TBWA today announced two new roles designed to counter high levels of employee turnover within the ad industry and difficulties recruiting creative talent.

Rhonda George-Denniston was named chief learning and development officer, and will be tasked with spearheading the agency’s talent development and retention strategies. Monica Torres was appointed executive director of global recruiting, and will be responsible for directing TBWA’s global recruitment initiatives.

The ad industry continues to deal with workplace shuffling stemming from the pandemic and "Great Resignation," as several agency leaders have reported challenges in finding and securing talent.

TBWA conducted a global study earlier this year that revealed creative talent reports higher levels of burnout and dissatisfaction with their work-life balance than the global average: Only 55% of creatives reported being content with their work-life balance, almost 10% lower than the global benchmark of 64%. 

“The pandemic definitely highlighted the need and importance of [workplace] fundamentals and ways to connect with each other and having the tools you need to get your job done,” said Amie Miller, TBWA’s chief talent officer. “You expect certain things, and those are the fundamentals, and without those—the magic, the experience, the feelings, the emotion—those things can’t happen. “ 

These “fundamentals” that employees expect from their workplace include robust employee development programs and opportunities for internal recruiting and mobility, Miller said, which inspired the agency to establish new positions that oversee these areas. Both George-Denniston and Torres have already contributed to initiatives in these departments in their previous roles at TBWA, Miller said. 

George-Denniston has worked at TBWA for over two decades, and recently led the launch of TBWA\U, a learning platform that offers on-demand courses for agency employees. Torres, meanwhile, has led recruitment efforts at the agency’s New York office since 2017, overhauling the recruitment and interview process in an effort to eliminate bias in hiring decisions. 

TBWA already runs several employee leadership and development programs for workers at all levels of the company, from C-suite executives to mid-level managers, Miller said. The agency’s newest initiative, TBWA\Bursary, partners with schools such as Miami Ad School Europe to help junior employees complete training programs offered by the schools. Expanding this program to include additional schools is one of George-Denniston’s highest priorities, she said in an email. 

“Our industry is constantly changing,” George-Denniston said. “We have to be intentional in how our people develop and grow to meet their personal and our organization's goals, and that’s a discipline in itself—it requires a dedicated team to plan, design and execute the experiences and opportunities that will empower people to thrive.”

Torres will focus on uniting the agency’s network of offices around the globe by “[sharing] learnings and best practices between them,” along with increasing opportunities for employees to move into new roles within the agency, she said in an email. 

“By encouraging our people to stretch beyond their existing teams, we’re able to keep our top talent engaged within the collective—providing opportunities for growth and excitement that ignites innovation and creativity,” Torres said. “And just as important, we become talent magnets—a collective that people want to work with and for over the long term.”