Stumbled onto this piece (sub required) from Peter Arnell that hits nicely at what I keep ranting on timesheets and agency billing about. In this case, replace hours billed with request for a full time equivalent employee:
It is time to reconcile archaic FTE accounting with the talent-driven, multidimensional world we live in today. There is more creative doing, more crossing of traditional boundaries, more thinking and contributing by talent who multitask and participate on many levels at once. Great ideas are the cultural currency that clients will profit from in the end, and attaining this level of contribution does not run on a clock or time sheet.
Let's put a typical staffing allocation formula in terms of MasterCard:
An experienced account director: FTE of 1
A sane creative team: FTE of 3.2
A person with one good idea: PricelessThe goal of clients should be to seek what is priceless at a cost agencies and their talent deserve.
Source: Advertising Age - CMO Strategy - Peter Arnell: Find Value in Results You Cannot Measure