Ogilvy & Mather appoints David Sayer to new role of head of talent and performance

Ogilvy & Mather announced today it has appointed David Sayer as its first head of talent and performance; a new national role aimed at attracting, retaining and training the best industry talent.

Sayer brings a wealth of commercial people management experience to the role, which he officially starts on July 18.

Most recently Sayer was CEO at AccessEAP, a consultancy which provides support to clients’ employees through psychological counseling services, training and management support.

He also has a proven career in the advertising industry, which began at Leo Burnett Sydney as HR manager in 1997. He was subsequently promoted to HR director and in 2001 became general manager, HR & Operations.

Following the acquisition of Leo’s globally by The Publicis Groupe, Sayer was instrumental in setting up the shared service operation and held the Group HR Director role across the advertising and media agency brands within the group.

In 2005 he moved to TMP Worldwide Advertising & Communications as General Manager, Sydney and eventually became Managing Director of the Australian operation. While at TMP, apart from gaining extensive commercial and operational management experience, he also gained great exposure to top level human resource clientele requiring assistance in developing compelling attraction strategies for staff, and employment brand development and articulation for some of Australia’s biggest and most successful organisations.

“When I haven’t been immersed in an organisation or group in an internal HR position – I have been working with HR clients to provide people-focused initiatives, programs and added strategic value within their organisation – from development of an effective Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to the implementation of Employee Assistance Programs and related services,” he said.

“The opportunity that presents at Ogilvy is very attractive. Ogilvy is one of the world’s great names in advertising and has genuine and esteemed history, culture and credibility. I look forward to joining this iconic agency with total focus on the people – their working environment, performance development and career planning. I am also excited by the prospect of working with Tom Moult and Andrew Baxter.”

Ogilvy Australia Executive Chairman Tom Moult said the role would focus on “attracting, retaining and training the best talent in the industry”.

“There is a major war being waged for talent in our industry, and while Ogilvy has some of the most outstanding training programs in Australia, we want to make sure our staff, and potential new recruits, are a strong focus across the organization. David is a highly experienced HR practitioner who also has a strong understanding of our industry and its challenges. We’re looking forward to having him on board.”

Ogilvy & Mather Sydney and Ogilvy Group Melbourne are part of STW Group, Australia’s leading marketing content and communications services group.