Creative agencies are constantly challenged by resource planning and management. As they rely more on freelancers – due to the changing workforce – costs have the potential to skyrocket. Ray Kieser, Global Practice Director, Marketing Communications at Deltek shares tips on keeping those costs under control
One of the greatest challenges faced by creative agencies today is resource planning and management – particularly when it comes to staffing. Client projects are consistently changing and agencies are facing an increasing demand to be more agile, flexible and available.
Unfortunately, this is easier said than done, especially when the primary way agencies provide flexibility – freelance support – is becoming more competitive and expensive by the day. As a result, agencies that don’t have a strong grip on what personnel resources are needed, can get stuck paying exorbitant fees for freelancers on a day-to-day basis, or worse yet, risk disappointing clients and losing revenue due to an inability to adequately staff projects.
A recent report by ClickZ and Deltek noted that the two biggest challenges faced by creative agencies with regards to resource management and planning were 1) finding and retaining qualified staff and 2) staffing for an always-on environment. When you consider that creative talent is core to an agency’s success, and recruitment and retention costs the advertising and marketing industry around $285 million each year, it is easy to understand why this is such a focal point.
One of the key ways that creative agencies manage staffing pressures is by relying on freelancers as a means to access specialist skills, offer more flexible availability and fulfill short-term projects. However, more often than not, freelancers are brought in as the first point of call, rather than based on an evaluation of existing agency resources. As a result, an agency may end up watching profit walk out the door in a freelancer’s pocket because overuse has eaten into margins – particularly if that staffing expenditure is unplanned.
To make matters worse, using freelancers is not necessarily reducing the pressure on internal staff. A significant part of this can be attributed to the administrative time associated with using freelancers.
However, it is not all doom and gloom – at a recent British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) breakfast, a select group of creative directors and operational heads discussed the use of freelancers and what their agencies were doing to halt soaring costs. For some, it was a matter of recruiting freelancers on longer contracts (three months compared with two weeks) in order to integrate them into the agency and tempt them to stay. Others sought to reinforce and promote their agency’s culture in order to stand out in the market and position themselves as a desirable employer.
Another topic that all attendees agreed had a significant impact on business was the use of resource management tools. Solutions that allow agencies to better understand capacity levels, track work in progress and assign resources proactively to enable a more granular understanding of where the gaps are imperative to managing resources, capacity and ensure projects are delivered on-time and on-budget.
As employees’ time is every agency’s key asset, it is essential that to avoid the common pitfalls of poor personnel management. To get a handle on staffing utilization:
1. Create a process
Before getting started, agencies should have a foundational process to support the launch of each project. This process should help leadership understand how to resource each project – including staffing needs, client preferences, duration of work, etc. It should be simple and allow for change as needed. Only after completing this assessment should agencies move forward with hiring freelancers.
2. Set up alerts and notifications
How can agencies identify over-servicing or excessive freelance utilization? Project managers can’t afford to wait until after close to review expenditures and learn whether staffing has gone over budget. Simple, real-time alerts or notifications start the conversation immediately, enabling teams to be more proactive and course-correct to save profits.
3. Connect all team members
Whether you have weekly stand-up meetings or web chats, it is imperative to keep lines of communication open – particularly with external partners including temps and freelancers. Do they have access to the same project data as the project manager, lead designer and resource manager? Providing all team members project status, updates and changes is key to keeping the project on-time and on-budget.
So while rising staffing costs may seem indicative of a troubled industry, that is certainly not the case. Instead, they merely highlight the need for agencies to be smarter about the way they plan and manage projects. By getting resource management tools to do the hard work, agencies can ensure that profit stays with the company, and that employees are able to focus on what they do best – delivering creative solutions for clients.
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