Like many people, I fell into healthcare communications. More accurately I fell into medical sales and then into healthcare comms. Now, my son will tell you, that was so long ago that we did not have mobile phones or personal computers, ‘so how could we find out about anything?’.

But, I still talk to many people who say they too ‘fell’ into healthcare comms – and they are the generations that are surgically attached to their devices and the extensive access to information that confers. So why are we not in a much better position now? I feel it’s because a healthcare comms career remains one of the best kept secrets. And it’s certainly not an unattractive career option, with good salary and career progression opportunities, a sector that has a positive impact by helping to enhance the treatment of illness and improve health and well-being, a wide range of opportunities requiring different skills and experiences, and daily variety in the roles themselves.

Every senior comms leader, especially in the agency world, tells me talent recruitment and retention are two of their major challenges. Perhaps as a consequence, the priority focus tends to be short term, filling the gaps now through recruitment from those already within the sector. The result, however, is a sector that is becoming fiscally challenged through spiralling salaries, facing the danger of deteriorating quality due to overpromotion, and facing the leaky bucket scenario as some individuals may desert the sector, perhaps because of the increasing burden on those with experience. Sound familiar? The challenge is that we can’t magically create people with experience, we have to help them to develop in their roles.

In a talent sparse market, keeping the great talent we have is a top priority. Hybrid working is a double-edged sword in this regard. On the positive side, the flexibility it offers employees provides much goodwill. However, it also makes a job change less of a move, and more of a change of email. Surveys tell us people stay committed to companies they feel emotionally connected to through the culture, purpose, attachment to colleagues, or trust and empathy with its leaders. The already mentioned career development and associated training, as well as a good work/life balance, also score highly. However, we need to recognise that in the agency world specifically, retaining talent is not just affected by what the agency does. Clients, as much as agencies, have a vested interest in keeping the best talent working with them, so how clients interface with agency teams can have a significant influence on achieving this goal.