Communications agency selects G4 model for complete revamp

Dubai: It will be more than a change in job titles. For the Middle East operations of the communications agency GolinHarris, the changes that will be brought in from April cut to the very core of how it does business.

Personnel will now be designated as strategists, creators, connectors and catalysts as part of what the agency calls its G4 model. A self-assessment process has been initiated within its staff ranks to determine which category a particular individual is best suited to be in.

Beyond the re-jigged titles and finding who suits what, is there a wider purpose to the exercise? "The client has three different needs: the first is that we should provide actionable insight into his business," said Yiannis Vafeas, joint managing director at GolinHarris, Dubai. The agency, now part of InterPublic Group, is headquartered in Chicago and currently spans a network of 38 offices worldwide.

"The second one is a client is in need of holistic ideas that can be communicated to multiple platforms. The third is that client requires research in innovative ways of engaging employees and customers. By creating the G4 model we have managed to do that.

"We are talking about a full redesign of the way GolinHarris is structured and works after 55 years."

Not that the process of change is limited to the regional operations. It has already been put through the wringer at its US operations and in Europe. Following the Middle East launch in April, it will roll out to Asia. By the end of the year, the entire GolinHarris network will be reading from the same G4 script and engaging with clients accordingly.

"During our meetings with the client, depending on the type of the meeting we will have to have people from all four communities because each one will bring to the table a different type of knowledge," Vafeas said.

Skill-based titles

How is the staff taking it? "Within this redesign, even the titles will change and instead of having seniority based titles — like account directors, account managers, etc, which have become kind of redundant — now we create skill-based titles," said Vafeas.

"The reason we are doing it is to get the best out of the people we have and actually motivate them to expand further with the assets and qualifications they have."

The process will also mean new recruitments could be on the way with more than 20 new job descriptions getting created, according to Vafeas. In an industry where there is a halt of sorts on new jobs, that is saying a lot.

The agency currently has around 50 people operating out of offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Riyadh, Kuwait and Lebanon. "We are totally transforming even the recruitment practices," the Vafeas added. "By now in the US, more than 500 people have moved into new roles."

The revised model will also be handy in tapping resources from beyond these markets, if the need arises. "We are starting to connect to the four community online platforms or blogs, where we share knowledge and experience," Vafeas said.

And where would all this lead? "The model that we have today will create the agency of the future," Vafeas said.

No shortage of confidence there.

New roles: Making an impact

- The strategists understand the forces that impact the client's future. They come armed with the latest research and help discover new insights.

- The creators generate the ideas, design and produce the context of a client's campaign.

- The connectors merge the social and mainstream media channels to share the campaigns with the media.

- The catalysts as agents of change will drive the integrated execution of the client's campaign. They will gather information from the strategists, from the creators, from the connectors.