ATTRACT.INSPIRE.RETAIN.DEVELOP.A collection of thoughts and best practice from PR leaders on how to attract, inspire, retain and develop the best talent in the industry.

CONTENTSThe Contributors 2

Executive Summary 3

Attract 5A candidate driven market Uniform hiring process Inflexible hiring mindset

Inspire 8Being a great leader

Retain 11MotivationsChurnClient account leads

Develop 14 TrainingValues and aspirationsChanging trends

Key Findings 16

THE CONTRIBUTORS

Michael Murphy

Alison Clarke

Richard Baines

Rohan Shah

Running his own advisory firm, Michael Murphy & Ltd, Michael works for a number of PR companies including WE, which has just appointed him as a non-executive director. He is also on the board of Interel, the global public affairs consultancy. Michael was previously CEO of Grayling, a position he held for just under four years. Prior to this, Michael was CEO of Trimedia, during which time he lead the acquisition of Trimedia by Huntsworth, and before that he was Deputy CEO of Weber Shandwick.

Alison has spent her career running major consultancies, including Grayling, where she was UK CEO, and regional networks in the UK and Asia Pacific as President of Weber Shandwick. Alison has advised some of the world’s leading international organisations on a wide range of challenges and opportunities across multiple geographies. Alison is now a business advisor and mentor working with a portfolio of consultancies and client companies to help both businesses and individuals develop, grow and succeed. She has previously been elected chairman of both the PRCA and the CIPR.

Richard has delivered workshops and coaching programmes for over 50 PR and creative services firms. His experience as a PR consultant ranges from account executive to board director. Richard is also a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and lead provider of Amber HR’s consulting services. Richard is a trained trainer and coach, a licensed Insights Discovery practitioner and an Affiliate of the PRCA.

Rohan Shah is co-founder and Managing Director of Reuben Sinclair, a leading PR recruitment consultancy. Rohan has helped some of the world’s largest and smallest companies attract exceptional PR talent, as well as working with select clients on adopting exceptional recruitment strategies and processes. As co-chair of M Squared, the marketing and creative sector group for the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), Rohan helps corporates and recruitment companies within the space to grow, develop and share best practice.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

As the leader of a company that is constantly asked to help clients with leadership challenges, we thought it would be a useful exercise to obtain some wider industry views on what it is that we mean by leadership and exactly what impact it can have – both bad leadership and good. Indeed, there is even confusion between leaders and those they lead about what leadership really looks like. In a recent study, leaders and employees were asked what they thought employees wanted from a leader. Leaders replied by saying that they believed their employees wanted vision, a clear idea of where the business was heading. In contrast, employees said that what they wanted from a leader was for them to show a genuine concern for their wellbeing. Mixed messages there then. So, what is the reality? And what part does leadership play in attracting, inspiring and keeping talent?

To answer these questions, we turned to the very best in the industry to hear and debate their views in front of a number of guests from the PR agency world. Those ‘best’ were: Michael Murphy, a non-executive director of international global agency WE and board member for global affairs consultancy Interel; Alison Clarke, former chair of both the PRCA and CIPR, CEO of Grayling UK and Ireland, and President of Weber Shandwick in Asia Pacific; Richard Baines, Director and co-founder of specialist PR training consultancy, The Amber Group; and Rohan Shah, Managing Director of one of the UK’s leading PR recruitment consultancies. And they didn’t disappoint; it was probably one of the best panel discussions we’ve witnessed. All four were incredibly open, practical and insightful. What’s more, everyone in the room took away at least three nuggets on how they can become better leaders. My three? Firstly, remember the effect you can have on your team. Your moods, body language and behaviour can be incredibly infectious. Secondly, be honest. Employees hate to be misled or, even worse, lied to. So don’t gloss over the bad news. Tell it as it is: treat your employees like grown-ups. And thirdly, remember that one size doesn’t fit all. Good leaders need to be able to adapt to different personality types, to motivate employees in different ways. That feels like a pretty powerful and compelling bunch of three to me. I hope you enjoy reading this report and taking away your own thoughts on how to be a wonderful leader.

Ken Deeks MBE, Co-Founder of the Amber Group

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ATTRACTINGTALENT

ATTRACTLEADERSHIP CHALLENGES

A candidate driven market

PR leaders are becoming integral to attracting and securing the best talent. As leaders, the panel recommends you personally meet with every new hire where possible. Not only does this show the investment and interest you have in your team, it also allows the leadership to communicate the company story, the roadmap and the staff member’s role in achieving that right from the beginning.

Uniform hiring process

People are your biggest asset in the PR agency world, so getting it right is crucial. Leaders must ensure they are implementing a fair interview structure that identifies the correct fit for their organisation.

Rohan Shah: “The best interview process to avoid bias and identify the best fit possible is based on a uniformed approach, using key criteria that are important to your business. These can be your values or the traits of your top performers, and they must be set by the leadership. Each criterion has anecdotal notes and a scoring system that helps to eliminate biased recruitment.”

Alison Clarke: “I have seen businesses plateau when the leaders are hiring in their own likeness. Strong personalities often find strong personalities attractive. Let’s get some balance in the workplace. Smart leaders should know what they are good at and what they are bad at and hire people that are good at what you lack.”

Richard Baines: “Hiring a team member is similar to the process of buying a house: you may only actually see it twice before you make the commitment. Any hire that is made purely from two face-to-face interviews is sketchy. Get more certainty in the process by increasing the amount of opportunities you have to gather insights through personality profiling tools and references. It’s amazing how many leaders don’t take references.”

Inflexible hiring mindset

The PR industry has grown by £3bn in three years, but right now there’s a talent shortage. It’s time for leaders to start looking further afield to attract talent from different backgrounds. Statistics show that the younger generation are changing employers more frequently than before.

Rohan Shah: “Embrace non-traditional PR backgrounds that are in line with the growing trends. For example, digital and analytical specialists that will make your team stronger.”

Richard Baines: “Don’t ignore those who only stay in their role for a ‘short’ amount of time. People are less patient now. Meet with these applicants, you may be able to offer them something compelling that their previous companies weren’t able to.”

Inside Knowledge Free ResourceManifest PR has banned CVs and introduced a pre-interview survey to qualify candidates who are a cultural fit for Manifest.

Download the interview structure template here.

Leaders should be empathetic and chameleon-like.

Respect team members for playing

their part in the journey.Alison Clarke

INSPIRINGTALENT

BEING AN INSPIRATIONAL LEADER

Michael Murphy

“Continuous self-improvement is a must for leaders, at every stage of your career. One of the challenges I have faced with regards to being a leader is realising the influence I have on my organisation and the people I have worked with. The look on a leader’s face when they enter the office, whether they look happy or concerned, will rub off hugely on the team. One of the jobs of a leader is to inspire confidence.

“Most of us have to learn leadership on the move – it’s not something that we’re necessarily taught. Leaders have to have that leading mentality. Think about the leaders who you respect and what attributes they display, then think about your own attributes and how you can improve.

“Recent studies have shown that successful CEOs display a certain amount of vulnerability to their team.

“There are a lot of businesses out there built on one big personality or ego. However, the successful agencies that I have worked with in the past have been successful because the leaders are aware of their vulnerabilities and recognise that they can’t be good at everything – and therefore need to surround themselves with people who are strong in areas that they are not.”

Alison Clarke

“Leaders exist to create the vision and values for an organisation and to form a strategic roadmap. People want to know what the journey is that they are part of, and what contribution they can give. Leaders also have to empower their team to fulfil their part of the journey.

“On the softer side, leaders have to be chameleon-like and adaptable – not just to different situations, but also to different personalities. Reverse mentoring is a great idea. I have learnt a lot from people who are many generations younger than me and whilst I’m clear about my job, I also think it is important to know what other people’s part of the journey is and to acknowledge and respect them for what they are good at.”

Richard Baines

“People have a stereotypical vision of a leader who is forceful and extroverted. While these things are important, so is being considered, reflective and introverted. Successful leadership teams are made up of a real breadth of personality types so they are able to engage the entire workforce. People are inspired by different things, so having that breadth is so important. A great leader also needs to show genuine concern for their team’s welfare.”

Rohan Shah

“For me, there are two echelons: one being leaders and one being management. Leaders are there to provide the vision and roadmap, and managers are responsible for ensuring that this is delivered by the staff. Leaders shouldn’t be so engrained in the day-to-day that they forget to lead – like the old saying goes: ‘You’re either in the business or on the business’.”

INSPIRE

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Realise how much you rub off on your team, down to the look on

your face as you enter the office.

Michael Murphy

RETAININGTALENT

RETAINLEADERSHIP CHALLENGES

Motivations

It’s harder than ever before to retain staff. In 2005, it was normal for an individual to stay in the same company for three to five years. Today, the average tenure of employment in PR agencies stands at 18 months to two years. What can we do as leaders to ensure that we’re retaining our staff?

Michael Murphy: “The younger generation – because of technology and outlook on life – are more collegiate and open-minded than my generation. We should be embracing their outlook and will retain them by understanding their motivations, which are likely to be different to yours and mine.”

Alison Clarke: “We must get to grips with the fact that ambition means different things to different people. Some people absolutely do not want to get to the top and lead an organisation. The PR industry has a bricks and mortar model run by baby boomers and Gen X. If we don’t get to grips with the motivations of younger generations, quite frankly, in 15 years we’ll be dead in the water.”

Rohan Shah: “Align the company’s goals with the individual’s goals that work for you, which will be different for everyone – and easier said than done. Ultimately, I find that people leave companies because they aren’t achieving their own personal goals.”

Churn

A recent CIPR report stated that the PR industry churn rate stands at 20-25% and that 60% of these leavers exit the industry entirely. How do leaders ensure they are maintaining the correct level of retention?

Richard Baines: “Churn is to be expected and overall it’s better to have a fantastic employee for a shorter amount of time rather than a less fantastic employee for a longer amount of time. A vast majority of people leave their jobs in PR agencies because there is a small aspect of their job that they really dislike. Too often, agencies are trying to create a somewhat unrealistic, perfectly rounded, PR professional.”

Michael Murphy: “The PR agency model is a unique and unnatural phenomenon – the move towards a more integrated approach will allow individuals to become more specialist and focus their time on areas that they excel at.”

Client account leads

The PR industry as a whole is heavily reliant on employees connecting with clients, with the majority of PR professionals in 2016 reporting that they spend 51% of their time on account management and client handling. How does leadership retain the superstars?

Alison Clarke: “Churn is inevitable. Within PR agencies and on client side, your clients (especially the big brands) will expect a certain amount of churn. Therefore, if we know that at any one time we will be losing 20-25% of our workforce, why are we still allowing clients to develop relationships with only one or two individuals within the agency? Leaders should ensure that they are developing relations between clients and the team more – one, to save disappointment if their client lead does leave, and two, to celebrate the team effort more effectively.”

Richard Baines: “Leaders are responsible for educating clients on the benefits and likelihood of churn.”

Key FindingPR agencies must showcase the process, agency brand and methodology to position client leads as part of the entire agency offering.

Inside KnowledgeC8 combats dependency on individuals by using team email addresses for client accounts to contact.

The younger generation are more

open-minded and collegiate. We should embrace their outlook

and will retain them by understanding their

motivations.

Michael Murphy

DEVELOPINGTALENT

LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES

Training

How can leaders maximise the benefit of a training budget for staff?

Alison Clarke: “At a previous organisation, the learning and development budget was substantial but the feedback from staff was that they were unsatisfied. The model used by most organisations is to appraise staff and allocate training on basics that are fundamental to the organisation and to fill the ‘potholes’ on an individual basis. What we realised is that flipping this on its head and investing in training that amplified what staff were already good at resulted in a much greater benefit for both the individual and staff.”

Values and aspirations

Studies have shown that the vast majority of the younger generation do not want material wealth, they want experiences. How do leaders develop individuals with different aspirations and motivations to them?

Hugh Taggart, Managing Director of Bell Pottinger Business and Brand: “Recognise the stars in your team and fight like hell to keep them. You can’t treat all people the same, but you can make an extra effort to understand and satisfy the values and aspirations of your top people. Ad agencies motivate with creatives, PR agencies need to find similar solutions to motivate people in their team.”

Richard Baines: “Different personality types will be inspired by different people. Work out who the influencers are in your company that inspire those that you can’t, and make sure you are developing them professionally and personally to keep them.”

Changing trends

SEO, AI, digital and content are all increasing in the world of PR. Clients are investing more in in-house PR teams rather than using agencies. Is there still room for PR agencies in the future and how do we as leaders keep up with changes in trends?

Michael Murphy: “Leaders have to be comfortable with the uncomfortable and ultimately comfortable with change. Technology is an obvious constant change at the moment that should be a focal point in the development of any staff.”

Rohan Shah: “You can’t take away the breadth of networks and specialisms held in PR agencies.”

DEVELOP

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Spend your training budget on building on

the foundations, not filling holes.

Alison Clarke

KEY FINDINGSLeaders must personalise their approach.1Play to people’s strengths by introducing more specialist roles. 2Younger generations require a different employer-employee engagement model.3Adopt a uniform approach to hiring to grow an effective team.4Showcase the process, agency brand and methodology to clients to encourage agency loyalty over dependence on individuals.5

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WITH THANKS

hello@reuben-sinclair.com0203 826 1206

info@ambergroup.net0777 0828 525