The Great Pitch Poll, an annual survey that measures pitching and business development practices in agencies, has revealed that a fifth of people working for agencies (22%) feel their agency ‘does very little’ to support their mental health.
Founded by The Great Pitch Company CEO Marcus Brown, the survey found that mental health is considered ‘less of a priority’ for agencies at an overall level.
When an agency encounters new business, for the majority of those surveyed, it becomes an extra burden on their day job, where personal commitments must fall by the wayside. Some 58% admitted that their existing workload is not taken into consideration when being asked to work on new business. Subsequently, 57% of those working for agencies feel that their agency is not respectful of personal commitments.
Macroeconomic issues, the cost of living crisis and inflation were also found to add extra stress to an ‘all ready workload-burdened staff’.
With mental health to one side, The Great Pitch Poll also discovered that having a lack of staff to work on pitches is still a problem for 50% of respondents. Competition from in-house agencies, similar agencies and new agencies is also a concern.
When it comes to diversity, 79% of the survey participants noted that their agency can often struggle to field diverse team members on pitch teams. A further 66% admitted that people are sometimes put in the pitch room in a tokenistic way.
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“The Great Pitch Poll, once again paints a picture of an industry that has yet to face facts when it comes to the pursuit of new business,” The Great Pitch Poll founder and The Great Pitch Company CEO, Marcus Brown, said.
“As an industry, it is important that we monitor the health of this vital business function. The Great Pitch Poll gives a voice to people on the front line of business development. And their voices are clear. For the majority, New Business is an extra burden on top of their day job, where personal commitments have to fall by the wayside and a ‘thank you’ is the most likely way an agency is respectful of mental health.
“There is one glimmer of hope in that working practices may well be changing, as a third reported that enforced ways of working such as no weekend work are now the norm at some agencies.
“How long can our industry rely on the goodwill of team members to go above and beyond rather than fund the discipline in the way it deserves?”
