12 | Magazine World | December 2007 fipp.com
human resources
THe recruiting challenge
THE RIGHT STUFF FOR
PAGE & SCREEN
Hiring the right people has always required skill and ingenuity.
Now, not only do we need staff with excellent editorial, creative
and people skills, but we also require digital experience and
expertise. It’s a tall order, but not an insurmountable one,
says recruitment expert Ann Jamieson
A
s I sat around the table recently with That means that a shortage of well-qualified
a dozen senior publishing executives candidates at mid levels always follows a
from almost 10 countries, I noticed recession and hits hardest when there is a surge "Constant advances
a major change from one year ago: in business growth.
absolutely everyone is trying to recruit staff for And now we can add another ingredient:
in technology mean
their digital teams or is anticipating needing to constant advances in technology mean constant
constant changes in the
recruit them in the near future. changes in the skills and experience we look for
And from this comes two large and imposing in recruits. The search for the perfect candidate
skills and experience
questions. The first: where on earth are we going – up to the minute market knowledge, sector
to find these people? And the second: when we specialisation, cutting edge skills and a perfect
we look for in recruits"
do find or train them, how do we prevent them cultural fit – could be a very long search indeed.
from getting poached by competitors offering There’s no question that staffing up digital
ridiculously large salaries? departments can be particularly challenging of skill shortages, people get lured away by
At the beginning of October 2007, the for the companies that are pioneers in their offers of large salaries. But don’t let that deter
Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and countries. But there are general challenges likely you. At Pricejamieson, we regularly survey
PricewaterhouseCoopers published their 2007 to be faced by any publishing companies trying candidates on their main priorities when
Online Ad Spend report. Results showed that UK to recruit digital staff: selecting or staying in a job. And while salary
online ad spend reached more than £1.3 billion does feature on the list, it is rarely the most
in the first six months of the year and that online Salaries may be lower than those offered by important consideration. Working with good
was the fastest growing advertising medium. purely digital businesses and the need to keep colleagues and managers, interesting work
According to the report, the UK accounts parity with print salaries can make competing content, responsibility, career development and
for the largest share of online spending by for the best people difficult. feeling involved in the business are the main
advertisers in Europe. That means that the UK In some markets, stories of early ‘turf wars’ priorities for most people.
has more and more trained people working in all between print and digital departments can And the most common reasons for leaving a
areas of digital. Still, the demand for staff that deter candidates who would rather focus on job? Not challenged, not learning, not growing
have excellent core skills and relevant digital the job than on internal politics. and working for the wrong manager. For those
experience far outstrips supply. In other words, It is not always clear at the interview stage leaving digital departments, you can add: "very
the shortages are unlikely to go away as your or even when people join some companies unsure of what I was supposed to be doing. My
markets grow. who reports to whom and where final decision- role wasn’t clear and there was no feedback."
As we all know, recruitment has always making powers will lie. So how do you stand the best chance of
followed the economic cycle so that in a Managers who are hiring and facing their keeping your talented digital staff? The same way
downturn, people move out of a sector and first round of recruiting for a digital team as everyone else: good hiring, good induction,
very few new staff are taken on and trained. are often ill-equipped to interview for the good management and plenty of career
new skills. development.
"Absolutely everyone
All these, of course, are challenges that can be For tips on how to recruit digital staff, turn the page!
overcome. Learning the successful strategies of Ann Jamieson is a director of Pricejamieson – an
is trying to recruit staff
those companies that have travelled the path before Aquent company – and is a trainer in recruitment
for their digital teams"
you, for example, can save both time and mistakes. for the FIPP Management Training Certifi cate
So once you have done your recruiting and programme. She can be reached at
training, how do you keep your staff? At times annjam@pricejam.com
pp12-15 HR_v1r_corr1.indd 12 22/11/07 14:53:11
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