From "whole-brains" to "jungle gyms" - How modern CMOs are approaching their talent search

At AWEurope, a panel of very successful CMOs all from different sectors, gave their views on the type of talent that they now want and need to attract into their teams in order to keep their businesses current, effective and adaptable.

On the panel was:
Maryam Banikarim - Global CMO - Hyatt Hotels Corp
Maria Pousa - CMO - Integral Ad Science
Eric Edge - Head of Global Marketing Communications - Pinterest 
Dan Waters - Head of Marketing - Europe and Americas - Bel 

Dan waters from Bel claimed that he now looks for “whole-brain people.” 

By that he seemed to be referring to people that aren't just niche in a certain discipline.  They have enough understanding, knowledge and aptitude to be able to join the dots within marketing through constant up-skilling, understanding multi-channels and being very adaptable to change and development.  

It was good to see Dan make reference to the fact that once these types of candidates have been found, there is a responsibility then to keep and retain the talent by making sure that they are not going to be given “half-brain” tasks and jobs.  He also referenced the fact that talent is no longer interested in a traditional career development plan that simply sees them get promoted to higher levels within the same department eg. Marketing Exec, Marketing Manager, Marketing Director etc.  and acknowledged that “this is why we lose lots of people to brands like Pinterest.”

Eric Edge spoke about Pinterest having a "jungle gym culture."  

By this he was referring to the fact that talent has the opportunity to join Pinterest in a particular role and then have longevity within the business, due to the non glass-wall approach of wearing different hats and moving around within different roles through-out their career - if you want to do something there, then go do it. Essentially their people can grow and evolve along with the company. 

In similar reference to that "whole-brain" candidate that Dan was referring to, Eric also spoke about the future of talent being all-rounders within the business.  "I see the future of talent being all round B2B brand marketers" - again marketers that aren't pigeon-holed into any particular niche.  

Maryann Banikarim from Hyatt 

Voiced the concern that she hears from candidates “If I stay somewhere too long will people think that I’m dated?” - which again seems to tie-in with the approach of an organisation finding and keeping talent . 

If businesses are creating "jungle gym" cultures and are aware that the "whole-brain's" they are attracting, need constantly fulfilling, then the concern of 'being dated' becomes irrelevant. 

Finding this new breed of talent is only one part of the equation, getting the best people to stay with you is a whole new challenge within itself!