CAREERS: Training will raise industry standards: Lotherington
<p>What constitutes a good job? The answer is obvious: responsibility,
</p><p>satisfaction, good pay, a clear and upward career path and training.
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>But with the economy the way it is, good wages are hard to find while
</p><p>career path development seems to be a thing of the past. Satisfaction
</p><p>walked out the door a long time ago, when clients started demanding TVCs
</p><p>within a week or less. And responsibility; well, very few are willing to
</p><p>take risks these days for fear of being fired by the client. That just
</p><p>leaves training - a subject which agencies claim to be focusing on a lot
</p><p>more these days.
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>"Training is one of the ways to upgrade people's skills and mindsets to
</p><p>understand and cope with a fast-changing world. It is also one of the
</p><p>best ways to keep staff," said Wayne Lotherington, chief executive
</p><p>officer of Singapore-based Allsorts Habit Creation, a company that
</p><p>specialises in training.
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>However, Lotherington - whose clients include BBDO, Leo Burnett, TBWA,
</p><p>DDB, Lowe Lintas, McDonald's, Ericsson and Motorola - said that some
</p><p>companies were conducting training programmes with inappropriate
</p><p>content. "I frequently hear about training to build up people's
</p><p>negotiation skills but what the trainers do is set up hostage
</p><p>simulations where participants have to try to talk the abductors into
</p><p>freeing their captives and surrendering peacefully."
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>He said there isn't much that agency staffers can take back to their
</p><p>work from this because the content isn't relevant to the marketing
</p><p>communications industry.
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>"The objective is to give people advice, rules and guidelines that help
</p><p>them deal with day-to-day work-related issues, such as negotiating
</p><p>prices, trying to persuade the client to give me three extra days or how
</p><p>to get the art director to attach the greatest priority to my
</p><p>project."
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>Lotherington set up Allsorts in 1999, however, he isn't new to the
</p><p>industry in the region. He spent nine years with DDB in Melbourne,
</p><p>rising to group account director. Between 1989 and 1991, he was the
</p><p>group account director at Batey Ads with responsibility for the
</p><p>Singapore Tourism Board. Before striking out on his own, with his own
</p><p>company, he was the training director at Leo Burnett.
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>Lotherington said that some agencies were reluctant to allocate a budget
</p><p>for training because it would be money wasted if staff left the company
</p><p>seem after completing their training programmes. But he added that
</p><p>ultimately "training benefits the industry" and would help raise
</p><p>standards.
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p>
by
|
09/28/2001
What constitutes a good job? The answer is obvious: responsibility,
satisfaction, good pay, a clear and upward career path and training.
But with the economy the way it is, good wages are hard to find while
career path development seems to be a thing of the past. Satisfaction
walked out the door a long time ago, when clients started demanding TVCs
within a week or less. And responsibility; well, very few are willing to
take risks these days for fear of being fired by the client. That just
leaves training - a subject which agencies claim to be focusing on a lot
more these days.
"Training is one of the ways to upgrade people's skills and mindsets to
understand and cope with a fast-changing world. It is also one of the
best ways to keep staff," said Wayne Lotherington, chief executive
officer of Singapore-based Allsorts Habit Creation, a company that
specialises in training.
However, Lotherington - whose clients include BBDO, Leo Burnett, TBWA,
DDB, Lowe Lintas, McDonald's, Ericsson and Motorola - said that some
companies were conducting training programmes with inappropriate
content. "I frequently hear about training to build up people's
negotiation skills but what the trainers do is set up hostage
simulations where participants have to try to talk the abductors into
freeing their captives and surrendering peacefully."
He said there isn't much that agency staffers can take back to their
work from this because the content isn't relevant to the marketing
communications industry.
"The objective is to give people advice, rules and guidelines that help
them deal with day-to-day work-related issues, such as negotiating
prices, trying to persuade the client to give me three extra days or how
to get the art director to attach the greatest priority to my
project."
Lotherington set up Allsorts in 1999, however, he isn't new to the
industry in the region. He spent nine years with DDB in Melbourne,
rising to group account director. Between 1989 and 1991, he was the
group account director at Batey Ads with responsibility for the
Singapore Tourism Board. Before striking out on his own, with his own
company, he was the training director at Leo Burnett.
Lotherington said that some agencies were reluctant to allocate a budget
for training because it would be money wasted if staff left the company
seem after completing their training programmes. But he added that
ultimately "training benefits the industry" and would help raise
standards.
