How to fill the marketing skills gap

Two weeks ago we held our much-anticipated event, the Marketing Skills Gap, hosted by recruitment experts, Hays, in Cheapside. To a full house of over 80 marketing professionals, Hays delivered fascinating insights on this subject of critical importance to both marketing employers and employees, be they permanent, temporary or contract. Jon Twomey, of Student Support Group, was there, and provides a round-up of the evening.

What it takes to be a professional marketer

As Phil Preston, London’s own Network Manager explained, the story starts in 2014, when CIM released the updated Professional Marketing Standards©. This ‘framework’ of marketing abilities provides a guide to the skills and behaviours that are expected of professional marketers at varying levels of proficiency.

The framework was developed from extensive new research with employers and employees in marketing and broader business functions, so the Standards provide individuals and organisations with the basis on which to assess the capabilities of a competent marketer. These capabilities describe the behaviours that marketing professionals need to be able to demonstrate in order to do their jobs efficiently and effectively and contribute to the achievement of business goals.

Technical marketing skills

The skills identified in the framework include:

Insight; Strategy and Championing the Customer (which are all core skills), plus Reputation and Risk; Brand; Integrated Marketing Communications; Digital Capability; Monitoring and Measuring Effectiveness; Channel to Market/Partnership Marketing and Customer Experience. See more details.

Marketing behaviours

The behaviours expected of a competent professional marketer include:

Commercially aware; Financially literate; Creative; Influencing; Collaborative; Responsible; Entrepreneurial; Challenging; Innovative; Inspiring. See more details.

Keynote on the marketing skills gap

Our keynote speaker was Clare Kemsley, Managing Director, Marketing at Hays Recruitment. With great enthusiasm, Clare presented key findings from Hays’ own recent research into marketing skills gaps. These gaps exist at new entrant, intermediate and leadership/management levels, and it’s at entrant level where 39% of employers rate the skills of applicants as only poor or satisfactory.

But the real concern, for Hays at least, is found at intermediate level where employers most struggle to find adequately competent recruits. It is particularly worrying that 47% of employers and 45% of employees recognise IT and Systems Understanding as the most critical area for future success.

Top three gaps in capability

By level within the marketing profession, the top three skills gaps are:

New entrant level

The top acquired skills gaps are:

1. Commercial awareness
2. Literacy
3. Compliance/legislation

The top soft skill gaps are:

1. Time management/organisation
2. Collaboration/teamwork
3. Communication

Intermediate level

The top three acquired skills gaps are in:

1. Literacy
2. General office skills
3. Commercial awareness

The top soft skill gaps are:

1. Communication
2. Project management
3. Creativity

Leadership & management level

The top three acquired skill gaps are:

1. General office skills
2. Literacy
3. IT systems and understanding

The top soft skills gaps are:

1. Communication
2. Collaboration/teamwork
3. Project management.

A lively question and answer session followed and even continued after the event, so clearly there was real engagement with our speakers and this critically important marketing careers topic.

OK, so what are our conclusions following the event?

Employers: how do you close the skills gap?

Hays research finds that 63% of employers already have programmes in place to help employees overcome barriers to development. To find out how CIM can help your organisation close the skills gap, please see our website details on Capability Development.

Employees: how do you close your own skills gap?

Hays research shows that employees keep up to date in a number of ways:

• 69% reading industry news
• 50% undertaking training (either in house or external)
• 48% attend industry events
• 30% undertake professional qualifications (most do this with CIM)
• 8% take part in a mentoring scheme (again some with CIM).

For marketers who qualified some time ago with CIM, a look at the new CIM syllabus and related programmes might provide useful a refresher.  

In any case, CIM Professional Marketer Series events hosted by the London regional team from now until summer 2016 (at least) will focus on developing at least one skill and one behaviour. If you attend these events you’ll soon start to close any of your own skills gaps.