Developing future leaders is more than a focus on the current workforce; it’s about starting at a much earlier stage, typically at freshman orientation.
Nielsen has a vision of becoming an Academy Company, and we are getting there, fast. Over the last academic year, Nielsen had joined hands with the business school at the American University in Cairo in a number of initiatives and activities.
We started off by lending our top talent as guest lecturers, covering a range of topics from consumer behavior to innovation. The students were then invited to come to the Nielsen premises to attend a full Qualitative Research Workshop run by Rasha Sultan, consumer insights director.
Those students then had to compete by delivering a proposal. Nielsen leadership sat on the panel of judges. Their submissions counted for a percentage of their grade.
Becoming an Academy Company is more than raising the Nielsen future leaders, it’s about contributing to the research industry as a whole, honing in decades of global experience to advance the talents that will be running the market sooner than we know.
Moreover, working side-by-side with those who are in fact shaping those individuals helps us, market leaders get insight into the next chapter in human resources.
I will take it a step further and say that every successful business should take part in becoming an Academy Company, it’s the type of community contribution that will reap favorable rewards in due time.