There’s nothing like a recession to make your agencies work really hard for you.  But as we start to see the dimmest of lights at the end of the tunnel, you’d be smart to think about getting the best work from agencies that are poking around for new business from clients starting to spend again. 

I see a blind spot for client-side folks–we think about the agency as an institution, not a collection of smart, creative workers.  You can bet that, just like the agency business itself, the staffers on your account are poking around for new job leads, too (at least the best ones probably are); it’s natural, but it costs you money and time when the best staffers leave.

Don’t leave this to the agencies to manage without your input.  With all the pressure we’re putting on their margins, there’s no guarantee they’ll do what’s best for their staffer’s compensation.

I usually talk about this issue in terms of motivating individuals, rather than retaining individuals on your account; but it’s really two sides of the same coin. The important question is how can you get individuals in an agency to give you their discretionary effort? You know they’re going to put in the hours, but how do you incentivize them to go the extra mile for your account, find that next great media/creative idea, take that little step to make it easier for partner agencies to work with them?  Essentially, how do you motivate the kinds of behavior you’re trying to get out of agency staff rather than just use rewards as a “thank you” for good work?  

Whatever lens you use – retention or motivation – here are two ideas as food for thought:

1. Non-Compensation: Use career/professional development as an incentive to agency staff.  One company I’ve talked to names its top agency staffers and takes an active hand in shaping their development, making sure they get challenging projects, exposure to senior client-side executives, rotations and interactions with other agencies, and involving them in what normally would be client-side training opportunities.

If you do this, work with the agency leadership, of course, and be sure to discuss whether you let the staff know they’ve been put on a special list – you may think it’s too risky to create an “elite” group inside your agency.

2. Compensation:  For some of its largest initiatives (e.g., Olympics, World Cup), Coca-Cola used a new agency model dubbed the Red Lounge (for its Olympics efforts in China) to break down silos between agencies.

For the ‘08 Olympics, a separate incentive structure was established for this agency model. Coca-Cola created a discrete bonus pool for Red Lounge, which was allocated to the home agencies (not directly to Red Lounge staffers) who then determined how to best distribute the incentives. The only rule was that all of the money had to end up in individuals’ pockets, not the agency’s.

I’m sure motivation came from multiple factors here (e.g., working on the Olympics…in China…for a brand like Coca-Cola) but it’s a fine illustration of indirectly influencing individual compensation.

 MLC Members:  See the full case study on how Coca-Cola creates a distinctive, compelling work environment to capture the commitment of individuals on their account.  Or listen to the webinar replay.

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