The results show that the agency sector's ability to organise and deliver training is hindered by time pressures more than it is in client and supplier organisations. The agency sector felt that short, sharp half-day courses were most appropriate for its needs. It was also the sector that showed the highest interest in online training.
The training needs survey was commissioned by the IDM to help it better understand the detailed training and education needs of the industry's agencies, client organisations and other service suppliers.
Professor Derek Holder, managing director of the IDM said: "Despite an industry-wide consensus in attitudes towards training and expressed training needs, these initial findings suggest that the agency community is most eager to find training solutions that accommodate its specific requirements. The established culture of long hours means that for agencies implementing training programmes is not so much a question of content but of delivery. This is something the IDM is already seeking to address."
Across the industry as a whole the survey fond that communications skills, creativity, innovation and flexibility were the most valued attributes of direct marketing professionals. It also found that customer retention was of greater importance than Customer acquisition and that on-the-job training was the most common training method in DM.
Full details of the research will be released in July.
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