Upskilling the ad industry

Alexia Georgiou, manager of Africa Academy for Communications

Appointed recently as manager of the newly-launched Africa Academy for Communications (AAC), Georgiou's job is to manage the training, coordinate the system and procedures and set up the academy in a workable way. AAC aims at providing intensive skills and on-going training to advertising agents and restore professionalism in an industry that has allegedly been hijacked by unprofessional and money-driven agents who have compromised the credibility of advertising.

Pensive, calm but eloquent, Georgiou's way of answering questions has resonance in 'old school' educators. Several years of teaching and managing people have left an indelible mark on her personality and forged a strong sense of leadership and responsibility.

Relevance

Describing AAC's five-level training programme as very practical and relevant to the needs of the South African industry, Georgiou said: "Training for the sake of training will not change anything. But one needs training that will impact on the behaviour in the workplace."

Born in May 26, 1964 in Bez Valley, near Bertrams in Johannesburg, she graduated from Wits University and taught English for 10 years at Forest High School, south of Johannesburg, before being appointed head of the department of English. She then left teaching and joined a company called Palesa.

Later on, she joined READ Educational Trust, a non-governmental organisation pioneering literacy in Southern Africa, where she worked for six years developing learning materials for high school. Most recently, she joined the Denel Centre for Learning and Development as the head of school of leadership, management and marketing.

"My passion was always to develop people," she said. "I travelled extensively, researched, read and learned a lot, gathering and teaching life, interpersonal and management skills and managing people."

'Room for improvement'

Thanks to the diversity of her skills - managing, training trainers and learners, selecting, educating, guiding, developing and disciplining - she landed this challenging job, which interestingly enough, was advertised on Bizcommunity.com. And this is the solid weapon that she will use to provide what she called 'lifelong and sustainable skills' that will help improve the relationship between advertisers and clients.

"Our advertising industry is doing quite well," Georgiou said. "But there is a room for improvement as one part does not know what the other part is doing. We need to close that gap and ensure that relevant training and development becomes the injection of this very clever and creative industry. There is a lot at stake here. And my vision is to offer what advertising needs in a professional way."

Zandile Nzalo, Georgiou's boss and chief executive officer of the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA), which launched the academy, said: "Despite having no advertising background, Alexia is the right person for the job. We wanted a balance. We needed someone who had an administration background, could manage an academic institution and at the same time develop learning materials - something many candidates, despite having a strong advertising background, did not have. Honestly, she is a very proactive person and we are fortunate to have her here.

"I have confidence and faith in her that she will deliver. Besides, she can get all the support she needs especially in this environment, which is new to her."

Asked if there was in fact a reason behind appointing a woman in this strategic position, she replied: "Not at all. We did things according to the Employment Equity Act. However, the strange part is that after checking the applications, we found out that only women responded to the job advert, which never said 'women only'.

Nzalo also said that in about two years time, the Randburg-based AAC will start expanding its operations into other parts of the African continent and target specifically West and East Africa.

Furthermore, she voiced concerns about the industry attracting less qualified individuals and not being able to keep high-skilled and creative people who continue to leave for greener pastures. "We must begin to create a high standard and professional industry that will reward its people accordingly," she concluded.