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Finance directors see marketers as brash, uncontrollable ’wide

boys’ who are always out of the office and always on for a freebie,

according to research by Michael Page Sales and Marketing and Synesis,

revealed at last week’s Marketing Forum.

The survey backed other research which casts doubt on whether marketers

have the management skills to become chief executive officers - a goal

that 45% of them aspire to.

While 78% of marketers rated themselves as good or excellent at working

cross-functionally, only 23% of their colleagues agreed.

According to the Economic Intelligence Unit, 94% of ceos identify

communications skills as a key management attribute in the year 2010,

with 89% citing decision-making and 77% managing relationships as key

areas.

The previously lauded technical skills came bottom of the list, with

only 53% of ceos believing them to be important.

However, additional research by Michael Page and Synesis among 550

Marketing Forum delegates and 60 human resources directors and academics

suggests that marketers are mainly focused on developing their technical

expertise and have a great deal to learn about dealing with people.

This is not helped by the lack of formal training in this area, with

only 26% of respondents claiming to have received five days or more

training in interpersonal skills. In contrast, 46% of those surveyed

have had five days or more technical skills training.

Despite this, marketers are asking for more training in functional

skills rather than people skills, with 57% seeking training in new media

and 44% in brand strategy. But it is the lack of people skills, claims

Synesis, which explains the tensions between departments and the

criticism that marketers operate in isolation.

The credibility of marketers in the eyes of other disciplines within the

organisation is also lessened by the fact that 69% have little or no

experience in a line role outside marketing.

This creates problems, say the report’s authors, because marketers are

judged both on their marketing skills, and on their understanding of the

entire business process that they are part of.

According to one respondent: ’(The marketing department) are going to

bring out some really good things this year. But they don’t help

themselves in getting co-operation, so that we could be really

successful.’