The folks from Council of PR Firms generously invited me to stick around for the luncheon speaker and afternoon panel at “Critical Issues Forum 2005” after my morning panel wrapped up. My flight wasn’t until the evening, and the luncheon speaker seemed interesting (and didn’t disappoint). The afternoon panel dealt with attracting new blood into the PR profession and retaining talent that’s already there. The panel was titled “What the People You Want Will Want From You, and was described like this:

The best and brightest among your staff will be coming to you with demands to assure their satisfaction and success on the job, from wanting clear career paths and plum assignments to being part of a diversified workforce. Panelists will discuss how to keep your business strategy aligned with your hiring and retention practices.

Panelists included the co-chair of the CPRF employment practices group, a vice president of an executive coaching company, and a chief human resources officer. I expected a fairly high-level discussion. Instead, I found that PR agencies generally seem entirely unaware of the practices most organizations are working feverishly to improve in order to boost employee engagement.

Engagement, in case you’ve been on an interstellar vacation for the last few years, is the buzzword of the decade. (Okay, it’s one of the buzzwords, right up there with “transparency.”) Engaged employees are passionate about their work and the contribution they make to the company. “Passion” is the key word, a characteristic that derives from a combination of job satisfaction and commitment to organizational goals and objectives. Companies worldwide are conducting engagement studies and launching engagement initiatives because research aplenty shows that companies with populations of highly engaged employees produce double-digit growth and, hell, who wouldn’t want that?

Engaged employees tend to pull their less engaged colleagues along.  They also don’t steal from the company, don’t take unnecessary time off, and don’t quit. That is, retention rates are much higher in companies with actively engaged employees. Getting employees engaged means managers and supervisors who build strong, supportive teams. It means leaders who communicate clearly with employees, demonstrate a genuine concern for their welfare, and build trust among employees (largely by convincing employees that they know what they’re doing and where they’re leading the organization). It means rewarding and recognizing employees whose actions reflect desired behaviors.

All of which seemed to be a real eye-opener for many of those in the room representing their agencies.

I know for a fact this isn’t unique to the world of PR. I spent a total of five years working for human resources consulting firms, and it was the same story. These firms could help clients launch programs to engage employees but were utterly clueless about bringing the same concepts in-house. I suspect law firms, accounting firms, management consulting firms, and any other type of organization that earns its bread and butter through billable hours, are in the same boat.

If we can’t bill for it, then it’s not worth investing any time or effort in it.

And yet the cost of losing a key employee—particularly in an agency of 80 or 90 people—will far exceed the cost of implementing efforts to create an engaged workforce. It’ll be equally difficult to attract young talent to companies that simply run staff through the grinder until they can’t stand it any more, get a better offer, or die.

If you work for an agency, let me know what kinds of efforts your firm makes to attract and retain the talent it needs to be successful.