Every public relations firm executive dreads the knock on the office door by the valued employee with the news that she has decided "to leave to accept another opportunity."
And every client greets with skepticism the assurance that the departure of a key member of the account team won't disrupt the client's programs. It's an event that tests the
agency-client bonds like no other.
The recent raiding of agency talent by dotcom companies and other agencies (with average turnover nearing 30%) has created many such "tests." In some cases, employee turnover
results in clients terminating the account. In most cases, firms retain the account by shifting supervisors to hands-on account work and recruiting from other agencies.
Thus the staffing instability problem is perpetuated, cascading through agencies. Besides destabilizing client relationships, the situation plays havoc with the industry's
economic underpinnings. As firms offer higher salaries and sign-on bonuses to attract individuals in key specialties from competitors, they create imbalances in their internal
pay structure and must increase fees to cover the added salary costs. This, in turn, fuels further account turnover.
Some agencies have tried to slow their own growth, refusing to compete for new clients. Most have invested heavily in training to accelerate the development and promotion of
young employees. But the rapid expansion of the public relations field eventually forces all agencies - and many clients - to participate in the destructive orgy of cannibalizing
each other's talent base.
The obvious solution is to increase the talent pool by recruiting from outside the profession by hiring lawyers, academics, healthcare professionals, technical writers,
researchers, marketers and others with complementary skills. But a few past failures with non-traditional hires have created the conventional wisdom that only those who grew up in
the business can succeed in PR firms. Those who do try to make the transition often find themselves subject to continual scrutiny, self-fulfilling expectations of failure and a
demand that they prove themselves immediately. In today's intense work environment there's little opportunity to provide them with a gradual orientation to public relations or to
tap into the new skills and much-needed fresh thinking they bring to the profession.
Facing the problem head-on, the Council of Public Relations Firms has developed a program to introduce high potential talent from non-traditional sources to public relations.
It is built on three essential steps - targeting, testing and training.
We're targeting mid-career professionals in fields that demand good writing and intellectual skills. A career fair at the Boston Science Museum sponsored by the Council earlier
this month drew over 125 highly qualified academics, lawyers and technology professionals to meet recruiters from 20 firms. Presentations by four agency employees, all top
liberal arts university graduates with non-traditional career backgrounds, created an understanding and enthusiasm among the attendees that is leading to a number of hires. To
build on that success, the Chicago-based Council member firms are developing a pilot program to target non-traditional hires on a national basis.
For the second step, testing, the Council has worked with an industrial psychologist to develop an assessment tool to screen potential hires to determine if they have a good
chance to succeed in public relations agencies. The psychologist worked with selected employees at 16 Council firms to develop a success profile that forms the basis for the
recruitment screening tool. As members begin using the test, candidates and firms will have a way to predict the likelihood of future success in public relations, and skeptical
employees can be reassured that transition hires have been pre-screened.
With the PRSA Counselors' Academy's lead, we are together developing a training program to orient non-traditional hires to public relations fundamentals. This will provide the
basic skills and lexicon for a bright "quick study" to feel comfortable that he can understand how to bring his unique experience to our business.
If we succeed with the three phases of our mid-career transition program - targeting, testing and training -- we will increase the chances that agencies and their clients will
accept non-traditional hires. We also will infuse our profession with fresh ideas and new skills, and we will halt disruptive staff turnover.
Jack Bergen
Jack Bergen is president of the Council of PR Firms. He can be reached at 877/PRFIRMS.
http://www.prfirms.org.