The Independent Media Agencies of Australia (IMAA) and its global independent agency partner thenetworkone today announced the launch of a formalised international inter-agency staff transfer program for members, which allows staff the same opportunities as their multinational agency counterparts to travel and work overseas.
The exchange program aims to link-up member agencies of both organisations who would like to exchange similarly skilled employees for a pre-determined period of time. The objective of the program is to enable participating agencies and employees to benefit from a cultural, ideas, and skills exchange, forging links and professional friendships that would otherwise not have existed.
IMAA CEO, Sam Buchanan (pictured above), said: “One of the key missions of the IMAA is to level the playing field for independent, Australian-owned agencies. This initiative is about bringing world’s best practice and global solutions back to Australia and ensuring our sector is leading the way.
Until now, our member agencies have had little to no opportunity to offer their people the chance to work in agencies in international markets, which is a valuable way to grow skills, knowledge, and personal and professional development. And with the extraordinary talent shortage and challenge of attracting and retaining staff, IMAA members now have access to a great reward to offer existing employees and a huge incentive to offer to potential new employees.
“thenetworkone has already been a valuable partner to IMAA members by providing opportunities for agencies to participate in global pitches and for specialist agency advice and services for clients. It’s great to extend our partnership into this international staff transfer program.”
thenetworkone director, Paul Squirrell, said: “thenetworkone has forged several incredibly successful inter-agency staff exchange programs in many countries, including the UK, US, Nigeria, Sweden and KSA and we are delighted to form a similar program with the IMAA in Australia.
Independent agencies are well known globally for having a strong talent bed and I’m sure agencies from all around the globe will welcome Australians to work with them, and the opportunity for their people to work in the well-regarded Australian agency sector.”
The program is open to all agency members of IMAA and thenetworkone agency members and is best suited to mid-level agency employees who are seeking an international experience. thenetworkone has developed a register of agencies willing to participate in the program and each participating agency provides details, such as job role and experience, of the team member they would like to exchange.
thenetworkone will then ‘match-up’ participating agencies based on agency sector experience and the job roles and skill sets of the teams to be exchanged and once a match is determined, the IMAA makes the agency introductions to facilitate the exchange.
The IMAA formed an alliance with thenetworkone in 2020 to provide its members with a range of benefits. Established in 2006, thenetworkone is the world’s largest network for independent agencies of all disciplines, with 1,200 agency members across 116 countries.
As part of the alliance, all IMAA members become members of thenetworkone, with benefits including member events, newsletters, reviews, networking, and information sharing. thenetworkone can also facilitate agency partnerships if IMAA members require agencies in other disciplines beyond media, in Australia or in other markets, including the creation of bespoke networks of ‘go-to-partners’ for specialist agencies that require a depth of knowledge, such as healthcare.
The international inter-agency staff transfer program launches today for IMAA member agencies. The launch of the program follows several initiatives from the IMAA, including the launch of a Diversity Council and a Reconciliation Action Plan for members, with the aim of improving the industry and providing benefits for all Australians.
Further information on the staff transfer program is available here.
