Job Redesign and Rewards for Advertising Art Directors

Job Components and Responsibilities of an Advertising Art Director

Employees whose work focuses on designing advertising content often have a greater degree of leeway in governing their day than other types of employees. Advertising professionals are "creatives," meaning that their output is more subjective in its value than, say, a factory employee who must produce a set quantity of a particular product per day, or an accounting professional who must perform an audit. An advertising art director's primary role is serving the client. "An art director usually works alongside a copywriter to form a 'creative team.' Traditionally, the copywriter produces the words to go with the visuals created by the art director" (Advertising art director, 2014, AGCAS). Working closely with the client from the outset to understand project needs, storyboarding an advertisement, and working on location during the production of an advertisement are all core components of the art director's role.

In general, a great deal of intrinsic motivation — or "love of the job" — is assumed: most persons in advertising take considerable personal pride in delivering a high-quality product. Although most major companies offer competitive salaries to art directors, they are traditionally not the highest-paid professionals in the organization, at least in part because the excitement of generating an imaginative product is considered one of the inherent pleasures and rewards of the work. Art directors are not hired on the basis of education and past experience alone; they must also exhibit enthusiasm and embody the ethos of the advertising content the company strives to produce. Advertising is never a fungible or interchangeable product — every piece of advertising is unique, and every advertising agency works to cultivate a distinctive style.

Company-Wide Reward Structures

Advertising professionals may be compensated on commission or salary. Advertising art directors are usually salaried professionals, in contrast to advertising salespersons who sell content to external clients. With performance-based rewards, a "winning system should recognize and reward two types of employee activity — performance and behavior" (Cutler, 2014). In other words, employees should be evaluated both on their output and on whether they cultivate positive workplace behaviors. In the case of art directors, for example, evaluations assess their performance in terms of client satisfaction and whether the projects they oversee result in high client retention.

Positive behaviors are also rewarded: team leaders are responsible for rating all creatives on a team in terms of their overall contribution to the project. Both types of rating systems are necessary when distributing rewards, given that a weaker individual performer might still find themselves on a high-performing team. Additionally, individualized performance reviews that extend beyond project-specific metrics allow employees to receive personal feedback on their own actions. This can be particularly motivational for strong employees, encouraging them to set personally higher standards than the general company baseline. Bonuses may be offered for especially strong or noteworthy projects that generate significant returns for the organization, both on a team and an individual basis. Company-wide profit-sharing can also encourage employees to work consistently hard by linking their efforts to organizational growth.

Many organizations have developed bonus and reward systems that go beyond purely profit-focused initiatives. Google, for instance, offers engineers paid time to pursue their own research projects — not out of altruism, but partly in recognition that talented employees can generate valuable ideas independently. This practice also strengthens the bond between the company and its employees, as workers appreciate the opportunity to think creatively and explore ideas, even while at work.

The entire Googleplex is designed to encourage creativity. By offering employees free food and fitness classes, the company reduces the incentive to leave campus for meals or the gym. With on-site health clinics, daycare, dry cleaning, and even employee shuttle buses, every moment of the workday is freed from minor distractions (Google benefits, 2014, Google). Many organizations are now offering at least some of these types of benefits, in acknowledgment of the responsibilities employees carry in raising families. Benefits often serve a dual function: rewarding the employee while also encouraging greater productivity. Issuing a company smartphone or laptop, for example, makes it easier for employees to remain connected and productive even outside formal working hours.