It's January. The media is full of articles with tips on self-improvement and how to live your best life. When that's not linked to exercise, diet or alcohol, it often comes onto careers. And in fairness, it's true. Many people do use the start of the calendar year to review their work objectives for the year and in my experience, a lot of people spend November and December procrastinating and saying, I'll update my CV in the New Year (a bit of a mistake because December is a busy month in recruitment - up until the 22nd and the competition is much less due to so many people procrastinating!).
I've just published the annual Perfect Marketing People Survey for 2023. It comes as absolutely no surprise that for 85% of individuals looking for a new role (in our creative agency sector), the number one reason is to secure an increased salary. In these straitened times, everybody is feeling the increased cost of living in the UK. Private sector employees are seeing public sector workers striking for better pay and conditions and with many sectors now having very visible salaries, employees are questioning their own salaries. It doesn't feel that there is a benchmark. We are told that the average salary in the North is circa £30k and people are questioning more than ever before - is my salary enough? There is clearly a baseline - is my salary enough for me to live on? After we've taken into account the essentials, does that salary allow for any saving, for holidays, for a few luxuries? Couple this with the likelihood of having to work into our late sixties and the very real fact that a state pension is not enough to live on.... everyone has money on their mind.
So whilst January is usually a very busy time in the recruitment world with a very high number of CVs being received, January 2023 has been busier than usual. There is a bit of a disconnect at the moment because we are seeing that whilst there are roles being advertised by clients, the speed of making new hires has slowed down and employers are biding their time whilst they see what their clients are going to be spending during the year. The media is also full of the recession, of inflation and interest rates - employer confidence is not exactly wobbly, but there is clearly some uncertainty out there.
At the same time, employees are weighing up their options:
- Do I enjoy my current job? Yes. Are there opportunities for progression and more money?
- I enjoy what I do but my current employer is not going to give me more salary or a promotion.
- I really don't enjoy what I do.
Clearly there are many more options but I'm keeping it simple! For options 1 and 2, my advice is to ask your current employer for a review. Is more salary available, what are the timescales, what do you have to do to achieve it - i.e. are there some specific KPIs that you can agree to so that you have a goal and a plan? Are there some other benefits that you might be able to take advantage of, is there a possibility for more flexible working or a shorter working week? What would make things 'better'? What does 'better' look like?
If you don't feel that your employer is realistic, you feel fobbed off or you genuinely can see that there isn't room for progression there, then get your CV up to date and have a look at what else is out there. Try not to put your cards on the table - it is much easier to secure a new role when you are currently employed and you don't know if your existing employer is potentially going to be looking to streamline the agency and cut costs...you don't want to be first on the list.
It disappoints but doesn't surprise me that employees find it so hard to ask an existing employer for a raise. Whilst many creative agencies do have appraisal systems in place, it's not guaranteed that these are salary related. The aforementioned procrastination is often a result of employees not wanting to have a difficult conversation - i.e. asking for more money. Often, an employee will get their CV up to scratch, secure interviews, secure a job offer - and only then when they resign, will an employer offer them more money to stay. In most cases, this comes too late. And frequently the opportunity to work on different client accounts, different media channels with different people - that's also a pull. Interestingly, on the rare occasions where an existing employer 'buys back' an employee who has resigned, that same employee will be back on the job market within 6 months because promises that had been made weren't kept and employees have finally lost faith in that employer.
But if you don't ask (for more money), you don't know (if you will get it!). There are ways to have these conversations and I'm happy to offer advice.
The third option is more complicated. I don't like what I do. This is very common in January. We reflect a lot on our lives as a whole. Everyone has a different life equation - we all have different wants and desires from our work life. If your equation is not how you want it to look - you need to find out what the right equation looks like. Is it all about money? Is it about self worth? Doing something worthwhile? Is it about loving it? Does the job just pay the bills? Over the last 3 years we have lost a lot of people from this creative sector. A lot of people have gone into primary and secondary level teaching, into nursing (Midwifery is particularly popular), into yoga teaching. A lot of individuals have tried to go 'freelance' - the lure of being able to work on contracts and without the pain of a permanent commute and a 'boss'.
The only advice I'd give in this instance is to do your research. Try and spend some time doing what you'd like to do. A lot of people do end up coming back into the creative fold (mostly the teachers and the freelancers). You have to teach a heck of a lot of yoga to even get close to a creative services salary and whilst that might be fine in your equation, it might not be. Similarly, trying to get freelance work is tough going and the stress/pain of chasing your invoices, not having holiday or sickness pay, reduced rates due to the recession - you may well want to be back in a perm job.
That said, life is short, we should all be seizing the day and trying to ensure that we love what we do to make a living. Mostly in this sector we are very lucky - it's a fast paced and interesting sector to work in. But if it's not for you, don't be afraid to make some changes - just do some research, some due diligence and try to identify if making a big change is what you need to do or whether it's small changes that you might not have previously considered.
If you'd like a sounding board for any of the above, get in touch!
fiona.christian@perfectmarketingpeople.com