Month: August 2021

“You have to move really fast in recruiting now,” said Brendan Gahan, partner and chief social officer at Mekanism. “Way faster than any other time I’ve seen. Because, if someone is looking, odds are they’ve got multiple offers.” 

At the same time, some employees have reevaluated their lives. Some have decided to freelance rather than work full-time for one shop to maintain a work-life balance as well as choose who they work with. Others have opted to go to brands or to leave the industry altogether making it harder for agencies to find candidates, according to a copywriter who said his agency is having a hard time hiring for open positions. 

“There is now a war for talent,” noted Duane Brown, founder of performance marketing shop Take Some Risk, of the competitive nature of hiring now. “There are not enough talented people to do all this work [with lots of agencies and brands hiring]. This means employees can now be picky about where they work. They are not forced to stay in a role where they are being forced back into the office when they want to stay remote.” 

With the ball being in the employees’ court, so to speak, it’s possible that it could be a “forced wake up call” for the industry, explained advertising industry recruiter Christie Cordes, adding that the instability of the industry in recent years coupled with employees not feeling valued has led to this moment. 

“Being reactive to a decades-old problem is not good for business,” said Keni Thacker, founder of 100 Roses from Concrete, a network for men of color in advertising, adding that the open job market has employees evaluating agencies’ culture and heading to work for places with a “better culture” than settle. “Now they have a bunch of open jobs junior all the way up to senior [roles] they can’t fill. And they are afraid to stick to the old ways because they know that’ll be counterproductive to their DEI promises.”

3 Questions With Krystal CMO Alice Crowder

How is the marketing team preparing for a post-pandemic society as many venture back outside?

We’re here for our guests, just as we’ve always been — in an expanded number of ways. One of the things we know about our brand is that guests equate it with a little bit of fun, a little bit of joy.  People are hungry for that little bit of joy right now — we see it in our own teams and families as strongly as we see it in guest behavior. Whether people come back into our lobbies or continue to come through drive-through or get their favorites delivered, we’re working to provide them with the freshest, most cravable joy we can, and our marketing is all about reminding guests of that fact.  We’re focusing on product, and the differentiated nature of our product, with new, vibrant imagery and partnerships that play into the fun we know our guests like to have while enjoying the best damn slider out there.

What does a return to the office (if there is one) look like for the Krystal’s marketing team?

We’re back three days a week, and remote the other two. The way people work has evolved during this pandemic, and we value the benefits we’ve all gained from learning to work differently. We don’t want to lose them, and so for now have decided to continue to work from home a couple of days a week.  As much as we value the benefits of working from home, there are drawbacks as well — collaboration and innovation just don’t happen as easily via Zoom as they do in person. By keeping both platforms alive in our schedules, we get the best of both … and so do our guests.

How is the team keeping creative juices flowing while keeping burnout at bay?

That’s a tough one, isn’t it?  For us, being a brand that delivers joy and fun via menu items means that it’s important for us to actually experience joy and fun.  We have creative meetings over tastings, or take a few breaks in highly structured meetings. We bring in new people to our process — partner chefs or creatives from our agencies or even folks from other departments — to help us look at things a little more differently. — Kimeko McCoy

By the numbers

As the third-party cookie continues to crumble, marketers are scrambling to find consumer tracking alternatives in first-party data. Here, marketers have started asking for identifiers like emails and phone numbers. It seems promising enough. But as the war for third-party data winds down, is the one for personal data just getting started? 

New research from data platform Invisibly reveals that consumers want more control over their data and how it is used. Here’s the breakdown:

• 70% of respondents don’t want companies tracking them for marketing purposes.
• 44% of respondents said that they use an ad blocker to prevent companies from targeting them. Only 6% of people said they don’t use an ad blocker because they like ads targeted to them.
• 75% surveyed said they “like” the idea of companies needing their consent to track them. — Kimeko McCoy

Quote of the week

“If the old saying ‘Work hard. Play hard’ is embraced, employees need to take advantage of the vacation days offered to rest and recharge. … It’s a positive sign that we’re having these conversations as we’re not the only industry reconciling with the accelerated pace of work and expectations due to remote working.”

— Marla Kaplowitz, president and CEO of the 4A’s told marketing reporter Kimeko McCoy when asked about one company’s plan to close shop for a week to give all of its employees a true vacation.

What we’ve covered

• T-Mobile has pulled out of its partnership with Activision Blizzard and now other sponsors falling away like dominoes.
• Hybrid working models are proving a win-win for employees and employers, with both able to cast the job-seeking net wider.
• As the pandemic eases its restrictions on travel, Atlas Obscura is creating a new hybrid business model. More in this week’s Digiday Podcast.

Suresh Sambandam, CEO, Kissflow, a workflow software company with offices in India, the U.S. and the Middle East has adopted a hybrid work model he believes enables employees to enjoy the benefits of both remote work as well as co-located, in-office work. “We strongly believe it’s a quantum shift in mindset, and the workplace as we know it.” This new work model could also be an answer to “lop-sided development” that unfairly favored urban geographies until now, he said.

“Folks can move out of crowded metros and put down roots in their local communities, and not only have a better quality of life but also engage in a deep way in bringing about real social change,” added Sambandam. “We also get access to a wide talent pool that can help uplift people who have traditionally been unable to participate in the workforce.”

His thoughts are echoed by Alex Robinson, CEO and co-founder of U.S. investment management software specialist, Juniper Square. The company has reconfigured its workplace into three hubs, with offices in San Francisco and Austin, and a third hub in the cloud. Robinson believes that the most important benefit in creating a hybrid workplace is the ability to attract and retain talent.

“Beyond our employee base, our new hybrid workplace enables us to recruit employees from anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. That’s opened us up to new pools of talent and allowed us to maintain our rapid pace of hiring growth without sacrificing quality.” The company has hired close to 200 people since the start of the pandemic, and more of these have elected to join the cloud rather than both of its physical offices combined.

Robinson also sees the potential the new model has to help Juniper Square build a more diverse and inclusive workforce. “That includes eventually supporting additional physical hubs to provide for the needs of current and prospective employees that prefer them,” he said.

But while a hybrid model enables access to a wider talent pool, leaders need to ensure that, once they have identified and recruited the best talent, they are able to develop and retain them.

Karen Meager, organizational psychologist and co-founder of U.K.-based Monkey Puzzle Training and Consultancy said: “Without the unique culture of a physical workplace, some remote workers may feel that their personal development has stagnated. As a hybrid leader, it is your responsibility to give all team members the opportunities for personal development, regardless of their location. This will look different in every organization, but some suggestions could be arranging mentorship programs, extra training or virtual networking days.”

For new starters, not having in-person interaction when starting a job is challenging. Laura Weldon, creative director at Studio.LWD, based near Blackpool in the North West of England said physical meetings remain key for the wealth of new talent entering the creative industry. “This involves a lot of mentoring and support. Being part of a wider team in a face-to-face environment can really support their progress and [ensure they] aren’t feeling left in the dark,” she added.

The hybrid model will also necessitate a shift in how companies measure productivity. Sambandam said that even before the company launched its hybrid work model, KissFlow abolished the concept of presenteeism and moved from a task-driven to an objective-driven model.

“Productivity is now measured against objectives rather than initiatives. This reinforces freedom and autonomy by pushing control to the team level instead of centralizing it. Workplace responsibility has now shifted to the individual. People feel more responsible now in managing their time and output,” Sambandam said.

Practically, it is also important to put formal and informal structures in place to reward specific achievements and acknowledge ongoing contributions. “This will help workers in all locations feel valued and seen,” Meager added.

Leaders must work hard to reimagine a hybrid operation that can both attract and retain dispersed talent. As well as formalizing new processes for recruiting, onboarding, personal development and measuring success, leaders must ensure they listen.

“The best leaders are the ones that take a hands-on approach to motivate and inspire,” said Meager. “With workers spread over multiple locations, there should be an increased emphasis on listening and approaching every scenario with empathy. Communication is key.”