IQ News: Interactive Shops Plagued by Revolving-Door Syndrome

Wanted: a young, creative, Internet-savvy professional to spearhead digital efforts for high-level clients at top advertising agency. We offer generous stock options, a company car, G3 computer, beautiful location, hip work environment and flex time. Given the increasing number of career-minded individuals who are willing to compromise stability in pursuit of the elusive dot-com Holy Grail--be it more money, more autonomy or a better work environment--this classified come-on could have surfaced from any interactive advertising shop. More and more people are jumping ship from their current gigs to ride the tide of the Net-hot job market, landing at competing ad agencies, Web shops or dot-coms. Last week's departure of Doug Jaeger from New York-based J. Walter Thompson clearly illustrates the revolving-door phenomenon taking place. The 24-year-old former associate creative director at Digital@JWT was lured away by competitor TBWA/Chiat/Day. On May 22, Jaeger will become the New York ad agency's first interactive creative director. Jaeger's copywriting partner from Digital@JWT, Garth Horn, also makes the move. "Am I happy that Doug is going to Chiat? No. I have a lot of respect for him and I think he's very talented," said Bob Jeffrey, president of JWT, New York. But, he added "I've been through the drill before--of attracting young people, giving them a huge opportunity and even the publicity. When they get the recognition, they are going to get poached. I take that as a compliment." In addition to finding Jaeger's replacement, JWT is looking to add 30 positions--ranging from digital marketing assistant to technology director--to the now 40-person digital division. Recently the company added eight, including a digital associate media director, associate media director and senior media planner. However, JWT hesitates to name names for fear the headhunters will use the news about hires as a personal Rolodex. "Our biggest issue is getting talent and keeping talent," said Jeffrey. "In the digital space, it's really exasperating. When you're young, everyone comes in with the idea of what can they do for their portfolio. Once they do that, another company snatches you up." In just over a year at JWT, Jaeger built his portfolio with creative work for heavy-hitting clients such as Elizabeth Arden, Merrill Lynch, Warner-Lambert, J&B Scotch and De Beers. To attract talent in such a tight job market, Digital@JWT is upping its efforts. The company recently enlisted a digital recruiter who is 100-percent focused on hiring people for the interactive division. In addition, they are offering incentives to employees within the company who bring in new hires. They even have allies on the outside: still impressed with the company, would-be recruits who interviewed at JWT, yet decided to pursue other endeavors, pass along names of potential applicants. "When we find good people, we have to move fast," said Kevin Wassong, senior partner and director of Digital@JWT, New York. "I spend every morning interviewing." Like JWT, Boston-based Internet services company Digitas relies on internal referrals to bring in close to 40 percent of its new employees. "We act as a magnet for people," said Kathy Biro, vice chairman and president of Digitas. The interactive agency is currently looking to add 100-plus employees. No matter how tight the market, though, Digitas continues to adhere to its high standards, Biro said, adding, "We interview four or five people for every slot. Sometimes there's a temptation to hire anything that moves." Digitas also shies away from engaging in wholesale recruiting, where companies poach a number of employees from another. "Individuals are shopping themselves off and their colleagues like a pack," Biro explained. "You have to believe in business karma. It's not good to encourage that kind of behavior. We see this as a long-term play." New York-based DDB Digital hasn't experienced the brain drain, reported John Young, the company's co-chief creative officer and managing partner. "Knock on wood," he added superstitiously. The interactive agency projects a head count of 500 by year's end. Young said several leads come by word of mouth. "It's a small world," he said. "Word gets around." Carl Johnson, president and CEO of TBWA/Chiat/Day, discovered Jaeger through the ad agency grapevine. To entice Jaeger to his team, Johnson tried a somewhat nonconventional tactic. "We treated him like a pitch," explained Johnson. "I briefed [some Chiat people] on the situation and we called the account 'Doug Jaeger.' " The group suggested several strategies, one of which was blitzing him with e-mails--one every hour on the hour. "The e-mail was flattering, as much as it was intelligent," said Jaeger. "They let me know what they were thinking." The selling point of the pitch came when Johnson bought Jaeger's URL, dougjaeger.com, "for some pathetic price, like $35," Johnson said. "It was clever and really aggressive," said Jaeger. "They were holding [the URL] as a carrot in front of me." Once Jaeger comes onboard at Chiat, Johnson predicted that the number of interactive employees at the agency will grow, two- or threefold. Is Johnson afraid that he will fall victim to the current employee crunch? He said he's confident that his company will be able to woo the talent. "The real battle in the market is to get talent," he explained. "A lot of agencies want the same people. I'm actually a talent agent 25 percent of the time. So, when someone like Doug Jaeger comes on my radar, it becomes incredibly important to get him." All agreed that considering the recent volatility of the stock market, coupled with the drying up of venture capital, agencies will see a leveling off of the employee exodus to dot-coms. "There is now trepidation about going after the gold rush," Jeffrey said. Johnson seconded the notion. "It's not all sunshine for dot-coms," he said. "It's not 100-percent appealing. Reality is kicking in." Digitas has witnessed this firsthand. Within the last few months, the company has welcomed back three or four employees who previously left to jump on the dot-com bandwagon. "People who leave may think the dot-com grass is greener. [But] they are frequently coming back," Biro explained. "They decide the grass wasn't greener after all."

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IQ News: Interactive Shops Plagued by Revolving-Door Syndrome

Revolving-door Syndrome

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Revolving-door Syndrome