At Econsultancy's first Marketing Capability Leaders Forum on Thursday, executives from Channel 4, Diageo and Specsavers discussed learning and development against the backdrop of the latest Marketing Week careers and pay survey results.
The survey results illustrate the challenges for marketers in 2024, with almost half (46.5%) of respondents reporting that their teams have been subject to restructuring, and two-fifths (40.1%) expecting headcount to increase. respondents said they have taken on more responsibilities. pay.
But Marketing Week editor-in-chief Russell Parsons told host Econsultancy director Richard Robinson that there was a reason to be cheerful. That includes the percentage of marketers who are confident in their ability to influence change (56.3%) and the percentage of marketers who simply feel that way, he said. They have a significant impact on the organization (65.1%).
Julie Bramham, director of global marketing transformation at Diageo, neatly sums up the state of the industry, where marketers may have once been looking for a 'return to normality' following the COVID-19 pandemic. But now, he said, “we are used to cooperating.'' Volatility”.
Mr Bramham also commented on the “increasing role of brand managers and marketing teams” and the need for “competence across a relatively complex set of different skills”. [such as data and AI]Standing right at the center of it all, we have a comprehensive understanding of what marketing is all about. ”
Doing “better” takes precedence over doing “more”
More respondents to the Marketing Week survey said they were hiring external talent to fill skills gaps within their teams (34.5%), compared to 33.8% who said they were training existing staff. ) was about the same. This represents a significant change since 2022, when the hiring rate was almost double the upskilling rate of existing staff (from 40.1% to 21.3%).
Channel 4 CMO Zaid Al-Qassab emphasized the importance of investing in people, saying: [more] People will do “something more.” But if you invest in them at a fraction of the cost of hiring them, you'll be developing people who can actually do “better things.” ”
Mr. Al-Kasab emphasized the value of the approach he experienced at Procter & Gamble during his freshman year. There, an employee is assessed “at the end of each year, on business results he is evaluated 50% and on what is called organizational results he is evaluated 50%.'' The latter measure is effectively related to “talent growth.'' It was something, he said.
Encourage curiosity and “role modeling”
When it comes to building a culture of learning, Abi Wilstead, Head of Brand and Marketing Excellence at Specsavers, says, “Every Friday afternoon, we block people's diaries for two hours to find out how we should spend our time.'' is [learning] Every week. ”
Wilstead acknowledged that it is difficult to allocate the proportion of time correctly. “When you think about different learning styles, you can learn things like: [the simple act of] “Listen to the conversation,” she said, “You don't have to.” [always] Dedicated training is important, but we also try to inspire curiosity and a desire to learn. ”
Learning “may just be about being engaged, being curious, and reading and finding things that people can connect with in their own free time,” Diageo's Bramham agrees. “Think really holistically. Learning should be about being coached on the job, but in the moment it should be about learning yourself, especially from your mistakes. how do you help [where you went wrong] Did you do anything different? ”
The committee answered questions about addressing learner apathy, with Channel 4 CMO Al-Qassab describing his efforts as “role modeling”.
“Myself and the directors that report to me are very serious about making sure we are investing in ourselves and publicly communicating that this is what we are doing. [telling people that] I am attending a training course because I am learning about “X”. or [I’ve] I went to see people from outside because they are experts. [something] To help people understand what we're not very good at.
“So they know I'm investing in myself and those skills, and they understand that that's what we value. A lot of people recognize that. I think I do [learning] is not valued and you need to show them that. ”
Measuring learning ROI
The panel was clear that the profitability of L&D investments needs to be understood empirically. “If you don't have measures of how people are learning and growing, how can you expect the organization you lead to think you care about learning and growing?” Al-Kassab said.
He added that while “process measures” (i.e., “Did you attend training?”) are easy to implement, “the bottom line is probably the measure we care about.”
“It might be ARPU, lifetime value, number of new customers signing up, etc., but it's something like that, and that's really the only metric that matters,” Al-Khassab said, adding that one easy way to do this is to He pointed out that one way is to survey employees and ask questions such as: They believe that the training in question will impact their bottom line.
“So can you convince the company to give you a bigger training budget? Well, if you can't convince the company that hiring more skilled people is a good thing, then you probably can't convince the company to give you a bigger training budget.” You should resign,” said the CMO.
Abi Willstead from Specsavers discussed the various factors that influence L&D investments. “The legacy we want to leave in marketing is to leave brands in better shape than we found them…With a thriving community of marketers, this [measures] It's similar to the “Pleasant Workplace” survey we conduct. ”
Wilstead also demonstrated the link between investing in learning and the ability to attract the right talent to your business. This shows that a visible commitment to learning brings further benefits.
The fundamentals of marketing remain the same (but that doesn’t mean there aren’t digital skills gaps)
As for what marketers should learn, many in the industry will be familiar with the discussion that took place on the panel. The discussion illustrated Bramham's contention that a core set of marketing fundamentals is surrounded by a growing list of supporting skills.
“Marketing is not really going to change,” Al-Kassab said, defending the basics. “It's exactly the same job as before.”
While the committee agreed on an evergreen definition of marketing, there was a recognition in the Marketing Week survey that data and analytics was the biggest skills gap with other areas (46.2% said their team lacked (I answered that it is an important skill). It also features social media and performance marketing.
“[It’s] It’s not specific to marketing,” Al-Kasab said of the importance of data. “The ability to leverage data in a digital world is becoming more important in all careers. It doesn't matter if you're a marketer, a salesperson, an HR professional… [But] What's probably unique is that there are people in the marketing industry who aren't very data literate or analytical, right? They thought of themselves as purely creative. Unfortunately, the world has changed, and not just marketing. ”
