MediaCom Launches Initiative to Change Attitudes Towards Office Working

In a media industry first, MediaCom today announces its launch of Project Blend, a talent management initiative to move away from the media industry’s traditional approach to ways of working. 

Rather than focusing on the amount of hours workers spend at their desk, Project Blend will allow MediaCom to improve its culture that measures success based on its employees’ output and delivery of great work.

According to research conducted by global management consultancy Hay Group, more than two-fifths of UK employees feel they don’t have a good balance between their work and personal lives, and only half believe that their employer is sensitive to their need to balance home and work.

For over a decade, the focus for businesses has been on creating this strong ‘work-life’ balance, but for MediaCom this terminology is outdated. Today, careers are often on an equal footing with other aspects of people’s lives and should therefore be introduced as an integral part of their life ‘blend’.

Mediacom is working with Anna Rasmussen, the founder of Open Blend Method to support Project Blend. Open Blend Method works by supporting a progressive collaboration between a leader and their individual team members. The software facilitates interactive coaching sessions focused entirely on an individual’s unique work life blend. In improving the happiness and engagement of its workforce, MediaCom aims to increase overall business effectiveness.

The tool is being used to open conversations between employees and their line managers about their life ‘blend’. It allows workers to define which elements of their life, including aspects of work and career, mean the most to them and how they currently rate their happiness in each area. Along with their line manager, they then use the tool to talk through what ‘good’ looks like, where they are now, what challenges they’re facing and how they can improve their happiness scores at work.

The initiative was initially rolled out to a group of mothers and fathers at MediaCom who are senior leaders within the business. It has since been rolled out to the wider MediaCom population in recognition that it isn’t just parents who have a need to find the right ‘blend’ in life.

Josh Krichefski COO at MediaCom, comments: “We live in a digital world that is ‘always on’, where people don’t think twice about checking emails or completing work outside their office hours.  Yet most people feel guilty about doing any non-work activity during the day.  In this modern world, we need to move away from the rigidity of 9-5 hours and stop focussing on ‘office face-time’. 

Employers should trust employees to manage their work and deliver an excellent service for their clients, without asking them to compromise on other important aspects of their life in doing so. We should be more flexible about when and where people work so that people can achieve their different responsibilities and aspirations in life, including career development. Project Blend is a great way to open conversations between leaders and their team members to achieve this in a tangible, focussed way.” 

Anna Rasmussen, creator of Open Blend Method, comments: “People can be high achievers in their work while also being great parents, or carers, or in a band, or semi-pro triathletes! Just because they want to be successful at work does not mean that they need to drop other aspects of their life. Today people want more from life. They want life experiences, not just careers. It’s important to understand that every individual is different; they want and need different things from life in order to reach their potential. To create a truly engaged workforce, businesses need to throw away the old notion of a work-life balance and cultivate a life blend amongst their employees.”