Initiative gets a new head of people and culture

Mediabrands’ Initiative has a new director of people and culture, Carolyn Maloney, after chief people officer, Erin Jakubans left her role earlier this year.

Maloney has been hired with a remit to “create industry-leading people policies, engage, grow and retain the best talent across the agency”, in addition to creating a new Employee Experience Program alongside national head of employee experience Elyse Foley.

Maloney with Foley

CEO of Initiative, Melissa Fein said: “Having outstanding people and an enviable culture is what makes Initiative stand out from the pack and ultimately leads to best-in-class client work.  Attracting the right people starts as early as our interview and on-boarding processes so future talent need to be as excited about joining Initiative as we are about inviting them to join our team, it’s all about providing notable employee experiences.”

“It is imperative we have the right people on our people and Culture team, and in Carolyn I am confident we have found the best person to lead our people proposition; not only does she bring a wealth of knowledge and industry experience to our leadership team; she has a genuine desire to help people; advance their careers and make their workplace the best it can possibly be.  I am delighted she has accepted the role and welcome her to the team, particularly in her role to develop our EEP with Elyse.”

Jakubans joined Initiative in February this year, after previous chief people officer Scott Laird joined GroupM in a similar role as Aimee Buchanan’s first senior hire. She has since taken up a new role at data centre operator NEXTDC.

The agency said Maloney’s initial focus will be on the development of large scale people projects, such as the experience program, as well as transformation and change management; HR operational processes and advice plus diversity, equality, and inclusion strategy and implementation.

CEO Mel Fein

Fein added: “In this fast-changing and constantly evolving industry talent attraction and retention are major challenges so providing a workplace in which people can grow and thrive is no longer something nice to have, it’s a business imperative.”

Past roles for Maloney include people and culture director at independent media agency, Atomic 212, a role she held until the end of 2021. She has also held similar roles at PHD and OMD.

Maloney said: “I’ve admired the leadership of Mel, Sam & Chris and the culture of the Ini team for some time now, so I’m very excited to be helping to take the agency to the next level when it comes to the attraction and engagement of our people. I’ve always gone by the mantra ‘Happy and engaged employees leads to happy clients and successful outcomes for both’ and I will uphold this sentiment at Initiative, working towards putting people-first in everything we do and say.”

The launch of the Employee Experience Program in Q4 this year will be aided by Foley, who has added EEP responsibilities to her current commitments. The program is “an all-encompassing initiative designed to break conventions and drive change offering new and existing team members a truly unique employee experience”, the agency said.

Maloney’s appointment is effective immediately and she will report directly to Fein.

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Calum Jaspan

Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.

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topics Carolyn Maloney Erin Jakubans Initiative IPG Mediabrands

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