Corporate Affairs Agency Market Update Q3 2020
The corporate affairs industry has shown resilience in the face of challenging market conditions in 2020. Businesses had to deal with a sudden change in the working climate and in a matter of days, entire teams were all out of the office and setting up at home. The process of adapting had the potential to be troubling and disruptive but it is clear from the result of some analysis that the market has been able to get through. In a recent straw poll we took across a range of agencies for how they had fared in Q3 of 2020, there is reason to be optimistic.
Most agencies reported stability of retained relationships with some projects going on hold. Clients in all sectors required support not just in the building of a public Covid-19 response but also from an employee engagement perspective. The immediate challenge was how to communicate with an entirely remote workforce.
In financial PR agencies, M&A took a bit of a dip but that is expected to kick on in Q1 of 2021 as is work around restructurings.
ESG continues to be an important area for development and there is a wave of agencies building the talent from within by upskilling existing teams but there are those who want to ensure it is a strategic function by bring in experts from the investment community to build ESG strategies, not just communicate them.
Whilst there have been in-house teams dealing with hiring freezes, the secondment of staff from their agencies has on occasion been used to fill the gap and get support in. It’s an expensive way of doing it but helped with the more acute challenges.
Pitches have been taking place and briefs being signed which was unthinkable in Q2. There is difficulty in building the professional chemistry required over video calls and feedback is taking longer than usual but briefs are getting signed off and agreed which is really positive.
Diversity still remains an issue of great importance and agencies are looking at internal process around recruitment and retention with that in mind. Candidates are certainly asking us about a particular businesses approach when being presented with a role in their team. This isn’t something to be ignored.
For a more extensive and bespoke market update, please contact a member of the team
MadlinHanna Consulting is a recruitment consultancy specialising in corporate affairs, covering public affairs, corporate communications and financial PR. Contact us on 020 8088 4102 for more information or a confidential conversation.