the junior reverse mentorship model

15
-Chelsea Jennings THE JUNIOR STRATEGIST REVERSE MENTORSHIP MODEL

Upload: chelsea-jennings

Post on 11-Aug-2014

1.654 views

Category:

Career


1 download

DESCRIPTION

An exploration of the ad world and the way that junior strategists are currently viewed within the industry.

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: The Junior Reverse Mentorship Model

-Chelsea Jennings

THE JUNIOR STRATEGIST REVERSE MENTORSHIP MODEL

Page 2: The Junior Reverse Mentorship Model

PROBLEM

•The “Junior Strategist” or “Junior Account Planner” is a rare role in the ad world.

•Many agencies will forgo having this position at all and will instead hire only mid-level to senior planners who can still be hired at a competitive price and will be immediately profitable to the agency because of their experience.

Page 3: The Junior Reverse Mentorship Model

REASONING?

•Many agencies don’t have the mentoring power in their planning departments to bring on entry-level talent.

•These agencies know they can’t hire junior level strategists because they simply don't have the time to allow for day-to-day management and oversight.

Page 4: The Junior Reverse Mentorship Model

THERE’S SOME DISCUSSION

“Hire more juniors. If you’re willing to shepherd them just a little, the returns are as massive as penny stocks

or Seattle.”

-Anthony Kalamut, Professor | Program Chair of Creative Advertising and Seneca College School of Communication Arts

But even so, people do admit that, despite the value of the junior, a certain amount of mentorship is involved.

Page 5: The Junior Reverse Mentorship Model

INSIGHT

•There will always be an overwhelming desire for employees that come in every day with fresh ideas, curiosity, and the drive to work hard.

•Most can agree that no matter what industry someone is in, after a certain number of years people lose a bit of that initial passion.

•Even people who love their jobs become jaded on a certain level.

"Over time I get used to everything and start taking it for granted."

– Stefan Sagmeister co-founder of Sagmeister & Walsh

Page 6: The Junior Reverse Mentorship Model

SO REALLY...

•Juniors do in fact need mentoring, but the people who have been in the game for years need it too.

•These mid-level to senior planners need a boost, a kick in the pants if you will. They need people to walk in every day that are fresh, ambitious. People who will keep them on their toes.

Page 7: The Junior Reverse Mentorship Model

STRATEGY: REVERSE MENTORSHIP

•Hire juniors with the idea in mind that they will also be mentoring the planning department. By becoming the mentors, they elevate the department and learn by doing and teaching. The relationship between experienced planners and juniors then becomes mutually beneficial.

•Their ambition and energy will push everyone in the department to work harder, smarter, and with a sense of renewed perspective.

“The future rests on ‘collaborative power’ – that is, ‘the integration of empowered newcomers’ into the decision-making process.” -World Economic Forum founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab

Page 8: The Junior Reverse Mentorship Model

INEXPERIENCE=AMBITION•Juniors are self starters by nature. What they lack in experience they make up for in tenacity that is often powered by smart thinking and creativity.

•These are qualities that aspiring juniors possess that everyone can learn and benefit from.

“I have found just being around young people, without judgment regarding age or naivety, you will be impacted by them and all that energy and creativity will start to wear off on you. As a result you will find you are more excited about and invested in your own work. This type of payoff is not easily measured. We are at a moment in time where we need to take a leap of faith.”

-Morgan Hunter, President of Meramec Consulting, Inc

Page 9: The Junior Reverse Mentorship Model

“To him [PJ Pereira] and to me, it's important to support young adlanders...for many reasons. On a macro level it's important because our industry needs new energy, new ideas and new enthusiasm that pushes the established players to be even better at their game.

On a micro level young talent means that there are new ideas in agencies for clients needing solutions, and it ensures that salaries don't keep going up and up and up.”

-Scott Goodson, founder and CEO of StrawberryFrog

SOME THOUGHTS

Page 10: The Junior Reverse Mentorship Model

JUNIORS ARE NAIVE- AND THIS IS A GOOD THING

•Being naive leads to being curious, which leads to working your butt off so you can find the answers.

•But rather than pretending to have all the answers, (which can lead to arrogance and an ego, things that no junior should have),

aspiring juniors should own their inexperience and cherish the fact that they are still nimble and eager.

•This eagerness to learn and desire to be better are the qualities that experienced strategists need to be mentored in.

"An expert is someone who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field"

– Niels Bohr // Danish physicist Nobel // Prize winner

Page 11: The Junior Reverse Mentorship Model

NAIVETY->CURIOSITY->HARD WORK

Page 12: The Junior Reverse Mentorship Model

“Young is an outlook our industry has always leaned on and now more than ever the right mix of young and stupid might make you the smartest person in the room.”

-Dan Viens, Digital Strategist at Wieden+Kennedy

Page 13: The Junior Reverse Mentorship Model

IDEAS FOR IMPLEMENTATION

•Have juniors host and lead discussions either online or at the agency.

•Have juniors review of work of that is being produced by the planning department.

•Have juniors create assignments that other planners work on and submit- (similar to Rob Campbell’s “Planning School on the Web.”)

•Have juniors peer review- have a group of junior strategists meet and review each other’s work.

Page 15: The Junior Reverse Mentorship Model

Special thanks to

Mark Pollard @markpollard

Ashly Stewart @AshlyStewart