first place, so to just throw more at them with a bigger salary is a short term fix. Sooner or later work/time/effectiveness/productivity suffers and the ultimate bottom line is that the staff members carrying the load fall apart and you have nothing left. It’s only then unfortunately that companies get a light bulb effect and really review what they should have done at the outset – re-evaluate the scenario properly and employ more suitable people to do the job or help to do the job. Bringing on grads at least once or twice a year is also a brilliant way to go. Grads are like sponges they are keen and can do much of the grunt work and are happy to learn by doing this. If you treat your grads well they will stay with you for the long run.
Managers must take the time to properly review work and headcount and look at resourcing correctly to cover the unexpected. Dumping additional workload on already overworked staff never works – even when you throw more money at the individual! There are agencies to help you do this correctly! Any resourcing agency worth their salt will happily come in and help you with your resourcing – long or short term – you just have to ask.
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Reevesy – you hit upon a very good point. Not enough is invested in developing managers so that they can manage. All too often those in management positions are there because they have risen the ranks of a specific discipline (eg. planning). But being good at planning doesn’t mean you are good at managing,
It is one of life’s cliches that people work for individuals, not companies. We are in an industry with staff turnover hovering around 30%. What does that say?
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Chris, I agree!
It’s not just happening in agencies that persons who have no clue how to manage are put in a management role. I am working in technology for 25 years and I can count on one hand the good managers I have met.
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What I really dislike is people who want to work in an advertising agency because they are dynamic fun environments.
The problem for most people in advertsing is that they start off young, loving the dynamic culture and fun work hard play hard atmosphere, then get old and boring and want stability and 5 o’clock home time.
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How is that the since the advent of pitch consultants, agency / client relations have been breaking down? Clients aren’t getting what they think they pay for, and agencies are feeling underpaid for the value they deliver. Pitch consultants supposedly help match the client with the right agency, yet the results seem worse than ever.
This may cause an outcry, but it seems to me that the idea of pitch consultants should be given a big FAIL.
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Oh the rise of the holding company.
Mangers are now incentivised to squeeze the margins and hit their quarterly numbers.
No long term thinking or quality control of work.
The cost is human.
And the current shit served up as ads.
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Andre 2009! LOVE your comment!
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Agree. The structure of management KPIs are largely wrong. Too much focus on short-term dollar goals takes focus away from clients and deters investment areas that make a real long-term difference.
Cost structures also wrong – why should the most expensive people be the managers, who spend least time working on client issues? This overlaps into career-pathing, effectively pushing great practitioners away from what they are great at.
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mmm…good comment from many but ultimately lets go back to the top of the page and the first comment made; I’m with Monkey…!
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Lee, as usual is right.
It is embarrassing that agencies undervalue HR.
And it is part of the reason agencies have an average age of 27 while most other sectors are at 42.
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Larry makes a good point accept that agencies have some responsibility for pushing titles not roles beyond the individual.
When some agencies went down the road of title shifting without remuneration or development they have left themselves wide open for staff to be poached.
You don’t need a HR officer to sit down with your staff & start a conversation but if you are employing a reactive save strategy too late they are gone.
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