Page 54 - Adnews Magazine November-December 2021

Investigation
And those organisations that did hire staff in recent months faced an average 10% to 20% salary increase and 28% of organisations increased offshoring of local work to help manage staff shortages.
An increase in poaching, decreasing productivity and slowing growth is also resulting in organisations reporting that they are reviewing their invest- ment in Australia.
Gai Le Roy, IAB Australia CEO: “The demand for talent in the Australia digital advertising market is the highest I have seen in my 20-plus years in the industry.”
Global consultancy Forrester, in its annual forecasts: “The pan- demic’s impact on talent and the marketing they produce leaves a void CMOs and agencies must fill. In 2022, the pendulum will swing back towards creativity generated by new constructs of technology, partnerships and ingenuity.”
Mark Coad at Mediabrands Australia describes the talent squeeze as one of the greatest challenges.
“Any manager who has not experienced this is either lying, or working as a sole trader,” he says.
“I do fear it will get worse before it gets any better, and I say that on two fronts.
“Firstly, the talent land-grab invariably results in people being fast-tracked in their careers, sim- ply to fill roles. Some have been poached, others elevated inter- nally. Many will prosper. I sin- cerely hope those growing into these roles are not caught short having been promoted too early and that the expectations placed on them don’t exceed their skills and experience.
“Secondly, our industry loyal- ists are tired. They have worked bloody hard for their employers, their teams and their clients, and the vast majority have covered for positions in their teams that have not been filled.
“It has been a slog for many and I hope we all find ways to reenergise and rekindle our love of this industry. I am optimistic there — as we light up many of the things we all love, such as working closer together, socialising together having fun together.
“I’m a huge believer in a focus on culture and those who have worked with me will know that. I also know that everyone else will say that so let me share my perspective: don’t say it, do it.
“A common quote has always rung massively true to me: ‘Your culture is defined by the worst standards/behaviours you are prepared to accept’. This is incredibly true, but only works if you actually practice it. Because if you don’t, you won’t just lose people, you will lose your best people. You will lose the people who expect the highest standards and career potential from their professional environments. And if those are not delivered — genuinely delivered — the good people will leave. The ones who remain will be the ones who accept that lower level of behaviour and your culture will be redefined/adjusted (downwards) accordingly. Deep answer to a simple question, but it is very simply the only way to keep good people.”
Mark Frain at Foxtel Media: “The competition for talent in media and marketing has been as fierce as ever in 2021 and — with predictions of a Great Resignation as we emerge from the pandemic — the media industry needs to reimagine how we hire and nurture people.
“I truly believe it's going to take a long time to rebuild the talent pool in the industry while many of the entry positions are enveloped in heavy admin tasks. As a whole we will have to continue to invest and explore new ways of working to improve the attractiveness of those roles.
“For our industry, this means looking further than the confines of our traditional competitive set when hiring. It’s just not good enough to go through LinkedIn to target people working in the same roles in other media companies or pick up the phone and call the same recruiter to start hitting up your industry peers. We need new ideas from a diverse and varied set of backgrounds, with intrinsic and long-standing university connections
“We’re in an industry that is rapidly changing with some much momentum, we just need to start telling that story better to new and fresh talent.