The PR talent war in the Middle East

Our industry is all about people and specifically talents. In order to deliver the best product you need the best people … so the question remains, where do we find them considering for a moment that finance is not an issue!
In the last couple of years, the phenomena of not finding talents became more and more prominent across all disciplines of the communication business. How did we get into this position? Did agencies ignore talents while riding the wave in search of new quest? Did they avoid listening to their needs? And what are they doing today to rectify the situation? One should be really dumb, deaf and blind not to see that the landscape is changing at a very rapid pace
The issue is going beyond agencies poaching from each other into poaching with a view to transfer knowledge from one industry to another. Today, the region is witnessing the creation of many companies and brands in a very competitive market. Today clients have very aggressive business objectives, especially, new brands entering the marker and therefore are in need of resources that are already well trained with a certain degree of experience. According to a latest industry survey the projected demand for managers across the GCC region is on the rise with limited resources available. It is expected that by 2015, the demand for managers will be double the available supply. Not only consumer have become more and more savvy when it comes to marketing, therefore agencies have had to go far beyond the top of their game to deliver their clients messages in a effective way. Dubai being ranks amongst the top 25 most expensive cities ….

As a result, only agencies with a strong culture will survive. It should be based on taking care of the people while nurturing their careers and well being. Creating an environment where staffs are given the support they need to reach their full potential and where good work is recognized and rewarded. Of course, grooming staff from within, investing in training and clearly defining career paths is also key and an integral part of this culture, something which has been ingrained in our culture all over the world and even more so in this region. It is up to us to listen, learn and adapt to this fast changing world. So we can not only retain and create the best talent, who are skilled to anticipate market needs, trends and excide client’s expectations.

I feel if we all adhered to this philosophy we would create an industry of talented people who would delight clients with their creativity, business solutions, build trust which can only have a direct positive effect on the clients bottom line.