Being off Balance

Employee turnover can present challenges as a marketing team leader. Besides the time required to recruit, vet and interview candidates, there is additional time spent by the team filling the gaps left by the employee moving on.

However, there is an upside. Turnover represents opportunities for team leaders to evaluate the efficacy of their team. Are the right people in the right roles? Are they positioned to succeed? With the absence of one, can you see holes that need to be filled? Another important question to ask yourself: Who are you looking for?

You of course want a new marketing team member to have relevant experience, be a good communicator and a hard worker. As you interview candidates, there will probably be quite a few who fulfill these basic requirements. But, I think there is one thing that someone working in marketing today must have, and that is no work-life balance.

As a marketer in today’s world of hyperactive communication and creativity, ideas can be found almost everywhere. There are infinite ways to learn more about culture, technology, building brands and driving your business. The key here is not to be working non-stop, but to be passionate enough about what you do so that you are open and aware, no matter what time it is or where you are. That’s the type of employee you want to hire: Someone who spends time outside of work absorbing ideas that can make he or she more dynamic inside of work.

This can be a scary proposition, but if you have chosen to be a marketer because you enjoy the discipline, then living in a world that presents you with unlimited ideas and inspiration all day is actually a gift.

Imagine if you had to rely on only being inspired from 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. within the four walls of your office? That sounds a lot harder to me. I’ll take my creativity anytime, even at midnight on Sunday, as I know it will make for a better Monday.

Christina DeGuardi is the senior vice president of marketing, branding and communications for Crunch. For questions on marketing she can be reached at christina.deguardi@crunch.com