CEO Monthly Issue 3 2018

14 CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 3 2018 , “Since taking on the role, my focus has been centered around three key areas of Business, People, Product and Profit. “People – Great work comes from having people from different backgrounds, cultures and genders. We foster an environment where employees feel trusted, informed and empowered to create world-class work, in a way that works for them. “Product – I’m a believer in delivering industry-leading ideas that go beyond ‘traditional advertising’, including products, services, utilities and experiences. I’ve focused on how M&C Saatchi measures success and benchmarks our offering against Australia’s leading creative organisations, and building new businesses within the Group. “Profit – I believe you can drive change without impacting profit. Our 35% growth in profit has cemented this belief. Launching two new businesses, acquiring a media business and winning 21 new clients in the last 12 months has solidified M&C Saatchi as Australia’s leading creative communications group.” However, it is not just his focus that has made Jaimes successful in his role, he has set out a vision for the company, and Jaimes feels that it is important to be aware of his and the firm’s surroundings, something he was very aware of when setting out M&C Saatchi’s vision. “In 2015, I set a vision for the Group ‘to be the most influential creative company by 2020’. As with any good vision, it is important to understand where you are today, where you’d like to be tomorrow, and what follows in the future; so, it is underpinned by a very clear roadmap to get us there. “Essentially, I believe that this vision, and having an absolutely ‘bias toward action’, is the key to our success.” Alongside giving his staff the freedom to be creative, Jaimes has other principles which he adheres to when managing his staff, including showing loyalty and promoting diversity. He talks about staff turnover and employee development, something he takes very seriously. “Currently, M&C Saatchi has a significantly less churn rate than the industry average of 35%. For an agency our size, and the impressive growth of our business over the last 12 months, I am incredibly proud of this statistic. It’s a constant strive for the perfect balance between experience and new blood and these efforts are paying off. “Additionally, I am also an avid believer in diversity. We hero diversity through the businesses we launch and the people we appoint. Our people celebrate our values of Hunger, Curiosity, Respect and Action, which are manifested in everything we do. “Many of the staff development initiatives have been driven out of our commitment to reach a gender equal team by 2020. I consider diversity to be imperative to culturally relevant work, and as such has built a truly diverse and talented team who appreciate one another whatever their differences, creating a more inclusive work environment.” Showing loyalty to his staff, Jaimes has fostered a thriving working environment in which staff are happy to come to work. He has adopted a culture of diversity and freedom, and he explains how he ensures that this is understood by all of its staff. “Here at M&C Saatchi, we talk a lot about who we are and how we think. We are entrepreneurs, designers, and strategists – a mix of incredibly logical minds and thoroughly artistic folk. As a whole, we are creative meritocracy and an incubator of ideas. “How this manifests itself within the business, is a culture of collaboration and tenacity. A creative family who lean in, inspire and challenge each other every day. But a strong agency culture does not just happen, I believe we have a responsibility to be the change we want to see. “Therefore, our leadership team live it and talk it about any given opportunity, and we have family dinners where staff of all departments can meet senior management in an informal, fun environment. Just like all families, we start the day with an amazing breakfast in our cafe and end every week with an all agency meeting where culture is celebrated.” Overall, Jaimes has a leadership philosophy which he sticks to, and he works hard to ingrain his beliefs and vision into his staff. With Jaimes at the helm, M&C Saatchi can look forward to an exciting future, capitalising on good leadership and an already stable platform on which to build on. Jaimes signs off by predicting what the future holds for the company, and how the team will adapt around this. “Moving forward, the Australian market has experienced unprecedented change over the last 24 months. From changing expectations of creativity, the growth of client capabilities in-house and a fiercely contested talented pool to clients demanding greater efficiency; putting retainers under pressure and creative deliverables becoming increasingly complex. Invariably, we are being asked to do more for less “Despite these challenges, we have driven more change in our industry than any other agency. After investing in innovation before the word ‘lab’ became cliché and social teams long before platforms had been created, we’re now reaping the benefits of being two steps ahead of our competitors. “There’s exciting times ahead for us, and the industry, with the advancement of AI and growing reliance on voice, I would expect we will see the launch of new businesses in this space. M&C Saatchi has all elements to remain a leader in creativity, but we need to be prepared to innovate and remain agile in order to make the most of the future.”