Experts in the creative industry have underscored the importance of creating inclusive and supportive work environments that empower young talents to unleash their full creative potential.

This conversation on talent  management was recently explored by some MediaFuse-Dentsu Nigeria’s Team Leads, who shepherded their young talents to glory at Pitchers’ Young Lions Awards.

It would be recalled that Pitchers Festival’s Young Professionals Academy announced in April that talents from MediaFuse-Dentsu Nigeria’s networks which includes Dentsu Creative, Dentsu Agyle, Dentsu Performance, and Dentsu Out Of Home bagged top honours in the media, film, and design categories of its Cannes Young Lions Competitions.

Delving into discussion that serves as a nexus for ideas, insights and innovative strategies, creative professionals in the communication firm while speaking with a MARKETING EDGE team at the agency’s office in GRA, Ikeja Lagos, explained the intricacies of nurturing and retaining young talents for better performance, improved business outcomes and industry sustainability.

According to Chike Oputa, Managing Director, MediaFuse Out-of-Home, the first thing that needs to be understood about younger people is that they have needs that are different from the older people, and they are able to blossom when they have a sense that they are understood. He noted that they must be provided with an environment that helps them achieve their objectives.

“What does this environment look like? It means they are very opinionated. They are not yes people. They want to be heard. So you need to listen to them and not just to pretend that you are listening because they are very discerning also. You need to listen to them and provide an environment that allows them to thrive. They work with unconventional hours and they like unconventional ideas.

“And when you straight-jacket them into the old organizational metrics, two things happen – you stifle their creativity and growth. Secondly, you kill their enthusiasm. And when they lose that, they are not of benefit to you,” he explained.

Also corroborating this position, Marian Ogaziechi, Managing Director of Dentsu Agyle team, cited the need to make the work environment exciting for them, make them have fun, and make them realize that their ideas are not wasted. However, one should know when to be firm with them at the end of the day.

“These young people, you must show them knowledge is power, make them understand that you are also knowledgeable and have knowledge to impact in them because they don’t respect lack of knowledge. It is like a mother nurturing her children, you know when to impact and you know when to draw back,” she revealed.

Also sharing her thoughts while revealing her philosophy for talent management, Funke Adekola, Managing Director, Dentsu Creative stated that she always encourage every young talent in her team to be a superstar, noting that if the work is winning, everyone is winning also.

The creative leader stressed that the mentalities of the younger ones are different but they are finding a way to ingrain it in everything they do and she always advises them to bring excellence in everything they do no matter how little.

According to her, this will translate into how they do things, how they manage time, how they think and how they present themselves.