It seems quite a few industries in South Africa are going through a very similar problem. A lack of succession planning.
Who is going to replace Thabo Mbeki when he is gone? Or should we prepare for a third term? John Smit? When he packs in his boots and moves to France - who is going to lead out the men in the Green and Gold? Luke “One cap” Watson? Hmmm…
The challenge is a massive one! Look at any regulatory or voluntary body in the media industry - be it AMF or AMASA - and you will see a plethora of white faces sitting around the table. Old white faces in most instances…. This is not representative of our country, and it is not conducive to industry growth.
Our industry is in huge danger of being left leaderless, and skill-less in 10 years time. We all know the big names in the industry - Herber, Barham, Hollis, Wilkens, Nussey, Dovey, Muller and co. The one thing they all have in common is that they are all over 50 (or look like it), and all with a keen eye on retirement. Who is going to replace them? I challenge anyone to give me the names of five strategists of colour that can take over the reigns of The Mediashop, OMD or Mindshare in the next year.
These older guys should be flown on separate planes - a la politicians to ensure there is someone left to run the industry in case the plane crashes!!
The “middle class” of the media industry is looking very thin, and very white. Very few agencies have an effective succession plan in place, and those that one would think could take over are not of the right colour.
So why has this happened?
I reckon it is due to poor training and education for the juniors in the various educational institutions and agencies.
The AAA and the AMASA media course was originally designed to be an educational institution - run “by the people for the people”. The principle is wonderful - agencies help in the training and teaching of young talent, and then take them in for an intensive internship where they are shown the ropes. The final product should be a student with sound theoretical knowledge with a firm understanding of advertising principles, and a practical feel for what is required of them.
Why then is this not what we get? Why is there such a hole at the bottom end of the industry?
Personally, I think a big step is being neglected, and that is the agency involvement.
Top agency people don't make themselves available anymore to train the youth. Understandably - we are all very busy, and all have lots on our plates - but, then don't complain about the quality we get. The tireless people who organise lecturers for the AAA (they all should be knighted for their efforts) - struggle week in and week out to get ANYONE to lecture. So the quality of lecturer is declining, and with that comes the decline in quality of the students.
The next pitfall, and in my opinion the most serious, begins once these poor students step into an agency environment.
These kids come in - and are immediately seconded to a dark corner to help the PA with her filing, and to learn the art of the “coffee making”. When there is something to do - it is the most menial of tasks that does not challenge them at all.
See what happens now - these kids think that this is what media is all about. Menial tasks…
I think agencies should have a standard training module for when students enter the agency. It should include visits to all the various media owners, extensive Adex, Telmar, and PC training. They should go on presentation skills training, and be taught the politics of media.
They should be given tasks to achieve, and monitored and evaluated throughout. Most importantly, these kids should be given YOUR time. They need someone who they can ask questions of all the time, and bounce ideas off. Once you empower them with knowledge, they can contribute to your business. Once they contribute, they feel valuable, and they feel like part of the team.
What we should be doing is taking these kids to meetings for experience, training them, and introducing them to clients. The kids want to be seen as valuable, and I am sure clients want to see that we are investing in the future
To go back to the larger scale - we are rearing a “fatherless generation”. These kids don't have “dads” to ask how to read a TNT run, or to explain what a column centimetre rate is.
This is a project that should be the prerogative of the entire industry. It requires the buy in of not only each and every agency - but more importantly, the buy in and commitment of senior agency staff. They are the ones with the wealth of knowledge to pass along.
It requires a sacrifice of our most prized commodity - our time. Are you willing to make that commitment?
