Publicis Groupe

Pauly Grant

Pauly is a passionate people and culture leader with a 20-year career spanning marketing, communications, creative and digital media. She strives to identify innovative solutions by using data and insights to create an inclusive and empowering workplace culture that leads to personal and organizational achievements.

Insights about Professional Journey and Current Responsibilities

I've had a diverse career journey, starting in fashion and communications before moving into the advertising, media and digital space around 20 years ago. My entry into this industry happened through a friend who was launching a disruptor agency called Naked Communications in Sydney, Australia and invited me to join him.

I joined Publicis Groupe 12 years ago, starting as the Head of People and Culture for Zenith, one of their key media agencies. For the last five years, I served as the Chief Talent Officer for Australia and New Zealand. This January, I advanced to the role of Chief Talent Officer across APAC. In my daily, weekly and monthly role, I work closely with Jane Lin-Baden, our APAC CEO and our APAC executive committee, which includes our market CEOs and heads of other key capabilities. I oversee the region to identify organizational needs that will help accelerate our people’s growth to create a thriving environment and, in turn, help the business flourish. I also focus on leveraging successful programs and approaches in India, China, Southeast Asia and Japan to ensure we implement the best practices for our people across the region.

Major Challenges in Talent Management and their Solutions

The Global Risk Management Survey from December last year highlighted that attracting and retaining top talent is the fourth highest business risk in the APAC region, projected to rise to third place by 2026. It’s important for us to bring the right talent and retain them within our ecosystem. We have several excellent programs aimed at retention. For instance, our ‘Work Your World’ program allows employees to work in another country for six weeks, providing them the opportunity to connect with family or gain new experiences abroad.

Understanding the skills within your organization is also crucial. It's about transitioning from a focus on roles to a deep knowledge of the skills your employees possess, the skills they need and how to bridge that gap. With the rapid pace of change in skill requirements, HR professionals must be adept at identifying current competencies and facilitating skill development and reskilling. This approach aids career progression for employees and broadens their opportunities.

For a long time, HR professionals could implement a one-size-fits-all approach for employee programs, but that's increasingly challenging. Post-pandemic, there's been a shift from focusing solely on employee experience to considering life experience. At Publicis, we look beyond improving work life to understand how work fits into employees' overall lives, recognizing their individual priorities and personalizing their experiences. Although this is challenging for large organizations, it can be addressed by offering customizable benefits. For example, in ANZ (Australia & New Zealand), we've introduced flexible public holidays. Instead of fixed Christian holidays, employees can choose dates that align with their cultural or religious beliefs, like Ramadan or Hanukkah. This initiative has been highly successful, showcasing our respect for their personal needs and identities.

The Ethical Compass: Balancing Organizational Goals with Employee Well-being

Publicis stands out as an organization where humanity drives people and business decisions. This focus on humanity ensures good decisions for employees, leading to a successful business. During the Ukraine war, we went above and beyond to support our employees in the offices located there. We guaranteed a year’s salary regardless of circumstances and assisted those wanting to leave the country, ensuring financial security during a crisis.

“Transformational leadership goes beyond implementing programs. It’s about embedding change into the organizational fabric to shape a culture where humanity and strategic vision converge to drive enduring success.”

Another initiative, ‘Working with Cancer,’ was launched by CEO Arthur Sadoun after his cancer diagnosis in 2022. Sharing his experience to 100,000 employees worldwide, he received an overwhelming positive response, with many expressing gratitude for his openness.  Sadoun realized there was a huge stigma surrounding cancer in the workplace and vowed to tackle the stigma if he recovered. Publicis partnered with leading cancer organizations globally to launch the ‘Working with Cancer’ initiative, leveraging Publicis's extensive creative and media resources to drive this important cause. At Publicis this program offers up to 12 months of salary for employees unable to work due to cancer, coaching and mentoring support and training for managers and staff. These examples highlight how prioritizing humanity in business leads to positive outcomes for employees and the organization.

Glimpse into the Evolving Future of Talent Management

In the next five years, AI disruption is expected to create 97 million new roles and radically transform 1.1 billion jobs. Any HR leader who isn't paying attention to this shift is overlooking a significant shift. At Publicis, we refer to this concept as ‘human+,’ focusing on how AI can enhance our value and improve our skills and work methods. In 2017 we  developed an AI platform called Marcel, which connects 100,000 employees worldwide and is used for tasks like matching people for mentoring and assembling teams with diverse industry experience.

We’ve always emphasized the importance of continuous training for our people. Recently, we launched a training program called Play AI. This program allows users to input their role, industry and current level of AI knowledge to generate a personalized learning path tailored to their needs. Moving forward, our focus is to elevate our team's AI skills to the highest level, ensuring they can effectively integrate AI into their roles. This approach aligns with our shift towards skills-based development rather than traditional roles. Breaking down skills and applying them more flexibly, we aim to create a more agile organization. This means using our team members' capabilities across different teams and functions, rather than confining them to specific roles. Our priority is to develop our people's AI skills and understanding, enabling them to leverage AI effectively and use their skills dynamically throughout the organization.

Advice for Senior Leaders to Enhance Talent Management Strategies

It’s easy to get caught up in constantly responding to market demands or employee needs, but it’s crucial to step back and reflect. Rolling out one program or initiative after another doesn't necessarily lead to sustained or transformative change. It's essential to always have a transformational strategy in place. For example, if you're focusing on wellness, consider how it integrates across your organization's entire ecosystem—from the language you use to the services you offer and your policies. A simple shift from ‘sick leave’ to ‘wellbeing leave’ can completely change the perception and message of that leave.

Most importantly, lasting change requires altering behaviors from the top down. Leaders must set the example for genuine transformation to occur, rather than merely implementing a series of programs and policies.