I’ve spoken with a lot of managers during my time as a recruiter for 10Fold. It’s common to hear that candidates want to learn more and be more involved with the business, and I find that that is shockingly lacking in many communications firms where managers (or Account Supervisors) are a manager in name only. Here are a few of the challenges I’ve learned in conversations with managers and the way 10Fold addresses those challenges.
Common Challenges Managers Face at PR and Digital Agencies
Mentorship/Training to Create Opportunities
Most managers I speak with describe management training as a brown bag lunch with someone from their agency giving their opinions about a topic. That simply doesn’t stack up to the rigor of formal training and the importance and credibility associated with earning third-party credentials, rigorous testing on the materials and course alignment with career progression. Often, managers will explain their one-on-one meetings with their manager as what they have received as “formal training sessions” – e.g. which might otherwise be described as mentorship or opinions on situations. 10Fold offers structured training courses specifically aligned to each role in our organization. For managers we include skills such as learning to leverage Salesforce for insights on team and account insights, soft skills required for management and sensitive HR topics, as well as professional skill development such as crisis PR or advanced industry analyst relations. You feel like you’re not left to fend for yourself and with this training you are better prepared to execute in your role.
Stalled Professional Development
There are a few things that make employees want to leave their organization more than a lack of growth opportunities. This can come in a lot of different forms, such as not having clearly defined goals required to progress to the next level or too few opportunities to work on new projects that help build an impressive resume that will advance your career. There may be a lack of transparency from upper management about what is required to get to the next level. For example, is your current employer sharing job descriptions with the skills and experiences they are looking for openly? Let’s face it: you want to move up in your career, but you don’t know what you need, you have not been told what your boss is looking for and you are not given a chance to get there. It feels like you’re stalled and can’t move forward.
Limited Insights and Involvement in Business Decisions
Managers have expressed frustration over being left out of important business operations that involve their people and accounts such as tracking account profitability and the allocation of their people to those accounts that give them an inside view about how their accounts and direct reports will be impacted. Sometimes the leadership doesn’t worry about figuring out these details and doesn’t have the tools or data to determine the answers. But too often, these responsibilities are handled primarily by senior leadership, leaving managers with a limited understanding of how and why decisions are made and with very little ability to make changes. Without the insights about what is coming, and being involved in the allocation, managers can’t fully anticipate challenges and support their teams as they execute programs. As a manager, we want you to be part of significant company decisions at 10Fold.
A Manager in Title Only
In many instances I have found that managers are treated as mentors rather than truly managing direct reports with responsibility for a person’s performance and growth. They often lack the authority to recommend promotions, give raises, or conduct performance reviews. In some cases, there isn’t even a formal review process in place. In some cases, the manager has no idea what their direct report’s salary is. This limits their ability to lead and support their teams effectively because they don’t have the full picture of their direct report’s employment, they can’t fully understand the challenges their reports may be facing (such as they haven’t had a raise in two years).
Lack of Transparency
Transparency is key for maintaining team motivation, and a lot of times, managers I’ve talked to don’t have insights into their agency’s goals and performance. When you don’t fully understand the business goals or the company’s performance, it becomes difficult for managers to align their own objectives with their employer and contribute effectively to the company’s growth. Transparency is the great anecdote for letting imaginations run wild – managers can’t speculate on why raises or bonuses were not bigger if they hear directly from leadership that sales were much lower than anticipated and profits were a mere 12% this year.
At 10Fold, we believe addressing these challenges is the basis for empowering managers to lead effectively and drive organizational success. It starts with transparency in job descriptions, with clear growth opportunities and with direct involvement in important business operations as well as information about staff that report to the manager. With that information and some training, we believe managers can thrive in their roles, fostering a supportive and productive work environment that promotes both individual and team success.
Do any of these challenges resonate with you? Let us know on LinkedIn!
P.S. Learn how 10Fold differentiates from other agencies in part two of the series, coming soon!