Good Help is Getting Harder to Find in Marketing (Unless You’re Upscaling Your Team’s Skills)
The old saying has never rang more true, with over 69% of U.S. employers struggling to find skilled workers in 2022 (ManpowerGroup). Marketing happens to be one of the current top 3 most difficult positions to hire for.
Are we helpless to the whims of the economy? On the contrary, leaders have a choice.
By providing better career growth and outlook for your team by investing in them through upscaling their skills, you can retain talent longer and uplift your brand and work culture in the process.
Each generation has its unique set of desires, but some things are universal, and providing training for the most in-demand skills isn’t going to expedite your employee’s departure (myth busted!), rather it will encourage them to stay for the long haul and grow their career and themselves at your company.
So why is marketing one of the top 3 most difficult positions to hire for?
The role has changed drastically and marketers are expected to wear many hats and accomplish the work of many roles. In the ‘90s it may have been television, radio, billboards, magazines, etc., and now there is so much more media and content output across so many different channels.
Leaders must help their marketing teams become better, as people are trying to do too many things and are overwhelmed.
Of all the professions, marketers are at the top of the list when it comes to having to be adaptable and the need to constantly evolve and reinvent their skillsets. That’s a lot of pressure!
Along with the changing landscape of marketing, the employees themselves are in high demand. In 2021 LinkedIn reports that there was over 63% growth in marketing jobs and over 381,000 jobs posted.
It’s not just jobs on LinkedIn boosting marketing, according to The CMO Survey’s annual report, appx. 72% of marketers said the importance of marketing at their respective companies significantly increased in the past year.
With that amount of competition, employers have little to no choice but to invest in their current talent to retain them. The problem is that many leaders don’t know where and how to invest in their people.
According to LinkedIn some of the most in-demand skills are digital, with writing press releases as the top skill in 2021. Why not host a masterclass on the art of writing a successful PR?
I’ve done my own research and taken a few polls from LinkedIn and in-person events, and what I’ve found are some of the areas marketers for CPG brands are most eager to learn more about:
- Brand positioning
- Brand architecture
- Branding strategy
- Marketing strategy framework
- Creative briefs
- Creative commenting
These are the training topics I’ve been most focused on this year and offering accessible and interactive 1-hour training sessions on.
It should be noted that there is a big difference between successful training and simply schlepping out online certification courses or webinar tickets.
From my experience, 3 key aspects of successful training are:
- Use examples
- Enthusiasm
- Audience exercises
And it never hurts to take lots of breaks! Don’t let your team sit idle in front of a speaker/trainer for prolonged periods of time. I have seen a strong correlation between lots of breaks and overall ratings and feedback on training sessions.
So, what are you waiting for? Don’t let your top talent run out the door and excuse yourself because it’s competitive right now, be proactive and invest in your people. Upscale your marketing team’s skills.
If you’d like help in deciding where your marketing team could use the most help or if you’re ready to book a training, send me a message today!
