Recovery of healthcare PR highlights recruitment needs
pharmafile | August 18, 2005 | News story | Medical Communications |Â Â Â
The mood of optimism in healthcare PR is set to continue following an average 15% growth among agencies' net income between 2003 and 2004.
According to a survey by the Healthcare Communications Association (HCA), while economic confidence in the future dipped by about 8% from last year, 82% of agencies expect their gross billings to increase next year.
Despite this slight fall in confidence, understandable in a year that has seen an unusually high level of negative pharma coverage, average turnover saw strong annual growth of 20% and an overwhelming majority of agencies expect to take on more staff.
With 91% of agencies surveyed by the HCA expecting to increase their headcount, recruitment needs are anticipated to be so high that, along with staff retention, the area was identified as the most significant business issue facing PR companies.
According to Fiona Hall, chair of the HCA Benchmarking Subcommittee, the survey confirms the need for more healthcare PR consultants.
"We need to do a better job at attracting people at all levels in to the discipline, from the pharmaceutical industry, from other fields of PR and also directly from university," she said.
Agencies experienced an average annual staff turnover rate of 23% in 2004 and one consequence of this has been escalating recruitment costs that increased by a third between 2003 and 2004.
The firms questioned said they currently face particular problems finding the sort of high calibre candidates that are necessary when they come to fill senior or mid-level positions.
Pharma companies' approaches to the pitch process again came in for criticism from PR agencies who want to see clearer briefs, better communications and clarity throughout the process and more realistic time-scales.
"Pitching for new accounts consumes a great deal of both agency and client resource and the HCA believes that the process can be improved for both parties," Hall said.
Pitches for new business typically cost agencies around 10% of their prospective fee and the number of unsuccessful pitches where no agency was ultimately appointed, which has consistently increased since 2002, shot up from 8% in 2003 to 26% in 2004.
Suggestions to improve the process included inviting fewer agencies to pitch, ideally just two to three, by improving pharma selection at the credentials stage.
A record 22 agencies participated in the HCA Agency Benchmarking Survey, which is now in its third year.
Later this year the HCA plans to conduct a benchmarking exercise for the pharma industry to assess its PR practices and priorities.
The HCA is an independent, not-for-profit organisation of marketing and communications professional from the pharmaceutical industry and PR consultancies, and aims to evaluate and raise standards in the sector.
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