I recently had the pleasure of talking with many CEO’s of some very prominent agencies over the course of a few days.  Most of the converstaions regarding talent were predictable ("We’re hiring like crazy" "We have so many openings I can’t count them" Are we missing something?" "We’re aggressively building our digital department") but a few were surprisingly different in nature.  It seems like a good time to be blunt about some truths being experienced in the labor market these days.  If anyone reading this disagrees or has a superior who disagrees, it’s likely because you’re not being realistic about your situation.

1) Your people are being called by Recruiters daily.

2) Your people are sending their resumes to Recruiters and going on interviews.

3) Your competitors are offering higher salaries than you are currently paying.

4) You are only weeks away from unprofitability if your new hires don’t outnumber your resignations.

5) No one has solved the interactive talent problem.  It only continues to grow.

6) The average tenure of someone working in advertising with less than 10 years experience is now less than 2 years time at each job.

7) It’s not too late.  If you’re serious about providing the best ideas and forward thinking for your clients, you can still amass a bright, engaging, passionate, and winning team. 

It takes a plan, it takes discipline, it likely will take sacrifice.  The question is, are you willing to admit and embrace the issue, and then commit to its resolution.  There are execptions to all 7 points above, (I believe it was Abe Lincoln talking about all of the people, all of the time - same theory).  I am happy to discuss the companies and ad agencies who are successful in both retention and recruitment and explain the methodology behind the success.  (Clue: it’s mostly hard work)  I will continue to write in the upcoming weeks about tips to keeping the great people you’ve got, how to get the mediocre ones replaced with great ones, and how to build a winning recruitment strategy.  Stay tuned.