Ad Age: The Growing Talent Abyss—And Why Both Agencies And Clients Are Accountable

In this op-ed, our U.S. CEO, Adam Gerhart, looks at how clients and agencies can shift to the same side of the table in tackling the challenges around talent recruitment and retention.

Excerpt: Our most successful agency-client relationships aren’t built on simply demanding top talent on the business. Your best brand managers are the same as our best people—they seek out environments where they’re valued, empowered and supported in making bold decisions. That means seeing the agency as a partner, not a provider.

And that requires clients to open the aperture of the relationship to share product roadmaps, not just communication briefs. When times get tough, the team can work together to find fresh perspective from people who can help move the business forward.

True partnership is the new world talent equation. Even with the best of intentions, premium pay and promise of growth, our top people won’t work with clients who don’t trust or support them as if they were their own. It’s why we’re also one of the first agencies to have employees actively evaluate clients based on how much they like working on their business. So next time top talent is a top priority, think about how actions breed an environment which naturally attracts and retains those people.

Read the full piece in Ad Age here.