Insights

No te apresures a despedir a tu talento. Un líder habilidoso resaltará las fortalezas y no se dará por vencido. Has incorporado a un nuevo empleado a tu organización con grandes expectativas de éxito. Sin embargo, en cuestión de meses, tú o quizás otros en tu organización, empiezan a sentir que las expectativas para esa contratación no se están cumpliendo. Antes de tomar una decisión drástica, ¿te has preguntado cuál es el margen de error cuando alguien no cumple con lo esperado? ¿Es cuestión de tirar la toalla y tomar otro camino? ¿O esperas a evaluar todas las dinámicas que…

What has been the most challenging moment so far in your career?  My first day in an agency. I went from being a high school teacher and dance coach, to an Assistant Account Executive at age 30. An early mid-life crisis and career change. I’ve spent every day since making up for lost time, using nothing but my drive, hunger, and pure love for the work to prove that I belong here.    What is the very best feedback you’ve ever received? Early in my career, someone I highly respected told me that I “shovel a lot of shit.” Interestingly…

If you could attribute one other person or life event to your success, who or what would it be and why? Success hardly ever happens overnight. It takes 10.000 hours to master a skill. But I did have a very defining moment a few years back, when I faced a major health scare in my family. Until then being a Creative had just been a fun job that I loved doing. The situation forced me to change how I viewed my career in order to support my family. And that led to my success. I finally had the skill set,…

What has been the most challenging moment so far in your career? It’s both weird and weirdly rewarding to change countries and start over. What is the very best career advice you’ve ever received? Keep your head down and your eyes on the ball. What is the number one quality you look for in talent? Willingness to work hard. If you could attribute one other person or life event to your success, who or what would it be and why? It’s never just one person. Every person I ever worked with started the butterfly effect of who I am today…

What is the number one quality you look for in talent? For me, passion is the most important quality for any creative person. We’re always looking for the ones who dream big, that really want to push the boundaries of what’s possible or not. You launched DAVID in Madrid, going from zero people. What was the biggest adjustment to opening a new office? Definitely working in such a small team. Which I think was actually what made it the fun part of starting an office. We all had to be 100% hands on. We were too small to just do…

What is the very best career advice you’ve ever received? You’re only ever as good as your people. The best leaders surround themselves with people who are better than them. What part of your role as a leader do you find most rewarding? Watching my team find their own feet and giving them the space to do their thing. I love watching people grow into their roles and find their voice. We all deserve a chance to prove ourselves and what we’re capable of. What is one thing you have learned from the pandemic in 2021 that you hope to…

Why It’s Wise for Agencies to Hire During Slow Periods A fair warning before we get into things. I intend to suggest an idea that flies in the face of recession fears and the standard ‘hiring season’ mindset that companies have followed for decades. It’s not because I recommend that leaders make rash decisions just to disrupt the system. It’s because there are real opportunities and advantages to consider. For many agencies in the advertising industry, hiring is fairly steady throughout the year, sometimes spiking in Spring or when an agency brings on new accounts. However, across the board, agencies…

Don’t be quick to fire. A skilled leader will spotlight strengths, not give up.  You’ve brought a new employee into your organization with a lot of expectations for success. Within a few months you, or perhaps others in your organization, feel the expectations for that hire are not being met. Ask yourself, what is the margin of error when someone doesn’t work out as intended?  Do you cut bait and move on? Or, do you evaluate all of the dynamics that come into play? For example, do you take into account this person’s strengths, or are you only focused on…

Discerning What Matters Most to You When Job-Searching In today’s competitive hiring landscape, employers hunting for top candidates are dangling the carrot of generous benefits before job-seekers. It’s a page from Silicon Valley’s book, where tech startups have long been famous for offering employees equity and the promise of earning millions after a successful IPO. The advertising industry is no exception to this rule. Big brands with in-house agencies are increasingly offering company equity as part of their compensation packages. There are two different types of equity when companies are starting out: Restricted stock awards and options. Restricted stock awards offer shares of ownership…

With many agencies working towards sustainable remote structures, ad industry talent has never had more flexibility. Some leaders are still scratching their heads, however, as to how to accomplish successful work streams with agency talent is scattered across different locations. In speaking with agencies grappling with the challenges of dispersed talent, I’ve found a few key practices that work well for all involved.   Set clear expectations.  Now that you’ve got a new hire “in the door” and up-to-speed, the onboarding process is still far from done. Even with the best talent on your roster, employees can’t be expected to generate…

The future of work continues to evolve as the pandemic sprints into its third calendar year, keeping people and organizations in flux. Covid-19 brought many major shifts in our day-to-day work and turned the practice of recruiting talent completely on its head. In 2021, we saw many people changing jobs, but these changes were all done remotely, often with the understanding that as things improved, folks would relocate. Only, they didn’t. And as the year wore on, companies relied on hard dates for the return to the office. We are now in a much different situation as candidates are either…

The Pressure is on for HR and Recruiters, as Agencies Race to the Bottom Line After a turbulent year of layoffs, turnover, and assorted HR complexities, advertising agencies that had healthy fiscal years have relaxed their grip and started hiring at pre-2020 levels. Staff that had been operating with skeleton teams have been able to expand. Many of us in the advertising industry are stretched thin, but as business continues to pick up, demands on internal recruitment teams, in particular, are increasing. Internal recruitment specialists are suddenly handling searches across a wide spectrum – from freelancers to full-time staffers, creative…