Media agencies: not creative enough?

A new study has close to half of media agency employees saying their agency is not innovative, with a similar percentage stating that they are also open to new jobs.A joint study by HR services firm for agencies Bricoleur Consulting and 4As Singapore at the end of 2012, done online with 146 respondents showed these results.The survey asked its media talent pool if their company delivered well on creativity and innovation, with only 48% saying they felt that their agencies matched up to these expectations.Also 51% of the surveyed employee base expressed an openness to exploring new opportunities. According to the report, the sentiment cut across levels from fresh recruits to managers, and both males and females expressed an equal level of openness.The lowest an agency scored on disengagement was 29% and the highest was 76%.A note from the study said that there is a direct link between engagement and differentiation at the agency brand level. "To that extent employee engagement through brand differentiation supersedes high salaries.""However, agency consolidation, pressures on the traditional revenue model and longer work hours appear to have diluted perceptions of differences between media brands", it said, also claiming that a disengaged employee is more likely to believe that media brands are increasingly similar.The study also said that such employees might look for external validation through higher compensation and high profile clients.