• by Cory Treffiletti , Featured Contributor, February 15, 2023

I grew up in the agency world, and I still have a soft spot for it in my heart. I learned a ton by being in an environment surrounded by young, energetic people who threw everything they had into that world.

Your friends were there.  Your entire social calendar emanated from there. Your mentors were there to give you valuable advice. The best ideas arose from that constant engagement.

I wonder what it must be like for the folks entering that world now, when agencies are balancing work from home and work anywhere?

My agency experience was unique in that we were the first agencies dedicated entirely to digital and the Internet.  To that end, we worked tirelessly, putting in long days and even longer evenings.  We napped at the office on more than one occasion, and it wasn’t because we were unable to handle the workload.  It was because we thoroughly enjoyed it and wanted to be involved all the time.

Many agencies are struggling to maintain that culture of excitement and dedication when you only see your colleagues a couple of times per week.  I don’t bemoan the flexibility offered by a “work from anywhere” culture.  I just wonder what is the attraction to the agency lifestyle if the lifestyle part of it missing?

Bigger agencies are likely trying to create a draw for their employees to come into the office by re-energizing those aspects of the lifestyle that make it fun.   They are doing happy hours and team events that get everyone on the same page.  Some agencies are trying to create multiple “in-person events” each year in fun and exotic locales to get people together and focused. 

Maybe this is simply another paradigm shift for the agency landscape?  Agencies have built most of their business on less expensive, early-career talent to do the work, with only a few high-cost, highly experienced people at the helm.  Those folks are responsible for the clients, and the work gets done by everyone else.

Maybe the agency world will have to take a card from the consulting world and apply the strongest talent, regardless of cost, with their fees being higher but more accountable.  Large consultants get compensated very well and their customers pay a premium.

Agencies have been struggling with their model for a few years now, but the work-anywhere culture may make it necessary to embrace the folks who do the most and have the most experience.  You can surround those folks with some executional talent, and groom them for those more senior roles, but the promise of the agency world starts to mirror the promise the consulting space.  Higher pay equating to more work.  You get compensated for the time you put in, and the more time, the more you get compensated?

I truly hope that the truth lies somewhere in between.  Agencies are necessary.  They mold talent.  They foster creativity.  They are a crucial element of the ecosystem, and even though the lifestyle may be different, the benefit is still the same.