After the success of the first Youth Executive Committee (YCO) last year, GroupM has constituted its second team of young professionals to take part in actual decision-making. The company looks to leverage the learnings of participative management to make itself future-ready
By Simran Sabherwal
One of the priorities for Dominic Proctor, President, GroupM Global, during his India trip in 2013 was the launch of a unique initiative called the Youth Executive Committee (YCO), drawing talented youngsters from across the network’s agencies and specialist units to participate in leadership along with the Executive Committee (EXCO, the senior leadership team). The YCO was part of several new initiatives launched in 2013 as part of the ‘New Me’ roadmap – to help the company transform to a digitally-centric marketing communications network from just a media agency. “We wanted to harness the knowledge, energy and enthusiasm that exists at the junior levels of the organization and give them a platform where they could add value to our network,” says CVL Srinivas, CEO of GroupM South Asia. The YCO yielded positive results, and this year too, the company has selected 15 star performers to be on the YCO. Commenting on YCO, Gaurav Hirey, Chief Talent Officer- South Asia, GroupM, said, “We decided to create a platform for participative management by getting the youth involved in decision-making and hearing their ideas and opinions to create a better environment and company which is future ready.”
Selecting the YCO
The top performers based on the formal appraisal system and performance rating qualify to be considered for YCO. They need to be under 30 years of age. Weightage is given to the agency’s comments on the candidate.
This year, over 40 shortlisted candidates were chosen and asked to send a one minute audio visual presentation or write in 150 words on why they should be part of YCO. GroupM Mancom members scrutinized the submissions and selected the final 15 YCO members.
As in the first year, the YCO members have been divided into three teams and each team assigned a project overlooked by a member from the EXCO. The projects this year focus on creating an environment to promote creativity and innovation, mapping the credentials of GroupM and defining the services to be delivered by way of SMART contracting. Says Srinivas, “The new batch of YCO will continue to work in areas that are strategically important for us and in line with our vision. We have also started a reverse mentoring programme where each EXCO member has a YCO mentor.
YCO has definitely played a big role is helping GroupM stay young, hungry and embrace change.”
Learnings from the First YCO
Srinivas says, “The YCO worked closely with the senior leadership team through the year in three areas – digital transformation, talent retention and communication programmes. We got a lot of rich and valuable insights from YCO in all these areas and have made several changes to the way we used to operate.”
Hirey says that YCO is a reality check on what the youth of the organization want, what drives them and also some learnings. During the year, their projects were reviewed by EXCO members. Hirey adds that fearlessness in today’s youth allows them to innovate, come up with new ideas and express what is on their minds. Some of the recommendations given by YCO were:
Talent retention: Employees get a holiday on their birthday. An online tool to recognize people’s achievements in the organization has resulted in formation of GroupM stars, which empowers everyone on the organization to recognize and reward those who they believe has contributed.
Digital transformation: The focus last year was on the digital business and making it an integral part of the planning process. The YCO came up with recommendations on the changes that must be implemented and processes.
Communication programme: Realize the importance of having a Public Relations person in the organization. The Communication function has been instituted based on this feedback. According to another recommendation, the company has upped its presence on social media. A post box has also been installed in every cafeteria to establish a constant communication channel between employees and people who make decisions in the organization.
After a year, the first batch of YCO members have passed on the baton to the new batch recently, and graduated to become mBassadors, a role in which they will help mentor new joinees. In addition, the mBassadors become the face of the company by becoming spokespersons for their units and GroupM.
CLICK TO READ: TAKING CHARGE: YCO members on being a part of GroupM Youth Executive Committee
Feedback: simran.sabherwal@exchange4media.com
