While adland bemoans the lack of talent across the industry, could it actually be that many of the fine minds and experienced ones are willing and ready, but they actually just don’t want the full-time roles?
That's the argument put forward at a Senior Women in Media and Marketing (SWMM) event in Sydney. Hosted by SWMM co-founder Kate Edwards and featuring Wyse Women's Sarah Wyse; founder and CEO of The Right Fit Taryn Williams, Carat CEO Paul Brooks and ex-ANZ exec turned startup founder Tom Culver, the panel tackled topics around 're-imagining your career'.
Wyse, who is the chief revenue officer at Allure Media while also running startup Wyse Women, which “gives women the opportunity to work on their terms, in a flexible and supportive environment”, said companies in adland need to break the traditional hiring mechanics and be more open to filling vacancies with part-time and flexible roles.
Wyse explained how after working hard and climbing the ranks, the industry can later lose both men and women who end up exiting due to burnout, or following maternity leave.
“We hear a lot about the talent shortage and a talent gap and yes I think there is, but I don't think it's actually as big as everyone is thinks,” Wyse said during the event held at the Ivy Penthouse.
“It's actually that the people you want, who are really fantastic and have got the skills and experience, don't want to work Monday to Friday nine to five. So when these jobs come through they're not getting the applicants with the amazing experience as people aren't going for these jobs.”
People wanting part-time roles isn't just because they may have responsibilities with childcare only. The industry has changed, people want a better life balance and many want to do other things such as work in two varying roles or even work on their own business.
“These days the [career] path has dramatically altered and Carat sees first-hand how people are wanting change and move through their career different ways – and far sooner,” Brooks said.
See: 'We need to do better'; Carat CEO on improving diversity and work life
A huge opportunity
The move to initiate more flexible working regimes isn't to say that all full-time roles don't need a full-time person, but this role could also be split between two people working flexibly.
Wyse said it's also not just women after part-time roles as Wyse Women also has men on the books. Example roles on the startup app include media director, investment partnerships manager, senior designer, programmatic director and strategist.
Wyse said this represents a huge opportunity to increase participation of senior women in the industry.
“Lots of people are looking for more experienced people in the industry and they can't seem to find a way in engaging more mature people,” Wyse said.
“Lots of people I speak to say 'I just want a grown-up to help me with this role/project etc'.”
See: Job share speed dating - the answer to gender diversity in advertising?
Speaking to AdNews after the event, Edwards, who founded SnackableTV and content and strategy agency Kontented, said most of her workforce are contractors and freelancers by design.
“Creatives are usually highly skilled in niche areas meaning generalists are less likely to deliver the best results for our projects,” Edwards said.
She added it does have a dedicated "back-bone" of full time and part time staff, but the most creative roles are usually project based.
“I'd argue that as we scale both our companies in the future more part time and contractors along with full time roles will grow almost evenly and not in a traditionally heavy full time capacity," she said.
Speaking to AdNews, Simone McLaughlin, who previously worked at creative shops Marmalade Melbourne and Whybin TBWA before founding her business ‘Jobs Shared’, said there are plenty of people who need flexibility out there that still want a career.
“I loved my career in advertising. I worked hard to get a foot in the door and harder still to work my way up. So it was disheartening to lose a job I loved simply because I couldn't work full time after having my first child,” McLaughlin said.
“I had underestimated the effect having children would have on my career, but it led me to where I am now and I wouldn't change a thing.”
McLaughlin said so much needs to change, but even starting with some small easily implemented changes, such as more advertising roles being open to job sharing or flexible working, would create a new talent pool and could have a huge impact.
“People don't just want flexible work, they want flexible work that lets them progress in their careers, so strategies need to be put in place that will allow an agile workforce that can still meet business objectives,” she said.
“I'm proof that simply letting someone work part-time, despite good intentions is not always the right answer. Advertising is fast moving, clients are never going to be less demanding, there are deadlines, that's just the nature of advertising, so we need to be strategic about how flexible work is implemented so the business can still operate at full capacity, which is obviously why job sharing is a perfect scenario for this industry.”
McLaughlin said a harder change will be placing a higher value on diversity in the workplace.
“And I don't just mean increasing numbers of women. Diversity goes way beyond that, but creating more pipelines for women to reach senior roles will be a good start,” she said. “If you can see it, you can be it.”
Do you work part-time in a senior full-time job share role in adland? We'd love to know which company's are leading the way or are trying this out more so drop us a line.
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