Some agencies can take their pick of the best talent on the market. They get more and better applications to their vacancies, they receive spec applications — and they end up with staff keen to learn, grow and take on new challenges.

These are the agencies who are perceived as being accelerators for the careers of the people who work for them. Talented people feel that working for a period at such an agency will propel their career forward, and will often turn down better-paying offers in favour of this.

Objectives

In this session, board members will review the journey for the agency's staff members, from pre-recruitment all the way through to being an alumnus — and contribute insights for ways the business can better contribute to their professional development and their career goals.

Pre-reading

Agency businesses are nothing more than a group of talented people choosing to work together, with their complimentary expertise, towards a shared purpose.

The best clients are attracted to agencies that demonstrate the best collection of talent. Often, they are unable to recruit similar talent in house because of a very different culture, inflexible HR — and the perception that they simply don't accelerate careers in the same way.

Highly talented people like agencies because they can work on a variety of projects for a range of different clients. No other workplace offers the chance to learn so much so fast, to generate and try out ideas so rapidly at any level, and to progress on your merits above all else.

Therefore, a key part of succeeding as a healthy agency is recognising this role as a talent accelerator. A place that the best people can come to for a few years, do great work, learn lots, and then leave a few rungs higher on their career ladder than they would otherwise have been.