Work model helps to bring new perspectives and perspectives with professionals from other regions of the country
“Being able to fulfill the day’s agenda and end up being able to eat a legitimate Bahian acarajé is one of the best experiences of this digital bridge between Salvador and São Paulo”. The author of the sentence is Agatha Ferreira, business manager of Leo Burnett Tailor Made, advertising that is part of a new process experienced by the market: the hiring of talents who are in states where the headquarters or offices of the agencies are not.
A movement driven by the adoption of the home office model and which has contributed to increasing diversity in agencies, by bringing new perspectives and perspectives, streamlining hiring and which tends to grow, despite the adoption of the hybrid model in the face of the cooling of the pandemic.
Agatha, who works with Fiat on a national and regional level, classifies the experience as “wonderful” and that, as a black woman, she is always involved in projects that give visibility to blackness and the fight against gender violence. “I think of diversity as an obligation of companies and corporations. I charge and plan effective affirmative actions for both the corporate environment and my client. Whether giving space for this diversity to be present in campaigns, as well as behind the cameras and chairs that develop reasoning and strategies”, she says.
According to Vivian Vaz, talent director at Leo Burnett, today, 20% of the agency’s professionals are from other states, such as Amazonas, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul and Pernambuco, in addition to the Federal District.
“When we have people from different regions, we have different readings of culture, we have perspectives of behaviors in a more comprehensive way, we create a critical look at some actions in a more intensified way”, he explains. According to her, the hirings are in all areas and have registered several gains for the agency, mainly in the agility of the selection process.
Having more options for recruiting professionals can prove to be a very important resource, especially in a scenario where securing talent is emerging as the most challenging aspect of transforming creativity. According to a global survey by Cannes, the State of Creativity, this is a reality both for agencies, 55%, and for brands, 56%.
According to Paula Molina, HR director at WMcCann, the alternative helps both to heat up competition and to oxygenate the agency with ideas and experiences that are different from the professionals. “Diversity in the professional environment guarantees a fairer place and a more plural market.”
As a practical example, she says that the agency has a collaborator from Salvador who is part of the team to create campaigns for Itaipava, from Grupo Petrópolis. “The city is our client’s main square and we have someone who is in this experience, creating directly from there”. In addition to him, the agency has 13 other professionals distributed across the states of Pernambuco, Goiás, Rio Grande do Sul, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte and Minas Gerais.
Talent says the impact has been “very positive”. “We expanded even further the issue of diversity in all its aspects and managed to bring different cultures”, comments Michelle Mica, head of Talent Management at the agency.
The results of adhering to the new model are also celebrated by the agency3. “Productivity has been incredible and people are managing to align their personal and professional lives,” says Paulo Castro, partner and CEO of the company.
He also noticed a greater demand from professionals from other states besides São Paulo and Rio, where he has an office. “We recently carried out a selection process and in just 4 days we attracted professionals from seven different states”, he adds.
Despite advances with the model over the last few months, professionals report that communication is a point that always requires care, as a way to avoid noise. “Remote or hybrid work requires more attention and planning for the creation and maintenance of an inclusive culture, in which the office does not mean a privileged place for someone to progress in their career”, explains Mica, from Talent Marcel.
At WMcCann, which, in addition to São Paulo, has offices in Rio de Janeiro and Brasília, Molina says that this challenge has always been present. “With the pandemic, of course, internal communication also needed to be adapted in the most diverse instances, with new ways and processes to communicate with the employee from wherever he is”. According to her, the agency now has asynchronous communication and virtual meetings to facilitate interactions between employees.
And how will it be?
Even with the return of many companies to face-to-face, mainly under the hybrid model, the agencies interviewed reported that the hiring of professionals from other states beyond where they have offices will continue.
“We will maintain this hiring model, as we understand that diversity brings more gains than proximity”, says Vivian Vaz, from Leo Burnett Tailor Made. Talent also has a similar attitude. “The hybrid model, combined with technology, allows for excellent remote work, as we are already practicing within Talent”, defends Mica.
For Molina, from WMcCann, we, as a society, have already learned to live in the “hybrid model”, a practice that is here to stay. “I also believe that companies will expand their remote hiring and that this type of ‘way of work’ will be increasingly common, until it becomes our ‘normal’, in fact”, she adds.
