Dear Host Team — What About You ?
We share our experience during the month as “Lofters”, but what about the experience of insiders ?
I am lucky to live my Lofts experience from the “inside.” I thought it would be interesting to share with you the point of view of my team and their experience with their first lofter!!
What about the Managers of the Lofts Program?
Anne : “It’s been great having you as part of the team for the month! It really does give me a new perspective on the program. I’ve also realized how much of a learning experience it also is for the host team and it’s helpful to us since our programs are global.
My vision of the program has changed a bit now that I have this insider’s perspective. Watching how you progress each week has given me some ideas as to what we can do to improve the Lofts experience even more. This was our first time hosting someone, so we had a chance to create the 4-week itinerary around specific learning objectives, and I think it really makes all the difference in someone’s experience and what they can bring home. Those coaches who plan ahead, start the conversation early, and interact with and involve their participants on a daily basis are the ones with the most successful Lofters. It can’t all fall on the Coach though — it’s largely up to the Lofter to take advantage of the 4-weeks to make their own connections. Entering a new office can be intimidating and uncomfortable at first, but stepping out of your comfort zone to meet new people and experience new things is such a big part of the growth & development aspect of the program.”
Keith : “It has been a very interesting experience to not only help run and manage the Lofts program from a “behind the scenes” standpoint, but to actually be involved as a hosting team to a Lofts participant. It gives myself and our team the opportunity to live out what a true Havas Lofts experience should be, and “practice what we preach” so to speak, when connecting Lofts coaches to their participants. We provide guidelines to others and now we get to see what it’s really like to have someone not from the same culture or office as part of our team for a month. It’s a great inside look into what that relationship looks like and how to best manage someone’s experience in our office and make sure they get as many benefits out of the experience as possible, both professionally and personally. It changes my vision of the program in the sense that now having lived in that ‘hosting role’ I can have a better sense of what it takes to successfully host a Lofts participant.”
What about the Chief ?
After 3 weeks on the team, I can confirm that my first impression about Patti, Global Chief Talent Officer, being a natural, confident and convinced leader is correct. She is a model for women in the Group.
Below she shares her vision of the Global Talent Team:
“I get up every day with the purpose of doing more for our employees. We’ve made a lot of progress but we also have the opportunity to do more — and, we will keep pushing ourselves to be innovative in the learning experiences we create.
Our focus areas right now are: women’s leadership development, elevating our employer brand, online training, global talent management tools and obviously continuing to run our current programs.”
There are lots of good things for us!! To be continued!
