Digital: In and Out

Digital ad agencies have a difficult time retaining employees. Why this is the case, and whether things will change.

Speak to any HR manager and you get the feeling that digital agencies - especially the small, independent ones - must be Teflon-coated. They just don't seem to make employees stick with them for long.

Digital, the new 'new' medium in India, has witnessed abundant interest from job seekers in the recent past. The trouble, however, seems to be that these seekers don't stop seeking jobs even after they have joined up. Six to eight months is par for the course, mourn many agency heads.

'Average' Joe

In the late '90s when standalone digital agencies got going, most of them adopted a start-up culture where working from a garage was in vogue. Later, the founders got 'like-minded' people to join the party. That is where they tripped up - getting people to work in a start-up mode was a tough task. The digital industry works on strict timelines where there is cutthroat competition both internally as well as externally. A start-up agency requires people who can run with the baton from the start and not everyone has the mindset to stay focused in an always-on environment.

"Couple this with producing high levels of creativity and you have your average Joes walking out in search of easier pastures within the first six months," says Prasanth Mohanachandran, co-founder, AgencyDigi. In every business, there are two kinds of employees - those who want a career and others who want a job. The latter is opportunistic while the former is steady.

However, there are levers that firms could pull to attract and retain good talent such as role clarity, remuneration, learning opportunities and company's branding strategy. To do all that, digital agencies have to think out of the box - and persuade their entry-level recruits to stay put.

The social leveller

Social media agencies - a digital agency by another name - that are being launched almost everywhere have a lower entry-level barrier for talent. Therefore, attrition at the junior levels could be higher since it doesn't require specialised training like media planning or search engine marketing or creative thinking.

"Many job applicants are also in discovery mode. They come in wanting to explore it because it is the latest thing but may find that it is not to their liking or that they don't have a clear focus on what they want from their careers," states Namrata Balwani, COO, Media2win. In content roles, for example, which form a bulk of the entry-level requirements, language becomes the dominant determinant of employment, but often the candidates face trouble in matching up to the language skill sets required for the job.

"Between 60-75 per cent of graduates coming out of Indian colleges lack the requisite English language skills required for the role. The situation is slightly better when it comes to analytical skills, where 40-60 per cent graduates meet the threshold," states Himanshu Aggarwal, CEO, Aspiring Minds, an employability solutions company.

This is true not just for social media, but any young industry. "Social Media has good money and several companies are popping up each day. Freshers are overly focused on the salary, not on the career. Many of them are not even sure about the career they want," points out Rajiv Dingra, founder and CEO, WATConsult.

Big name vs standalone

In 2012, the Indian digital industry witnessed a number of standalone agencies being acquired by foreign biggies (see table). Most of the digital agencies that were founded around the late '90s and early 2000s, have now become part of a larger network. So does having a bigger brand as the umbrella solve the attrition problem?

Established agencies offer a wider portfolio of clients, categories, campaigns and better salaries that keep youngsters constantly energised. "Some smaller hotshops are mercenary in their approach and want to earn a quick buck. Clients see through this soon enough and then a vicious cycle starts," opines Mohit Hira, senior vice president and digital head, JWT India Group.

Hira has not seen frequent exits in either JWT Digital or Hungama Digital Services, the two digital agencies in the JWT Group. Nor had it happened earlier when, as chief marketing officer of NIIT, he dealt with digital agencies.

Mohanachandran disagrees saying that having worked on both the branded and standalone agency sides, he can confidently say that the grass is grey on every side. For the record, prior to founding AgencyDigi in 2010, Mohanachandran was executive director, digital services, OgilvyOne Worldwide India and Neo@Ogilvy India.

Entry-level practice

Many believe that trends change with the level that an employee has reached. Juniors feel the pinch most. This may have to do with the agencies' low tolerance of slow performers and the fact that it is easier to replace junior executives.

"Attrition among junior level employees is high due to remuneration and a constant need to upgrade current skills in a different role or function or company. Sometimes, there is a fascination with big brand names also," explains Deepa Seshadri, head, human resources, Ozone Media.

Mid-level employees in this industry seek out new opportunities mainly to improve their skills. For example, in case of a campaign manager, the need to develop optimisation skills across multiple platforms (web, mobile, social media) with exposure to different campaigns and ad technologies is attractive. Mid-level employees are, therefore, more patient with their career path.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the butterfly factor that afflicts brand loyalties among youth also hit agencies with restless junior-level employees experimenting frequently before settling down somewhere," opines Hira. Mohanachandran believes that the rot is largely in the mid level and especially with those who got into their first job in digital around 2006-07. He goes on to say that this was the year when every network agency hired wrong, paid wrong and retained wrong.

Middle and senior executives in most digital start-ups are often faced with a mammoth task of not only shaping their team's talent but also their roles and careers, company brand and value proposition. Failure in any could lead to disorientation with exit being the only option. In most cases, such leaders prefer the next best destination - e-commerce.

E-com takes all

There has also been an emerging argument that the ever-flourishing deep-pocketed e-commerce companies are taking people from digital agencies with hefty salaries and appointing them as senior professionals in their marketing teams. But there are more complex and nuanced reasons.

Many agency folk, dreaming of being 'the client', fuel that demand. "And with the increasing importance of digital in corporates, companies want digital experts as part of their teams. Dotcoms of course want people with expertise in digital marketing," comments Balwani.

E-commerce companies are seeing an increasing need for high performers and market leaders and hence they cherry-pick talent from digital firms which are exposed to the latest trends in the internet, sophisticated ad technologies and analytics. More often than not, the best talent in digital firms gets opportunities to work across multiple functional domains. This enables them to have a wider perspective, making them more attractive for e-commerce industry.

Also the glamour around e-commerce, which has suddenly become the poster boy of the internet world, is attracting more candidates. "But e-commerce companies are doing a disservice to themselves if they are over paying. In the long run an overpaid, under-scaled employee only does harm to the company and his own career," opines Dingra. It is a bubble that has to burst.

"This policy works in the short term. What if an employee switches jobs every 12 months with 50 per cent wage hikes for four years and then needs to settle down or look for an exit to a stable, mature organisation? Will he not have out-priced himself? The answers are evident, aren't they?" asks Hira.

Digital solution

Many still believe that the big concern is of finding good talent for digital agencies in India. There are not many formal training grounds for digital marketing. If more institutes teach this as a discipline, we might see more recruits who want to be in this space, and have a passion for it.

Besides, an agency has to spend more time understanding the motivation of people who apply for the job. After a person joins, there should be an environment where dialogue can prosper and where there is constant feedback so that any employee who feels demotivated can express her viewpoint and have it addressed to the best extent possible.

The industry is still growing and the dust will eventually settle. In the long run it is the company that can manage cash flows well, inspire, groom and retain good talent that will survive.

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