Leadership Lessons with Ralph Sutton, International Managing Partner at AVENIR GLOBAL

How the 2024 election year has influenced the industry, why there’s more to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) than many perceive, and changing attitudes amongst talent. We recently spoke with Ralph Sutton, International Managing Partner at Avenir Global about his views on the current state of the market, and his projections for the future of the industry.

Take a look.

What are the key trends that you are seeing in the PR industry on a global scale?

The obvious one: every brand is grappling with how they’re going to use artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance work. People have moved on from fear of AI replacing their work, and that’s transitioned to understanding how we can use the technology to make us work faster and with more impact. 

The other factor to consider is, how do you support client savings and efficiency with AI, without destroying your own value in the same instance? We believe strongly in bringing humanity to our work, and that our business models must marry our insights and communications skills, together with harnessing technology effectively.

Lastly, challenges with decision-making is something we’re also seeing a lot. Economic conditions, huge job cuts among our clients, and election cycles, are all driving companies to put their plans on hold. But, despite that, the market is still seeing growth, particularly in agencies – so it’s an unusual time for the industry.  We need to remain very close to our clients during these times.

What challenges does the comms industry face in attracting and retaining global talent? 

We really need to think carefully about the types of skillsets we bring into the business. The type of professionals we need to succeed, and scale are increasingly varied, particularly as we merge technology and communication skills. People with great communications skills, who are strong at client engagement and building trust, are always going to be in-demand – it’s the humanity piece.

Many agencies are shifting from the traditional hourly billing model to a value pricing structure, recognising that the impact of creative work extends beyond the time invested. Do you think there’ll be more focus on value in the immediate future? 

Within agencies, there’s a lot of discussion on how we add value. Personally, I’m not seeing many clients being open to the concept of value billing yet, and still focus their efforts on savings where they can. But agencies can bring huge value through insights, strategy and creativity – this is where external advisers can be so important to clients.

The hourly billing model isn’t ideal. Growth is entirely based on having individual people billing a certain number of hours, so it can be very inefficient. AI could be one of those pieces of technology which will change the landscape for that. But we’ll see…

How is AI impacting talent strategies, and how do you foresee this changing in the next two to five years?

It may have an impact, but will it fundamentally change things? I suspect not. Businesses like AVENIR need talent with great communication and advisory skills – that will always be required at the heart of the business. The type of people and type of skills we look for may evolve somewhat but that’s the case regardless of whether AI is involved or not. 

In terms of the actual talent acquisition process, AI could be useful in screening CVs, but comparatively, algorithms don’t always make sense, and you could lose out on excellent talent because of it. I’ve heard of algorithms screening out candidates with no degree, but some of the smartest people I’ve ever worked with chose not to go to university.

How important is diversity and inclusion in global talent acquisition? Are these initiatives local to specific regions, or are they more widespread?

It is critical for our business, and we need to consider this at both global and local levels.  But some of the greatest impact we can have on society is by working with our clients and shaping their approaches.

We’ve done a lot of work around clinical trial recruitment, and ensuring the patient population within that is diverse. But even that varies in every trial and support our clients with redefining representation is really life-changing work. Bottom line: diversity means different things in difference circumstances and to different people, but it is ultimately one of, if not the most important conversation we’re having right now because it’s impacting every single corner of the industry.

Have candidate demands shifted – what are you seeing?

Most agencies have settled for some form of hybrid model for their working structures, and I think that’s become fairly standard.

I would say that people are looking for a lot of different things from employers – interesting client work, fair remuneration of course, and the opportunity to advance.  But culture is very important and part of that includes a company’s approach to flexibility and DEI.

What are your predictions for the industry over the next 18 months?

To be narrow-focused about AVENIR, we’re optimistic about 2025. We’re doing a lot of work behind-the-scenes to ensure that. Lack of elections and some settling of the economic uncertainty will likely increase opportunities and growth.

There will always be some difficult situations, but optimism is crucial right now and I am very optimistic. There’s some really driven, intelligent talent emerging in the market right now which is exciting and matching this talent with emerging technology will be exciting for our business and the sector in general.