'Other industries are positioning themselves better'

Dentsu Webchutney’s ECD, PG Aditya and its EVP, Gautam Reghunath, took to the stage on day two of Spikes Asia 2018 with tips on how the ‘agency-employee’ relationship can be disrupted.

They started by introducing the agency's ‘Pause the Resume’ initiative launched back in 2014.

Aditya explained, “Instead of asking people for their resume, we asked for their browsing history. Our conversations with prospective hires were about the sites they visit and how they spend their time etc. This became a reason for people to apply to our agency.”

He added, “We have been hearing for a while about the advertising business going through disruption. This ‘disruption’ should be passed on to the employees too.”

Reghunath elaborated, “Your relationship with an employee starts from the first day he/she wants to be a part of the organisation.”

He then showcased how Uber’s first hire Ryan Greaves was hired by Travis Kalinick following a tweet, before adding, “We should tell managers what we want from day one onwards. People, believe work will pick up and get more interesting post a monotonous interview. And then it doesn’t. We need to show that more.

Reghunath added, “We are a services industry and a great place to work. I don’t know any other services industry provides the feel good factor. The work culture is slightly different too.”

On the subject of work culture, Aditya said, “Wearing shorts to work is cool. We are allowed to date colleagues. We work on weekends because we love to. This is a great work culture. But every start-up offers that now. So, an 18-year old won’t dream of working at an advertising agency because of this. Working on weekends and long work hours is actually a flaw of the agencies. By generalising this, people don’t just leave agencies, they leave the profession altogether. The talent monopoly we used to have is being lost. Other industries are positioning themselves better and employees are hitting a ceiling quicker than ever before. It’s our job to give them a vision.”

Reghunath spoke about how the industry’s bad structures need to be addressed in a hurry and emphasised on the importance of chemistry.

He surmised, “In the last two years, we realised the importance of chemistry. Chemistry requires effort. It’s how we get along with each other.”