by Ralph Cutcher
Brick House Partners send email
Something is wrong.
The average tenure for a CMO 2004-2007 is 24.3 months. There are more open positions now at CMO than ever before. Agency client relationships average 2 years. Marketing has lost luster and influence in executive quarters. Something is wrong –Why? There is short-term results pressure, expectations misalignment, and cultural fit misalignment.
What can we do? Re-orient marketing & advertising talent search toward enduring issues, key issues like focus on fit, values and track record, and a transition from This is what we do to This is what we believe.
What’s a simple truth?
We know it intuitively, it matters, but we don’t practice it vigorously.
- Talent is table stakes... every assignment has candidates with the right experience. The real difference is the quality of the person and their fit with your company.
- The best experience is circumstantial... getting people who have been through what conditions lie ahead of your business means more than category experience. Both are a homerun.
- Courage and curiosity are most important... marketing and advertising agency work is lonely, early adopter, leadership work that requires a lot of “I believe…” and “Why does…”.
- Expectations are more binding than goals... expectations create emotional commitment and buy-in.
- Different staff solutions are good at different times... pause every time a role is open and evaluate whether it’s a good time for something different versus an inertia-based replacement.
- Reveal your values... great talent wants a level of humanness and realness and they need to hear and internalize a company’s values.
- Practice endurance training... hire people for what’s ahead versus the issue of now and you can reduce the unfortunate short tenure in marketing and agency staff.
- It's about selling... to get the best talent you need an impactful, well-rounded selling strategy for every search.
- Problems come in small packages... drill deep to find candidates' little deal breakers.
- Your current team creates a ceiling for staffing... how you treat them and their capability determines the quality of talent you can attract.
