Gone are the days of bossing according to their whims and fancies as the year has witnessed many high profile talents in the global agencies, who are considered to be biggest assets of the company, turning in to their worst nightmare.
2018 has already seen many exits on grounds of compromising company values and code of conduct as it all started with exit of, the most powerful man in the global advertising arena, Sir Martin Sorell,
More recently, the firing of Ogilvy worldwide CCO Tham Khai Meng rocked the global advertising industry and before it could settle down, McCann Health Global has abruptly terminated CCO Jeremy Perrott for unspecified behavioral violations while the sources reveal that the complaint concerned the use of “offensive and inappropriate” language by Perrott.
While, Sir Martin Sorell departed following an internal investigation into personal misconduct and the misuse of company assets, Ogilvy’s worldwide Chief Creative Officer ThamKhaiMeng was terminated following an investigation that found that his behaviour “was a clear breach of the companies values and code of conduct.”
“We received a complaint about a violation of our Code of Conduct by McCann Health’s Jeremy Perrott,” read a company statement. “As a result, following an investigation, he is no longer with the company.” McCann’s statement went on to say that, “Our foremost priority is to foster a workplace where people are respected and valued, and importantly, an environment where people feel safe and protected to come forward to report actions that run counter to our values and code of conduct.”
The internal memo from John Seifert, Chief Executive, Ogilvy Worldwide said, “After carefully reviewing the investigation’s findings with several of my partners, we concluded that Khai’s behavior was a clear breach of our company values and code of conduct. I have decided to terminate Khai’s employment with the company with immediate effect.”
“Each year, we ask every employee in the company to read, authorize, and fully commit to a code of conduct that each of us is responsible for living up to. Over the past 70 years, we have institutionalized shared values and a standard of professional behaviour unique to the Ogilvy brand” the statement added.
The changing workplace ethics and code of conduct in the age of #metoo campaign, mandates huge degree shift in professional behaviour in Creative Media industry too. It high time that the biggies sharpen their behavioural acumen along with their professional expertise as the above mentioned cases clearly communicate the importance of conduct that goes hand in hand with performance.
