Beg, borrow or steal: the great in-house debate.
Building best-in-class customer experience requires a complete re-think of organisation structure. Technology, Customer Service, CRM, UX/UI, Data, Design all sit in different places in every organisation and ‘new’ skills are required all the time. The CMO/CIO/CCO debate is one for a different day, but for today the question of how to make sure you have the very best talent.
Every organisation is striving to determine the best balance of talent for them. Agency v in-house vs. consultancy is the hottest topic for marketers right now.
Your total talent solution will ideally be made up of talent that you will buy, build, borrow, outsource, automate or partner. To find the right solutions for your business, there are a few key factors to consider:
Capability
Skills audit aligned to business strategy to identify functional requirements. Where are the gaps? How are you performing?
Culture
Are you innovators? Can you learn from global best practise? Are you risk-takers, prepared to fail? Do you need to lean on agency partners to inject innovation into your organisation? Is your organisation customer-focused or product-focused?
Flexibility
Can you continually redefine roles? Is your workforce agile and open to change?
Scale: Can you support full time roles in specific competencies? Is it commercially viable to produce creative in-house?
Cost
Can partners provide talent more cost effectively? Do you have spare capacity?
Data
Have you achieved the ‘Single Customer View’? Are your partners GDPR compliant? Can you integrate insights and learnings?
Globally, multiple models are emerging. Lucozade Ribena Suntory has launched its own creative and production agency, TED (tech, entertainment & design), to manage content, graphic design, web & app development but won’t replace strategic agencies as “We still want best practice. We need expertise from across the globe we wouldn’t necessarily get access to”.
Pernod Rickard is focused on a global push to internalise digital marketing capabilities. Sprint, Netflix, Unilever and Visa have all launched in-house digital marketing agencies with varying levels of success.
In an Irish context, scale may be an exceptional barrier. There are few businesses that have the scale to support full time roles in specific expert areas such as design, SEO, programmatic optimisation etc. Add to that the high turnover in these areas and the exceptional demand created by Silicon Docks. For multinationals, shared services with other markets can often be the solution to these issues. However, ensuring your voice is heard and your needs are met on time can be a major challenge for the ‘junior partner’ in any coalition.
Finding the right holistic talent solution is only the beginning of the challenge. Next week, the simple steps you can take to maximise performance.
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