Flexibility of where, when, and how employees work is now a business requirement

Patti Clarke, the Chief Talent Officer for Havas Group, shares her take on leadership, new-age organizational cultures, and more, in an interaction with People Matters

- Abid Hasan

Patti Clarke is Global Chief Talent Officer for the Havas Group, one of the world's largest global communications groups founded in 1835 in Paris and now part of Vivendi. She is responsible for leading all aspects of global human resources as well as talent and cultural strategy for the group’s 20,000+ employees in over 100 countries.

Patti’s experience includes a 20-year career at Dun & Bradstreet, where she was Chief Human Resources Officer for nine years and also ran global internal communications. In a candid conversation with People Matters, Clarke shared her thoughts on the top talent trends in 2020, learning culture in the organization and her plans to make HR agile in 2020.

You have spent over seven years at Havas Group. how has your journey been, and what were some of your major challenges?

I was thrilled to join Havas and work in an environment filled with energetic people and amazing creativity. I love the dynamic nature of the advertising industry and the fact that it’s always changing and evolving. The journey at Havas has been great as our senior management has continuously been very supportive of our talent strategy and approach.

I’d say the biggest challenge is making sure that our offering supports the growth and development of all our 20,000+ employees, as our goal is for everyone to have a meaningful work experience at Havas.

What are the core values that define the culture at Havas Group?

Collaboration is at the core of our culture and business. We have over 60 villages across the globe where our clients benefit from a broad variety of capabilities—all under one roof, with people who truly enjoy working together.

I love the fact that each village has its own unique culture and personality, but we’re all focused on one common vision: To make a meaningful difference to businesses, brands, and people.