Branding, advertising & PR agencies pride themselves on being disruptive. 

But for many agencies, the approach to career pathing has not changed all that much over the years. There are a few well-defined career ladders based on function i.e., strategy, design, digital, etc. And above that there’s a layer of management.

The best–and sometimes only–way to move up at an agency is to manage more people and generate new business. 

On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with that. It heavily rewards those who are good at management and pitching, which are essential to sustain the business. 

But focusing on these two skills usually means no longer doing client work, which is why most people join an agency in the first place. And it can confer perhaps a bit too much prestige on rainmakers. 

Here’s the other thing: the world of work is changing by the day. Employee expectations today are not what they were a few years ago. People expect more from their employers.

All of which makes me wonder: is the current approach to career pathing in agencies going to sustain talent growth in the next decade as the war for talent increases? 

Outside of the agency world, companies are experimenting with the idea of career latticing, which is when employees can move vertically, horizontally, and diagonally within and outside of their organization.

Could that even work at agencies? Is anyone trying it right now? 

Could a strategist do a stint as a designer? A designer as a copywriter? A copywriter in finance? I’ll admit, at first blush this sounds a bit laughable. And it begs the question: how many copywriters actually WANT to work in finance, even temporarily. And…how much money would they lose? (Kidding.)

But that may be looking at the problem too narrowly. There may be other more interesting and appealing ways to lattice that can help agencies unlock the potential of their people. Feels like it may be time to break the mold and disrupt the model. 

Going forward, the winning agencies will be the ones that do more to customize their employee experiences to the needs and interests of each employee. 

The winning agencies, I suspect, will apply their creativity to new ways of career pathing with the same out-of-the-box thinking that they apply to their client work.