FEATURES: The workers are revolting ... Talented staff are fleeing the ad industry, because they've had enough

<p>Once again, managers of ad agencies are up in arms over salaries </p><p>spiralling out of control (MEDIA, June 23). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Executives seem to have tried everything; salary capping, career path </p><p>mapping and some have even taken the radical step of looking to training </p><p>programmes. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Still, those ungrateful youngsters, who obviously don't appreciate just </p><p>how lucky they are, have the audacity to ask for more money, better </p><p>career opportunities and more training. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Some are voting with their feet and jumping on the dotcom bandwagon. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Just who do they think they are? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Well, they know exactly who and what they are. They know that they're </p><p>the lifeblood of our businesses. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>They know that they're the reason we exist and the source of energy </p><p>driving our success. They know that they are the only point of </p><p>difference any of us has, and as such, that they're our competitive </p><p>edge. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>They know they are our assets, our goodwill and the creators and </p><p>maintainers of our company's brands. They know that they are the present </p><p>and the future. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>What's more, they're absolutely, totally, unquestionably right. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The real tragedy isn't that many of the people moving jobs are not just </p><p>leaving from one agency to go to another and so causing salary </p><p>inflation, it's that they're leaving the industry altogether. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And they're not leaving ad agencies just for money or better career </p><p>prospects. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Often, their motivation is simply that they've had enough. It isn't just </p><p>about some pot of share option gold. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It's to be rid once and for all of having their time abused by companies </p><p>who survive in Asia exclusively on the goodwill of their employees. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Employees that work excruciating hours often for poor short-term </p><p>remuneration, little long-term investment and virtually no meaningful </p><p>sharing of the success that they are responsible for generating. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>They are tired of the outdated Western-based business model of the </p><p>advertising agency and the inevitable stresses this causes. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>They are tired of having crazy decisions imposed upon them from HQ; </p><p>they've had enough of working 16-hour days, six days a week in order to </p><p>feed the ever-increasing profit demands of distant chiefs. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And then to add insult to injury, to be informed that the sages at the </p><p>4As have ganged up and decided to cap their salary increments at three </p><p>per cent. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>What were they thinking? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Did they really believe that this attempt to deal with the symptom </p><p>rather than the cause was going to help retain and attract top talent to </p><p>our industry? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>If anything, the effect has been to drive more and more people away and </p><p>to make any new talent thinking of entering the industry think </p><p>again. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>During the recent recession, the industry culled staff at an </p><p>unprecedented rate. Many hardworking, loyal people were fired. Others </p><p>had their salaries slashed. Disillusioned, they sought employment in </p><p>other industries, never to return. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>No new young talent was hired. The few training budgets that existed </p><p>were frozen. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Is anyone really surprised that we now have a people problem? And it's </p><p>going to get much worse. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The "New Economy" is not about dotcoms, it's about wealth-sharing and </p><p>human development. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>These companies recognise that to get the best people out of the ad </p><p>industry, all they have to do is to share a little success, pay a little </p><p>more and show a tad more respect for people. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With this simple formula, they can attract pretty much anyone they want </p><p>away from the dinosaur agencies. It's rich hunting ground. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It's easy to see why we're in a vicious circle. The more people that </p><p>leave the industry, the more inexperienced, lower quality people will be </p><p>hired putting even more pressure on those seasoned executives that </p><p>remain. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The more their time will be demanded, the more disenchanted they'll </p><p>become, the more clients will be dissatisfied, the more the reputation </p><p>of the industry will be damaged (if that's possible). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>We are only experiencing the tip of the iceberg. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>To deal with these harsh realities, we have to look in new </p><p>directions. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The industry has shot itself in the foot so many times that we mustn't </p><p>look back if we really want to see the way forward. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While it may be difficult to see just now, all this presents a fantastic </p><p>opportunity for those people and organisations that wish to challenge </p><p>the old order and that believe that genuine, constructive change in our </p><p>industry is long, long overdue. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>What's more, now there is no choice. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>