Last week, Dooly, a SaaS provider specializing in sales, released their 2022 Sales Happiness Index Report. The U.S. study surveyed over 600 sales professionals in Q4 2021 about the state of sales productivity and the results reveal some red flags that our industry here in Canada should also take into consideration as we continue to face talent shortages and rising costs associated with retention. Given this roller coaster we’ve experienced over the past 2 years, IAB Canada is once again, launching its Currency of Talent Barometer study.
One alarming take away from the report indicates a major gap in efficiency suggesting that 40% of a sales executive workday is not spent selling. The report indicates that this is most likely due to burn-out with 25% of reps planning to quit in 3-6 months and citing that leadership underestimates how long admin work takes to get the job done.
The issue of automation and organizational planning to ease the burden on highly administrative tasks has plagued the online advertising industry since its inception. A highly flexible medium that turns on a dime tends to require high touch to make the turns. On top of the strategic decisioning that goes on by the minute, the demand for custom reporting (because it’s technically available) keeps teams stuck to spreadsheets and presentations which drives up the cost of execution.
A big part of the media industry’s draw to talent has always been the human factor – the collaboration, commiseration, and continuous mentorship that comes naturally from being in the physical trenches together. It seems we have woefully underestimated the power of presence in our efforts to keep the lights on during the pandemic. Burn out is rampant as indicated in a 2022 Bank of Canada survey reporting that a whopping 19.3% of workers in Canada expect to quit their jobs in the next 12 months.
Another factor contributing to high burn-out levels (as reported by 65% of respondents in the study) is the constant use of video calls with 61% saying they feel pressure to keep their cameras on during calls.
The good news is that 77% expect a steady increase of in-person meetings. In Canada, we are hopeful that this will be the case for us as well.
Every year, IAB Canada surveys our members to get a deeper understanding of the state of the talent in our industry. We report on the priorities for HR as well as the general sentiment of the workforce and what could be done to improve the environment.
Please contribute by taking this short survey so that we can provide a fulsome snapshot of the state of our industry in Canada which will help us develop strategies and solutions that could positively impact our market.