Don’t risk the agency talent pool drying up
From helping to ease the financial burden on young recruits to boosting social diversity, the7stars’ Jenny Biggam explains how to best replenish the media agency talent pool
They say people are the lifeblood of an organisation. Arguably nowhere is that more true than in agencies, and at the7stars we certainly believe our people are our strongest asset.
When you are able to bring together a diverse bunch of creative, committed and clever people and channel their talent and energy in the same direction then any business becomes much more than the sum of its parts – and great things can happen.
But there are various factors circling – both economic and social – that are threatening to block the pipeline of skills entering media agencies. If left unchecked, we face a real risk that the talent pool will begin to dry up.
Financial challenges
Let’s start with some pretty straightforward maths. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the average student leaving university over the next few weeks is expected to walk out with a debt cloud of £57,000 hanging over them as they look to enter the world of work.
For those looking to move out of home, the average rent paid for a property in England stands at £768 – if you exclude London. When you factor in the capital, still the locus of the media industry in terms of jobs, average rental fees soar to £1,232.
And if young people have ambitions to own their own home, they can expect on average to pay an astronomical £602,539 in London or a more realistic £220,900 across the country as a whole.
While these are broad brush figures, the underlying point is that those at the start of their careers are carrying a heavy financial burden – both in real terms and on a psychological level.
Pay a fair rate
As employers, we must be acutely aware of the realities of this context when looking to attract talent into our businesses. And if we want the right mix of the best people, then we need to be prepared to invest.
Internships, for example, remain an important first step on the media career path. They are not, however, a quick ticket to free resource, and any lingering ‘old school’ views along these lines need to be eradicated in favour of clearly defined schemes where interns are paid a fair rate for their contribution to the business.
For those graduating to the next rung of the ladder, it is essential that we make starting salaries as competitive as possible. There’s no question that a career in media remains an attractive prospect but agencies will increasingly be overlooked in favour of client-side roles if the package is more appealing.
And, outside of media, the appeal of the shiny world of tech and well-remunerated Square Mile of financial services will only amplify in comparison.
Social diversity
Changes in these areas will help address some of the concerns among debt-laden graduates but it is also important to highlight the sector’s failings when it comes to social diversity.
A recent report by Create London and Arts Emergency underlined this issue within the creative industries, concluding that the sector is “marked by significant inequalities”. This certainly resonates in media, and we must do more to break out from our London-centric, middle-class bubble.
For our part, we have partnered with Visionpath, an organisation that helps both school-leavers prepare for the world of work and businesses connect with a stream of diverse new talent.
In addition we work with Bryanston Square, which helps educators unlock potential among young people, encouraging them to aspire to careers they may think are out of reach for ‘people like them’. We are also supporters of the Advertising Unlocked initiative from the IPA, throwing open our doors to help inspire and welcome talent into the industry, whether students, school leavers, graduates or career switchers.
On the difficult situation of housing costs, we have partnered with DotDotDot, an innovative social enterprise. It offers access to cheaper rent in buildings that would otherwise be empty in return for housemates (or property guardians, as they are known) spending time volunteering for good causes within the local community – a vital lifeline for those re-locating to London from across the country.
Making a difference
On top of this – much like other agencies – we have a diversity taskforce, which of course encourages diversity of ethnicity, age, sexuality and disability. But more than that we have made commitments to the living wage, are focused on raising salaries for graduates and school leavers entering the business, and offer equal benefits packages for staff at all levels.
All these elements combined have the potential to make a real difference to barriers to entry that, left unchecked, could become too big to be overcome.
Ultimately, as a sector, we’re masters at helping clients sell themselves; we need to ensure we’re doing enough to sell ourselves to safeguard the next generation of diverse talent in media.