Following reports that suggest that PR firms in Asia are struggling to retain employees, interim management specialists VMA Group has warned that unless business reassess talent retention strategies, the problem will only worsen.

Reports across Asia-Pacific suggest that staff retention is a real issue, with research from PageUp People revealing that less than one-third of businesses in the region feel that their current talent strategies are adequate.

However, based on its recent research, VMA Group posits that the solution may lie in addressing the culture of long working hours and inadequate progression opportunities that are seemingly prevalent in many companies in the region.

In “The Pulse 2014/15”, a survey of over 400 corporate communications professionals, VMA Group found that better working hours and promotion opportunities were the top two incentives, behind salary, that would keep a PR professional in a role.

Katrina Andrews, Executive Director of VMA Group and Head of Asia-Pacific, commented: “While we know that salary is a strong incentive, it’s interesting to note that working hours and career progression both play a large role in an individual’s decision to leave a role. If a salary increase is not on the cards, it’s important that agencies tackle the issue of long working hours and development opportunities. If this doesn’t happen, it’s likely that we’ll see a continuation of these high levels of employee turnover which could hamper the growth of a number of companies in the region.”