OwenKessel has realised the value in investing in South Africa's young talent for two years now through their affiliation with Johannesburg's Vega School of Brand Leadership. Not only does this partnership enhance Vega's prime goal of seeing its students fulfill their potential; it also allows the agency to mentor and counsel graduates, with the aim of ensuring they get the best possible experience to integrate them into South Africa's communication industry. Notably, it seems to be the process of early immersion into agency culture that equips marketing graduates to hit the ground running. This ideology has been tried and tested by OwenKessel with the students that have emerged from their graduate programme being promoted ahead of the curve.
As part of this corporate social outreach programme, OwenKessel provides financial and practical support to top-tier students who then 'pay back' this investment through working at the agency for a contracted period of time. "This really is a no-brainer," comments Vaughan Owen, CEO of OwenKessel. "In 2012, it was reported that 600,000 graduates in South Africa were unable to find employment and put into practice their investment in tertiary education. With the gap between university and the workplace being so vast, it's the vision and responsibility of agencies to invest in young talent. Apart from making the students attractive to future employers, agencies get the cream of the crop of talent working and contributing to creative solutions and projects."
The agency first headhunted three individuals in 2011 as part of Vega's 'Imagination Lab' programme: Mishka Naidoo and Siyabonga Maloi, both creative students in their second year of studies and Bogosi Motshegwa, a strategy student in his first year. During the course of their mentorship at OwenKessel they have been working on projects under the guidance of some of the top creatives in South Africa, and whilst putting in their hours, have simultaneously experienced each of the agency's functions. Naidoo and Maloi graduated this year with top honours and have already bagged a Silver Pendoring together in 2012, and Naidoo also took home a Bronze Loerie and Digital Craft Certificate. The students came into the agency during school holidays to watch its staff at work and get their heads around its processes. There was no pressure to come in according to the graduates, but the value they received from spending time at the agency meant that they were there at every spare moment. OwenKessel's CEO team did regular progress reports to ensure the three continued to achieve top marks at school.
What has contributed to the students' growth and confidence in the workplace is the support and encouragement received throughout the process. This guidance and 'hand-holding' nurtures the students not only from a creative aspect but from a business skills perspective too, something not learned in universities.
OwenKessel's 2013 Vega student intake has already begun, with the agency having taken in a new batch of talented and eager students; another year of helping South Africa's top marketing talent stay ahead of the curve.
