Congratulations! You’ve just accepted an offer on a newer, better, faster marketing position. Yes, the VP title will suit you just fine, thank you very much. So now what? According to Michael D. Watkins, author of The First 90 Days, evaluating the various teams you’re inheriting is a critical first step.
“The most important decisions you make in your first 90 days will probably be about people. If you succeed in creating a high-performance team, you can exert tremendous leverage in value creation.”
Evaluating in-house marketing/creative teams, as well as external agencies is the logical place to start. The goal when looking at internal teams is to gauge who is performing at A, B, or C levels and make adjustments accordingly. Additionally, you’ll want to make sure their strengths and positions are aligned to support any new strategic goals and processes. Some of the different evaluative lenses to consider when assessing individuals under these conditions are:
- Competence: Does this person have the technical or foundational experience to do the job?
- Judgment: Does this person exercise good judgment in various situations?
- Energy: Is this person actively engaged in their role and within the company?
- Focus: Can this person carry out goals and objectives?
- Relationships: Is this individual open and supportive, or are they difficult to work with?
- Trust: Is the individual trustworthy and capable of following through with commitments?
External agencies, by extension, are also a part of your team, so a thorough checkup here is a smart move. Ask your team for feedback on the agency’s performance via a survey. Have a look at the existing contract, QC their work, take stock of their responsiveness, and evaluate the overall health of the relationship.
Setting up a high-functioning team is the ultimate outcome of this intense process. Be prepared to lose a few team members or discover that it’s best to break-up with your marketing agency. You may also discover it’s time to expand internal positions or contract out for new marketing services. If you find yourself in any of these scenarios, then professional support is probably in order.
Hire Profile has partnered with Setup to form the ultimate full-circle solution for brands to find marketing agency support and top marketing talent. The perfect marketing ecosystem is typically comprised of an in-house team and external partners. Our combined expertise will ensure that the right blend of people are in the right places.
Setup is a marketing matchmaker, connecting brands with marketing agencies that can fill gaps in capacity or capability.
Hire Profile is a women-owned creative placement agency recruiting top talent to various marketing roles within corps and agencies for nearly 20 years.
Hire Profile + Setup = infill marketing capacity and capability gaps
Interested to learn more? Contact Nancy Gamble!